Enhancing Design Consistency and Efficiency in HVAC Manufacturing

Client Overview

A global leader in the HVAC equipment manufacturing industry with multiple manufacturing sites worldwide.

The company specializes in the production of advanced heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, serving a diverse market with high standards for quality and efficiency.

Challenges

The client faced several critical challenges that impacted the efficiency of their product design and development processes:

1. Diverse Global Standards: Each of the client’s global manufacturing sites operated with unique standards and guidelines, leading to inconsistencies in product designs. This disparity resulted in significant time spent on design rework and iterations to align the designs with the varying standards.
2. Missed Design Issues in Complex Assemblies: Despite rigorous analysis processes, some critical design issues in complex assemblies frequently escaped detection. These design flaws often prevented proper assembly of components, leading to costly delays and rework during the production stage.
3. Manual Best Practices Implementation: The reliance on manual best practices for design processes made it challenging for design engineers to consistently apply the correct procedures across global locations. The manual nature of these practices also increased the likelihood of human error, further compounding the design inconsistencies.

Solution Implemented

To address these challenges, the client partnered with HCL Software to implement HCL DFMPro, a CAD-integrated design-for-manufacturing software solution. The software helped standardize and streamline the design process through the following key actions:

1. Identification and Addressing of Critical Assembly Issues: HCL DFMPro enabled design engineers to identify and resolve critical assembly issues that typically go undetected, particularly in complex assemblies. The software analysis ensured that all components could be correctly assembled, reducing the occurrence of assembly errors.
2. Standardization of Design Guidelines: Organization-specific design guidelines were embedded within HCL DFMPro to standardize Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) practices across all global manufacturing sites. This step ensured consistency in design processes, regardless of location, and minimized discrepancies between designs.
3. Single-Click DFM Analysis: HCL DFMPro’ s single-click DFM analysis integrated directly within the CAD application, enabled design engineers to conduct comprehensive design checks quickly and efficiently. This functionality allowed the client to validate designs early in the process, achieving correct designs on the first attempt and significantly reducing the time spent on rework and iterations.

Results and Conclusion

The implementation of HCL DFMPro led to a transformative change in the client’s design processes:

1. Standardized DFM/DFA Practices:The digital approach to DFM through HCL DFMPro established standardized design practices across all teams, regardless of location. This standardization ensured that best practices were consistently applied, significantly improving the overall quality of designs.
2. Reduction in Design Checking and Report Creation Time: By integrating a digital DFM approach directly within their CAD environment, the client achieved a substantial reduction in the time required for design checking and report creation. The automation of these tasks allowed engineers to focus on innovative design work rather than repetitive manual checks.
3. Enhanced Design Quality and Reduced Iterations: The ability to identify and address potential assembly issues early in the design phase reduced the need for costly rework and iterations. This not only improved design quality but also shortened the product development cycle, enabling faster time-to-market.

In conclusion, the adoption of HCL DFMPro enabled the client to overcome significant challenges related to design standardization and process efficiency. The software’s digital approach to DFM and DFA helped achieve a consistent and streamlined design process, resulting in improved productivity and reduced costs across the organization.