Project: Varian SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Implementation
VARIAN Australia, part of Varian, Inc, designs, manufactures and supports an array of scientific instruments and vacuum technologies for bio-molecular and academic research, pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing, and industrial R&D and quality control.
Varian wanted to upgrade its CAD/CAM software with a suitable product data management solution to enable it to collaborate more effectively across internal and external design sites, give better access to, and monitoring of, design data, and create a more secure environment for design IP.
The company chose Intercad’s SolidWorks Enterprise PDM because it was easy to use and implement, provided all the functionality needed and, as a SolidWorks product, integrated cleanly with its current CAD system.
SolidWorks Enterprise PDM also allows Varian’s managers to monitor projects more closely.
The system automates workflows and provides managers with statistical information on where a project is up to, which was previously completed manually.
These electronic workflows are also configured to mark design data and drawings as to where they are up to in the design process. For example, if a design has been released for manufacture the system will not allow it to be edited, thus reducing the risk of design and manufacturing error.
The second, and perhaps more significant, benefit of the project is the environment of collaboration SolidWorks Enterprise PDM brings to the company.
SolidWorks Enterprise PDM can be configured so two or more parties can work from the same set of design data and files and add to the same assemblies without needing to transfer those files.
This will save the company valuable design time, improve the time-to-market for products and lead to a better design outcome.
Varian has nearly completed the rollout of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM at its Melbourne manufacturing operations and will start to implement the package at its other sites around the globe in 2009.