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May 2006
Information Provided By: Tony Lambert, Vice President of Operations
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Picture this situation: your customer demand has increased to the point where everyone is struggling on a daily basis, trying to overcome constant repetition, “fire-fighting” today’s concerns, and creating more and more custom products. These issues attack businesses every day and often interfere with the ability to focus on the bigger picture, like designing and advancing new products for your company. Maintaining an obvious need for good customer service, quality, error free product and supply to an ever-growing customer base is something that cannot be changed. But you also have to transform your current working structure to a growing company. VanAire, Inc. found the solution by integrating SolidWorks and the Certified Gold Partner Product DriveWorks.

VanAire, located in Upper Michigan, started in 1994 with two people in a two car garage, and has grown to over 65 employees in a 45,000 square foot building. They are a unique company geared toward the niche markets of valve automation, waste water treatment, extension chutes for concrete trucks, and bio-diesel manufacturing. They have separated themselves from the competition successfully with quality products and a team orientated mission. VanAire encourages employee professional growth through life-long training and education, provides long term security by introducing products and concepts that contribute to long-term growth and profitability, and maximizes the value of each employee’s contribution by utilizing advanced manufacturing techniques and automation.

Previously an AutoCAD company, VanAire found SolidWorks when one of their designers wanted to investigate 3D CAD Software. “At first we did not give it much thought, but when a part was created in about a two-thirds of the time it had taken in the past, we were sold,” stated Tony Lambert, Vice President of Operations for VanAire. “Not only do we see a reduction in the time to design, but the drawings and the models created were more useful than AutoCAD 2D prints we had before. The price was right and SolidWorks was by far the more user-friendly compared to Autodesk Inventor and Pro Engineer so we chose SolidWorks Office Professional.”

New software was only the beginning of an enormous undertaking to advance the business; automation was next on the list. By using DriveWorks, VanAire was able to maximize the capabilities of SolidWorks and DriveWorks combined and will begin to incorporate them into their ERP system, website, and shipping system. “We have significantly decreased mistakes and the overall time it takes to fill an order. We went from sixty to eighty minutes down to an estimated seven to ten minutes and we hope to drastically reduce that time again when we allow our customers to design and get quotes online using the DriveWorks web interface,” said Lambert.

Some project highlights include:
- Reduced quote time and sales entry from ten minutes to less than two
- Reduced design time from forty-five minutes to less than two and virtually eliminated design mistakes.
- Models allow customers to visualize the end product easier, check for interferences between parts, and send eDrawings.
- Automatically put all necessary information on prints and in the proper location.

Having the technology has allowed VanAire employees to eliminate many previously required steps. They no longer have to manually look for proper specifications, make sure information is current, and insert the same data repeatedly. DriveWorks inputs all the information into one software system and automatically pushes it into their ERP and UPS software, and has improved communication between the office and shop, allowing more concentration on designing new products and improving current procedures.

“ Honestly, VanAire was lucky when we chose SolidWorks and Graphics Systems. We really did not do a lot of research, scientific ROI calculations, or compare it to many other 3D CAD programs. We picked the reseller and software based upon the people and their custom demo. When Graphics Systems came in showing how they created a model with a VanAire bracket in the hotel room the night before, we knew it was not a just another ‘canned demo’ like we had seen before. Right away we knew Graphics Systems cared about the products we make,” stated Lambert. “SolidWorks, combined with its partners, has exceeded our expectations; it has turned our dream into a reality for me, VanAire and our customers, and we are looking forward to implementing DBWorks and COSMOS in the future!”

“ VanAire has come along way in the short time that we had SolidWorks and DriveWorks. We never dreamed that we could become so efficient in our design process until we were introduced to SolidWorks and DriveWorks. We could not have done it without the support and expertise from Graphics System. We are excited to see where this will lead VanAire in the very near future.”

More information on VanAire Inc. visit www.vanaireinc.com