Cemco S.A. is a world leading manufacturer of the complete range of gas control devices such as pressure valves, regulators and gas cylinders. Cemco is currently the largest company in its domain in Latin America.

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Cemco S.A. is a world leading manufacturer of the complete range of gas control devices such as pressure valves, regulators and gas cylinders. Cemco is currently the largest company in its domain in Latin America and ranks among the Top 5 worldwide.

The 3 main product lines developed by Cemco are:

• Valves for liquid gas cylinders
• Valves for ovens and heaters
• Multi-gas safety valves

Cemco currently exports 90% of its products with its primary markets including the USA, Latin America and Europe. The company plans to sell 3 million product units into both the US and European markets in 2006.

In search of a new CAD/CAM software

In 2002 the company management started looking for an advanced CAD system for the development of its products. At this stage Cemco already worked with a CAD software. However, the company needed a more sophisticated 3D parametric system to achieve the following:

• Remain competitive on the market place
• Reduce product development time
• Improve product quality
• Keep up to date with the technological advances in product design by integrating a new sophisticated CAD/CAM system

One year later the company made its choice following a comprehensive analysis of different CAD/CAM solutions on offer, a detailed benchmark analysis and visits of engineering departments in a number of companies. Cemco choose TopSolid.

According to Rodolfo Sepúlveda, vice president of Engineering at Cemco: “The adoption of a highly sophisticated software like TopSolid has been a key factor in our product development. We can now detect in advance potential collisions between various components. In addition, there has been a remarkable decrease of 30% in the design to completion of functional prototypes at Cemco since we installed TopSolid.

Redesign using TopSolid

At the end of 2004 Cemo decided it was time to redesign and improve one of its key products – the OPD valve. One of the main challenges of the project was to reduce the size of the valve which is made mainly of brass. Cemco needed to achieve the following:

• Reduce the production costs which were adversely affected by the high copper prices in the international market
• Improve the functionality, life span and quality of the valve
• Improve the form of the valve by creating a more modern and attractive shape for the enduser

Thanks to the possibilities offered by TopSolid the new design was completed in record time. Cemco was able to analyse different options for the new design and all product cost analysis was carried out prior to production. The analysis functions in TopSolid together with its Dynamics and Kinematics options permitted a virtual analysis of the working of the new valve module including the springs, spirals and internal adjustments which ensured the avoidance of all errors in its geometrical construction.

The new OPD valve is now in the process of international certification by such high quality standards as the U.L 1796 norm in the USA. The OPD valve will be launched on the market in the second quarter of 2005. Cemco plans to sell 1.2 million units per year.

Complete integration with sub-contractors and suppliers

Another strong point of TopSolid for Cemco is the ability to maintain full integration with its suppliers. Cemco designs, produces and sells gas control devices while third party companies carry out all mold design.

Prior to the implementation of TopSolid in 2002 Aroca Matrices, a primary Cemco supplier, also equipped itself with the TopSolid CAD/CAM integrated solution. The use of the same software thus permitted a fluid communication between the 2 companies and permitted a flexibility in design changes when the mold creation had already started.

According to Juan Cáceres from Cemco’s Engineering Department : « The fact that our suppliers work with TopSolid is very important for Cemco. All files are exchanged in TopSolid formats *.top y *.dft which can be machined directly on TopSolid’Cam. In addition any changes that are made after the files have been sent to our suppliers are sent via a new three-dimensional model. Our supplier’s file is automatically updated. We have an excellent and clear communication with our suppliers which is essential for the success of our products.”

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