NX

Solid Edge

Injecdesign
Thriving in lean times

Industry Machinery Business initiatives New product development Business challenges Much larger competitors Price pressure from Chinese companies Shorter lead times Keys to success NX software for designing complex shapes; Solid Edge software for assembled parts Close collaboration with customer (often at the customer site) Consistent high quality Results Molds ready in only 8 weeks; 3 weeks faster than the competition Staff of 9 designs approximately 90 molds/year First-shot success rate of 97 percent 300 percent revenue increase in 8 years

With help from NX and Solid Edge, this mold maker increases revenues and expands across the EU while others in the industry struggle
Tough business climate Injecdesign, established in 2000, specializes in injection-molded plastic parts, offering services for both product and mold design. The company also partners with mold fabricators so that it can offer a full range of services from concept

development through to production. Injecdesigns customers are located across the European Union (EU) in Spain, France, Holland, Germany, Sweden and Austria as well as in the United States. They span a range of industries including electronic, electric, aerospace, automotive, industrial machinery and medical equipment. Injecdesign employs nine people. The company has quite a few competitors in Portugal, and many more across the EU. Nearly all of the competitors are larger companies with at least five times as many

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employees. This puts pressure on Injecdesigns staff to prepare quotations and complete mold designs as quickly as the larger companies do. But local competition is only part of what has become a very challenging business climate for mold makers in Europe. Chinese companies are also competing in the EU for mold work, with prices that are extraordinarily low. They have driven mold prices down to a point where many of Injecdesigns competitors have either gone out of business, been purchased by larger companies or are struggling to stay afloat. Increasing revenues In contrast, Injecdesign is thriving. The companys revenues have increased 300 percent since 2000, even as mold prices have dropped dramatically and raw material costs have increased over that time. Its staff has grown from two people to the current nine. And its customer base continues to spread into new countries. Srgio Pinho, Injecdesigns general manager, credits much of his companys success to the added value Injecdesign can offer, particularly to small and mediumsize manufacturing companies. And for this, he credits his companys design software, the NX digital product development system and the Solid Edge CAD program from Siemens PLM Software. Our design software allows us to work fast and not make mistakes, which means we can match or beat anyone elses quality and delivery time, he says. It also lets us

collaborate with customers in a way that they value to the point that even though we sometimes quote higher costs, we still win business. Injecdesign purchased NX and Solid Edge from Cadflow, a Siemens PLM Software reseller located in Marinha Grande, Portugal. Cadflow delivers the combination of high-quality software and good service, says Pinho. They have been very helpful to us in supporting our vision. Injecdesign finds NX and Solid Edge to be complementary programs, according to Pinho. He originally purchased NX to get the high-end modeling functionality he needed to design parts (and the corresponding molds) with complex shapes. Then he equipped his technical department with NX Mold Design to streamline the design process for molds. Recently he added one seat of Solid Edge, which is used for parts and part assemblies. Better service, faster delivery One of the services that sets Injecdesign apart is how closely it works with its customers. Pinho often takes his laptop and NX to the customers facility where he works with the companys engineers interactively to design a product. Often they just have some sketches or even just an idea of what they want, Pinho explains. I model the product in 3D and we look at every potential problem. Then I go back and design the molds.

Solutions/Services NX www.siemens.com/nx Solid Edge www.siemens.com/solidedge Customers primary business Injecdesign specializes in injection-molded plastic parts, offering services for product design as well as mold design and production. www.injecdesign.com Customer location Oliveira de Azemis Portugal Partner Cadflow Phone +351 244 550 111 Fax +351 244 550 115 www.cadflow.pt Our design software allows us to work fast and not make mistakes, which means we can match or beat anyone elses quality and delivery time. Srgio Pinho General Manager Injecdesign

Working this way, Injecdesign can have a mold ready in eight weeks after meeting with the customer. Competitors who do not offer this service but simply create mold designs from 2D drawings typically take three weeks longer. Injecdesign doesnt sacrifice quality for speed, however. Its first-shot success rate is 97 percent. In situations where Injecdesign is asked to quote on a mold for a product that has already been designed, Pinho prepares, as part of the quote, a preliminary mold design in NX. This lets the potential customer evaluate both the price and see the proposed mold in the form of an easy-tounderstand 3D image. This extra service often wins the business for Injecdesign. Last year, Injecdesign made 83 molds. This year, the number should be close to 90. The company has found a niche in supplying small- to medium-sized manufacturers with quality molds. The secret in this market is not just the price, Pinho notes. These customers want quality and fast delivery. This is exactly what our software from Siemens allows us to provide. As recognition of this quality, Injecdesign recently achieved ISO 9001:2000 quality system certification. For those who dont know us, this is a sign of our commitment to quality, Pinho concludes.

Siemens Industry Software Americas +1 800 498 5351 Europe +44 (0) 1276 702000 Asia-Pacific +852 2230 3333 www.siemens.com/plm
2012 Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. All rights reserved. Siemens and the Siemens logo are registered trademarks of Siemens AG. D-Cubed, Femap, Geolus, GO PLM, I-deas, Insight, JT, NX, Parasolid, Solid Edge, Teamcenter, Tecnomatix and Velocity Series are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other logos, trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective holders. Z3 15603 1/12 B