Amerimax

2016-06-08

: Guides Amerimax amerimax success pdf asi

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Project Summary
Pennsylvania-based Amerimax Home Products,
Inc. (Amerimax) manufactures all-weather, exterior
building products, such as gutters, railings, and
related accessories. To fabricate its products
quickly and eciently, the company designs its
own ergonomic, safe, and fast production machin-
ery. Electrical controls and automated systems are
at the heart of these machines. After relying on
AutoCAD® software for years, Amerimax adopted
AutoCAD® Electrical to accelerate the design of
electrical controls. Part of the Autodesk solution
for Digital Prototyping, AutoCAD Electrical helps
Amerimax:
• Createelectricalcontroldrawingsmorethan
400% faster
• Makechangestoelectricaldesignsinminutes,
rather than days
• Generatebillsofmaterials(BOMs)automatically
• Reusedesignsandreducerework
The Challenge
To stay ahead of the competition, Amerimax must
produce high-quality products as eciently as pos-
sible. The company has found that by designing its
own production machinery it is able to achieve that
goal. An electrical engineering tech at Amerimax,
Dave Patches is responsible for designing the
electrical control systems for the company’s custom
automated machinery.
For years, Dave used AutoCAD software to produce
electrical control designs for everything from roll
forming and punch press lines to plastic extrusion
machines. An expert user, he pushed the software
to its limits. Even so, Dave wasted time because his
software was not purpose-built for electrical design.
“I had to start every drawing from scratch,” he says.
“I could copy some things from similar existing draw-
ings, but AutoCAD didn’t update asset, serial, part,
or wire numbers, so I had to do that manually.”
Dave continues, “I also wasted a lot of time creat-
ing bills of materials and wire pull lists manually. A
wire pull list alone sometimes took hours. And if
someone wanted to make a change halfway through
a multi-sheet drawing, it was a lot of work. I’d have
to remember to change wire numbers as well as
Wired for Success.
Amerimax speeds design of electrical
controls by 400% with AutoCAD
Electrical.
Amerimax Home Products, Inc.
Customer Success Story
AutoCAD® Electrical
With AutoCAD Electrical,
I can create a whole
new set of drawings in
minutes. It’s saved me
countless hours of work.
—Dave Patches
Electrical Engineering Tech
Amerimax Home Products, Inc.
part, numbers, and line references manually. There
was always the potential for errors to add significant
cost to a project.”
The Solution
After a few days of training, Dave began benefiting
fromthepowerofAutoCADElectrical.Manyof
the routine tasks that once ate up days were now
automated or were exponentially faster.
Reusing Designs
ByleveragingexistingAutoCADElectricaldrawing
to start new projects, Dave has shortened design
cycle time dramatically. “I’m building a library
of AutoCAD Electrical drawings for our custom
machines,” he explains. “When I need to design
electrical controls, I simply pull drawings from this
library and adjust them to meet the new project’s
requirements. With AutoCAD Electrical, I can create
a whole new set of drawings in minutes.”
Reusing Symbols
While switching to AutoCAD Electrical did require
Dave to make some adjustments, it didn’t mean he
had to recreate the wheel. All the custom sym-
bols he’d developed for AutoCAD could easily be
converted into an intelligent AutoCAD Electrical
symbol. That meant Dave didn’t need to build a new
custom symbol library from scratch.
“MyWBLOCKSretainedalltheirspecialattributes,”
says Dave. “I just insert a special symbol into a
drawing and AutoCAD Electrical keeps track of all
the terminals and part numbers. And when I create
a wire list, all the information is there. There’s noth-
ing in standard AutoCAD that comes close.”
Automating BOMs
WhilecreatingBOMsusedtobeaheadache,it’s
now automated. “When I put a symbol in a drawing,
it has a part number,” Dave explains. “AutoCAD
Electrical keeps track of the parts the design re-
quires.Atanytime,IcancreateaBOMwithaclick
of a button.”
In addition, making design changes is no longer a
manual, time-consuming, and error-prone process.
“I used to have to go back over the drawings and
check against my parts spreadsheet any time there
was a change to minimize mistakes,” adds Dave.
“Now, everything updates automatically—and I never
worrythatmyBOMsaren’tcurrent.”
Dave takes advantage of this new capability by or-
dering parts that he knows have a long lead time far
in advance. “I have peace of mind because I know
we’ll have these components in house and on time
for machine installations,” he says.
Better Designs
Becauseit’snolongerlaborioustoadjustdesigns,
Dave is now more likely to make alterations that
enhance ergonomics, production speed, or operator
eciency. “In the past, anytime someone wanted
a change, it meant a lot of rework,” explains Dave.
“It could take me up to a day to look through 60
sheets to change a reference, so I was more likely to
suggestaworkaround.ButwithAutoCADElectrical,
I can make changes within an hour, rather than
two-to-three days. Now, we are able to improve
machines more proactively.”
The Result
Thanks to the Autodesk solution for Digital
Prototyping, Amerimax is designing higher-quality
electrical controls to support more ecient produc-
tion machinery. And because AutoCAD Electrical
doesn’t allow incorrect wiring and automates many
manual tasks, there’s less chance for human error.
With AutoCAD Electrical automating many routine
tasks, Dave creates electrical controls designs more
Images courtesy of Amerimax.
Autodesk and AutoCAD are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or aliates in the USA and/or other countries. All
other brand trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product oerings and specifications at any time with-
out notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
© 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
than 400% faster. For example, producing a wire
list that once consumed hours, now takes minutes.
“Things that used to take me days in AutoCAD, I can
now complete with a few keystrokes using AutoCAD
Electrical,” concludes Dave. “AutoCAD Electrical has
saved me countless hours of work. I simply wouldn’t
be able to complete the work required of me in
a reasonable timeframe if we hadn’t switched to
AutoCAD Electrical.”
To learn more about AutoCAD Electrical, visit
www.autodesk.com/autocadelectrical.
I used to have to go back over the drawings and check
against my parts spreadsheet any time there was a change to
minimize mistakes. Now, everything updates automatically—
andIneverworrythatmyBOMsaren’tcurrent.
—Dave Patches
Electrical Engineering Tech
Amerimax Home Products, Inc.
Using AutoCAD Electrical, Amerimax is speeding up electrical
controls design drastically, while reducing errors and rework.

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