"We are already working much faster", the result of a smart investment in Inventor and Vault based on Cadac Organice Vault. ''
German Sustainable Solutions in Zutphen has built a strong reputation as a machine and equipment manufacturer over almost three decades. Under the leadership of the new owners, the company aims to grow both nationally and internationally in the coming years. Reason for investing in Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Vault, based on the Cadac Organice Vault best practice approach. 'We are already working much faster.'
In 2017, Alfred Stokvis fulfilled a long-cherished wish. After a quarter century of salaried employment with various employers, he becomes the owner of German Engineering, with the help of two shareholders. 'It was now or never,' he looks back on the year when he officially took over the company from founder Jan Duits. 'Exactly what I wanted. A healthy company with an experienced team and great customers. The perfect match. I haven't regretted it for a day.'
Catch-up
In terms of automation and ICT, there was some catching up to do. 'That's right,' says Marius Hekkelman, senior engineer at German with over 25 years' experience. ''We were already working with Inventor 3D, but we were also in dire need of a data management system. We were having more and more trouble retrieving drawings; different versions of designs were circulating. This led to errors, stagnation in the workshop, extra costs and, of course, loss of time. Above all, you can't afford to lose time as a supplier. Customers demand solutions and can't wait. It's as simple as that.'
Moreover, continues Marius Hekkelman, 'our new owner has ambitions. There are plenty of opportunities here in the Netherlands, but we are also looking across the border, including to Germany and Switzerland. We have already done great projects there for several clients, opening doors. Opportunities we are keen to exploit.'
We have been working with Inventor and Organice Vault for a year now and we are more than satisfied. My colleague and I are moving more work and we are still keeping up with the growth.
Marius Hekkelman
Senior Engineer - German
More professional
More professional engineering was the first much-needed step and Cadac the logical partner to do so with. 'We have been working together for almost a decade,' says Mischa Mulder, account manager at Cadac and first point of contact for German. 'In 2010, we installed Autodesk Inventor here.
Now, in consultation with Marius, fellow designer Hans Bongaards and Alfred Stokvis, Autodesk Vault Professional has been added. The perfect basis for Model Based Engineering. A programme that we can also deliver tailor-made, exactly as the customer wants. Engineering is very diverse, and we respond to that. Not everyone knows that the Vault Professional system is also good for somewhat smaller companies like German.'
Production
Duits Sustainable Solutions, as the company was christened after the takeover, engineers for third parties but also designs and builds complete machines and equipment for food producers, the printing industry and the textile sector.
With a total of 25 employees, German masters almost the entire production process. From design to machining, welding and painting. Only electronics and simple components are purchased.
Energy sector
A growing number of customers are active in the energy and sustainability sector. 'For that, we produce, for example, plastic shredders and this heat exchanger for underground heat and cold storage,' says Marius Hekkelman as he takes a short tour of the workshop. 'A crucial part that we are constantly improving and tinkering with. Then it is very important that always only the latest, modified design can be retrieved in the system.
With Vault Professional, this is the case. After modifications, the changes are made in real time in the underlying files. That makes prototyping and communication much easier and saves administration. The moment we release the design for production, there must be no doubt about the parts list. Everything must be correct, otherwise we will have problems with purchasing and certain components may not be available or may not fit. This also applies to the parts we machine and weld ourselves here in Zutphen. Costly loss of time, in other words.'
Cadac Organice Vault
On top of Vault Professional, German chose Organice Vault as Cadac's addition, based on best practice. 'Which thus connects seamlessly with the design software,' says Mischa Mulder. 'All data is stored in one central location. The big advantage of Vault is that retrieving data becomes much easier and, again, the risk of different versions is a thing of the past. The combination of both software packages is ideal.'
'True,' confirms Marius Hekkelman, 'we have been working with Inventor and Organice Vault for a year now and we are more than satisfied. My colleague and I are moving more work and we are still keeping up with the growth. If we want to bring in a third engineer, we can get him in very quickly because all the processes are completely fixed.'
Training
'Of course it took some getting used to, the whole implementation process took over three months after all. Fortunately, Cadac's consultants took the time to build up the process calmly. We were taken through the changes step by step in various training sessions and bottlenecks were well resolved. Initially, we did think it was a lot of training, but in retrospect it was good to experience and use the whole system before installation.
During those training sessions, the Cadac consultant configured the system and showed how it works and THAT it works. Now we are experiencing the benefits. The document flow is in order, everything is easy to find in the library. I cannot express it in percentages and euros, but everything goes faster with fewer errors. At least we engineers get back to engineering instead of administration. The professionals in the workshop also become familiar with the 3D software.'
Link
The automation process at German is not yet complete. Still on the wish list is linking Organice Vault to the recently acquired ERP system.
Then procurement, administration and invoicing will also benefit. 'That should not be a problem,' expects Mischa Mulder. At other organisations, this has gone smoothly.'