3d Design data efficiency

One of K2's products is the K2MS Guardian, said to provide full electronic capture of patient information during childbirth including: ctg, partogram, labour events, outcome information, foetal blood sampling results and cord blood gas results direct from blood gas analysers. This information can be shown in real time to enhance communication within - and outside – the delivery suite to improve patient care and reduce human error. The design challenge The challenge was to generate and manage high quality 3D design data more efficiently and improve collaboration between design teams from product concept through to production and ongoing maintenance of manufacturing data. K2MS wanted to generate and manage 3D design data more efficiently with the following goals in mind: 1. Improve collaboration between design teams of differing technical disciplines 2. Remove CAD data redundancy and duplication caused by systems that could not directly import/export 3. Extend use of 3D tools throughout the complete product lifecycle, from concept through to production and ongoing maintenance of manufacturing data. The company also wanted to retain ownership and use of design data rather than have it reside with third parties where it could not be fully exploited. As a whole, K2MS engineers needed to manage 3D design data more efficiently and be able to create and edit 3D designs in a timely and cost effective manner in order to enhance solid models for their medical devices to improve the interpretation of foetal monitoring during childbirth. The company also needed to retain ownership of its designs and foster collaboration between engineers and the detailed design team. K2MS had previously managed the design of their medical devices by hand and without leveraging any technology tools. The designs were created collaboratively with detailed designers who used Pro/ ENGINEER. K2MS would direct the team by a combination of verbal instructions and hand drawn sketches. As a result, the process lacked the quality, accuracy and nimbleness of 3D models. The benefits of the 3D data could never be fully realised by K2MS. This led to considerable inefficiencies in generating product and manufacturing documentation and maintenance of the design data as the product matured. Overall, the process was wasteful and K2MS knew that having its own 3D software tool would bring significant benefits. It was at this time that it turned to SpaceClaim. K2MS chose SpaceClaim Engineer to improve the efficiency of their product design process, reduce the time from concept through detailed design, drive improved innovation, increase collaboration among engineers and detailed designers and manage costs more efficiently. Senior engineer and lead project manager, Angela Delbridge, leverages SpaceClaim to specifically edit and create design models that will optimise new features of the platform medical device. With SpaceClaim, she now manages the design in 3D and is able to create, review, and modify the design across mechanical, electronic and manufacturing engineering disciplines. She said: "After evaluating several other tools, it was SpaceClaim's ease of use and cost that were top ranking factors in our decision. Also, the tool offers compatibility; specifically the ability to have files in various formats and that was also a key factor for us." Delbridge said she found the product to be an improvement from the hand drawn designs she created previously. She added that the overall process saves her time in creating new innovations and the accuracy of the models created in SpaceClaim help her better understand and explain the designs. Delbridge noted that SpaceClaim's ECAD import provides a key component to her work and is helpful to check the fit of the circuit board designs from the electrical engineering team. Because 3D direct models are professionally created with SpaceClaim, the design engineers no longer need to try and decipher the model intent from a 2D design and then interpret the new design. Overall the new process reduces errors and rework and saves K2MS both time and money. Delbridge continued: "The current K2MS product developed in SpaceClaim has very tight internal space constraints and we can progress the design in confidence knowing that all the internal components are accurately modelled. We chose SpaceClaim's solution because other tools were just too complex and the learning curve was very daunting. We can create and modify 3D models in SpaceClaim with a speed not achievable in other software tools evaluated."