Abstract
Fruehauf de México, S.A. de C.V., a Mexico-based manufacturer of semitrailers for industrial and commercial use, sought to reduce design and manufacturing times, improve customer response, minimize material waste and production errors, and support the use of new materials. The company needed a parametric design solution that could estimate design weight, reduce production errors, validate designs, and meet manufacturing standards in Mexico and export markets. By implementing Siemens’ Solid Edge and Simcenter Femap software, Fruehauf established an integrated environment for designing and optimizing equipment, parts, and assemblies while validating designs before manufacturing. The solution enabled the company to develop lighter semitrailers with the same cargo capacity, reduce rework, improve blueprint interpretation, and increase design productivity by 40 percent. It also reduced the time required to generate new component designs and manufacturing blueprints by 30 percent, strengthening customer service and manufacturing efficiency.
Key Takeaways:
- Increased design productivity: Solid Edge and Simcenter Femap helped Fruehauf improve design productivity by 40 percent in just one year.
- Reduced design and blueprint time: The company reduced the time needed to generate new component designs and manufacturing blueprints by 30 percent.
- Integrated design and simulation: Solid Edge and Simcenter Femap provided an integrated environment for designing and optimizing equipment, parts, and assemblies.
- Faster customer response: Reduced design times enabled Fruehauf to respond more quickly to customers’ unique equipment and operational requirements.
- Optimized lightweight designs: Fruehauf developed lighter semitrailers while maintaining the same cargo capacity, improving product design and efficiency.
- Improved design validation: Simcenter Femap helped optimize designs and validate them in detail before manufacturing, reducing the likelihood of failures and rework.
- Reduced manufacturing errors and costs: Best-in-class designs made blueprints easier for employees to interpret, minimizing final assembly errors and reducing manufacturing costs and time.
- Specialized customer solutions: Solid Edge and Simcenter Femap enabled Fruehauf to develop customized equipment for different cargo and operational requirements across a wide range of trailer types.
- Enhanced customer engagement: Siemens software also supported sales by allowing Fruehauf to develop designs, obtain immediate customer feedback, review 3D PDF archives, and generate renders of prototypes before manufacturing.
- Foundation for innovation and competitiveness: Siemens solutions helped Fruehauf maintain a strong industry position, advance automated processes, improve productivity, and continue developing new equipment and technologies for future markets.
