SOMIC’s packing machines have an excellent reputation. In order to attain the same level in the quotation process, the company implemented Lino® 3D layout for layout planning. Using the fully integrated Lino add-in for Solidworks®, this Bavarian company can now generate attractive, technically sophisticated 3D plant layouts in record time.
SOMIC develops and manufactures sophisticated secondary and end packaging systems. Their machines ensure that the goods of leading manufacturers in the food, animal feed and pharmaceutical industries are suitable for stacking, transportation and storage and are easy to handle in the retail outlets. SOMIC’s customers particularly appreciate their exceptional line competence. SOMIC’s experts have an in-depth understanding of how their machines can be fit into existing production plants and spatial constraints.
The key challenge in quotation projects is to combine performance and function requirements, technical specifications and structural prerequisites to form a coherent whole. This not only results in the specifications of the machines – SOMIC must come up with individual plant layout solutions for each case as well. Until now, these layout plans were implemented as a plan view in a 2D drawing program and then reproduced as a 3D layout in the Solidworks CAD system for the final order presentation to the customer – a time-consuming procedure that was prone to errors due to the multiple media discontinuities.
In order to establish end-to-end automated quotation processes that produce attractive and universally meaningful order documentation much more rapidly, SOMIC turned to the Lino team. Their Lino 3D layout software for 3D layout planning and Tacton Design Automation for rules-based configuration are integrated in Solidworks – ensuring a major leap forward in quality with no media discontinuities: For example, all systems access a central data basis for machines and components. The rule set uses this to prevent technically infeasible variants, and modified models are automatically made available for all future layouts.
Additionally, Lino 3D layout automatically outputs a warning if dimensions don’t match or structural collisions exists. Thus, SOMIC can now determine early on in the quotation process whether plant layouts can be feasibly implemented. Lino 3D layout additionally greatly accelerates layout planning by allowing designers to insert objects in the layout using drag-and-drop – snap technology ensures that they land in exactly the right location. The result: clearly understandable layouts that illustrate all details from multiple perspectives. As interactive presentations with realistic colors, surfaces and logos, they enable SOMIC to decisively power up their customer meetings.
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Learn more about the motion06 project.in our detailed case study.