DEK accelerates manufacturing on collaborative systems

The company is a long-term user of Pro/Engineer, 3D CAD/CAM/CAE software, but recently went on to install Windchill for additional content and process management across its six global sites and also with suppliers and partners. “Using Pro/Engineer, we have been able to produce a broad set of products based on a product platform strategy and modular sub-assemblies,” says Dick Johnson, development manager at DEK Printing. “The further adoption of PDS allowed much quicker and more cost effective product development and, in turn, has accelerated manufacturing processes. “The introduction of Windchill now enables us to make our product development data accessible beyond individual design teams, to the entire global enterprise, providing the right people access to the right data at the right time.” And he explains: “Our suppliers were using different systems. Paper drawings were being created from the CAD models, leading to delays and problems in interpretation. The introduction of Windchill enabled our suppliers to collaborate more efficiently by building components directly from DEK’s 3D models, which has led to improvements in productivity.”