Success Story
Michigan-based Central Industrial Manufacturing (CIM) is a precision computerized numerical control (CNC) machine shop that specializes in manufacturing complex components via turning, milling, electrical discharge machining, 3D printing, and grinding. They attribute their longevity, which spans more than 55 years, to a highly skilled workforce and cutting-edge technologies in machines, tooling, and inspection equipment that enable them to deliver high-quality products on time and at competitive prices.
In order to build the business with existing and new customers, the challenge was to find a cost-effective computer aided manufacturing (CAM) solution that would ensure accurate part files were used in manufacturing and help them reduce programming time and meet delivery timelines.
CIM needed to:
CIM had one seat of Autodesk FeatureCAM software which had been recently acquired, that they were not using to it’s full potential. “From what we understood about FeatureCAM, it could help us take our manufacturing forward, but we needed to make sure it was the right solution for us,” said Howard Walls, owner at CIM. “We also needed to work with a company that could train our machinists on how to use the software, keep us current on software updates, let us know about new features relevant to our business, and provide support as needed.”
While looking into how to find a company that could deliver everything CIM needed, Howard reached out to a colleague. “I told him that in addition to determining the right technology solutions and providing training and support, I needed a company that would be responsive, so my team could focus on meeting our customers’ needs. He highly recommended that I contact IMAGINiT. I’m so happy that I did.”
Howard and Abby Rice, office manager at CIM, met with CAM specialists from IMAGINiT, who learned about CIM’s existing processes, their team members’ familiarity with digital technologies, and the company’s plans for continued growth. With a full understanding, IMAGINiT recommended moving to Autodesk Fusion 360 which is a 3D CAD, CAM, CAE, and PCB software platform that connects the entire product development process into one cloud-based software.
They developed a solution that included:
“We are certain we have the right solution,” said Abby. “The IMAGINiT team listened to us, asked questions that demonstrated their knowledge of the technologies available, and showed us how every piece of their recommendation addressed our challenges.”
Howard said, “By moving from manual processes to automation and getting our team the skills they need to program the machines faster and for more complex parts, we are positioned to expand our capabilities, save time, and save money.”
He continued, “By standardizing on Fusion 360 CAM, we now have everyone utilizing best industry practices and unified processes, reducing our programming time by 50%, reducing errors by 15%, and improving our delivery times by 10%. All of this is leading to us to the goal of improving customer satisfaction.”
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C2AE Trusts IMAGINiT with BIM Management Services
For several years, the Building division within C2AE successfully followed a BIM-management-by-committee approach to making decisions on procedures, standards, and best practices. The company’s designers and engineers would meet in person or online, discuss the options, and determine next steps. As the company’s team grew in size and experience level, coming to a consensus became more difficult. C2AE recognized the need to select one person to be the point person responsible for gathering and evaluating all the opinions and deciding which to select and implement.
Swinterton Delivers Value and Achieves ROI with Leica RTC360 Scanner
When renovating buildings, Swinerton starts with as-built measurements provided by clients. Because those drawings rarely include updates, Swinerton relied on their architects to manually measure spaces, put those measurements into Autodesk Revit, and provide PDFs of the information to the designers, who used them as the starting point for renovations. Swinerton started getting laser scans of structures at the beginning of renovation projects using external companies to perform the scanning. “The laser scanners led to great improvements,” said Matt Zwetzig, VD&C Manager, Swinerton. “Measurements were gathered in a fraction of the time, teams knew they were working with accurate information, plans were created faster, correct parts were ordered the first time, and the parts fit as expected.” With business growing and timelines shortening, Matt determined it was time to compare costs for hiring external providers versus purchasing a scanner and completing the work in house.
Massilly North America Automates Processes with Fusion 360 Manage
In 2015, Massilly North America reached out to Autodesk for support on their product lifecycle management (PLM) software, Fusion 360 Manage (previously known as Autodesk PLM 360), which is critical to the company’s day-to-day operations. Autodesk connected Massilly North America with IMAGINiT, and the IMAGINiT PLM team answered questions on specific issues, consulted on workflow improvements, and shared best practices.
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