January 2004
Info Provided By:
Mark Hastings
Visa Lighting, recently named one of the best places
to work by Milwaukee Magazine, utilizes its
award-winning work environment to manufacture superior
specification grade Architectural lighting fixtures.
Since 1943 Visa Lighting has been manufacturing its
products for the finest architects, designers, contractors,
and lighting specifiers in the USA and abroad. Most
products go into the renovation or new construction
of any variety of businesses, organizations, and high-end
residences. These products are designed and manufactured
in Visa Lighting’s Milwaukee, WI plant. The facility
is very versatile, as they manufacture most of their
own parts, many times using CNC equipment. Various
materials such as brass, aluminum, steel, stainless
steel, copper, and acrylics are used to make the products.
Visa Lighting also uses die-castings, sand-castings,
and extrusions.
Mark Hastings, Engineering Manager at Visa Lighting,
states that they employ SolidWorks “from start
to finish in the development cycle,” starting
with solids during the concept phase and using it to
evolve the product through manufacturing. “We
make extensive use of configurations in Solidworks
as all of our products are features and options driven.
The configurations are used at the part and assembly
level. One assembly file could represent hundreds of
combinations of options and finishes,” he explains.
At times these assembly files are also used to create
photorealistic renderings for literature, line drawings
for submittals, and for programming CNC equipment on
the shop floor.
“The ability to manage configurations was a
driving factor for choosing Solidworks,” Hastings
asserts, adding that “the sheet metal features
also rate high on the scale for us.” Hastings
was also impressed with SolidWorks’ intuitive
features and menus, which provided a fast learning
curve for implementation. The enhancements that SolidWorks
adds every year continually “hit right on target
for our needs,” he affirms. When looking into
complementary software, Hastings is sure to look for
the SolidWorks Gold Partner rating, trusting that these
products represent the highest level of integration
with SolidWorks.
Graphics Systems has been instrumental in assisting
Visa Lighting with SolidWorks. “Graphics Systems
has been very helpful in choosing, implementing, and
training. We often attend their classes and work-out
sessions to keep current in the software,” Hastings
confirms.
For more information about Visa Lighting please visit: www.VisaLighting.com.
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If your company is interested in becoming a Spotlight
Customer
contact us by email
or call 1-800-454-2233 x1117
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