Cambridge-based Marshall Specialist Vehicles says it has dramatically cut its right-first-time design cycle time, since going live with Autodesk Inventor 3D CAD and AutoCAD Electrical.
The company, which designs and manufactures expandable field hospital systems, also says that the new software has streamlined its design-to-production processes.
John Prentice, design office manager, also attributes recent success with a contract from the Norwegian Army in part to the new software. He says that, using Inventor’s digital prototyping, it was able to quickly show realistic 3D product visualisations.
“A lot of our work involves fitting our clients’ components, or those they specify, into the fixed space of our containers,” explains Prentice. “When you are drafting in 2D you can lose a lot of detail and information, but with 3D you can allocate the correct volume and size, and ensure that you have positioned things correctly.”
Marshall says it went for a subscription approach to the software, since it offers a number of benefits, including a reduction in the cost of upgrading one version of AutoCAD of around 60%.
Prentice says of its work with Autodesk partner Micro Concepts: “The training has been really beneficial; it’s clear and well laid out and in terms of the support we’ve received. Micro Concepts cannot do enough for us.”
And he adds: “We are now able to move from concept designs to manufacturing drawings much faster and with fewer mistakes than when we designed in 2D. It has brought us into the 21st century.”
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