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Fueltech Sweden AB is a fuel, oil tank supplier to the automotive industry. By deploying CATIA PLM Express Fueltech Sweden has already recorded significant improvements in their product development processes thereby reinforcing their already strong position in this market.
CATIA PLM Express is a scalable solution which provides CATIA design excellence at an affordable price for companies of all sizes. It also delivers core collaborative PDM functionality via ENOVIA SmarTeam, for optimized CATIA design management and collaboration.
Fueltech Sweden AB is active in two areas. The first is as a tank specialist in the Customer Aftermarket Sales (CAS) for special vehicles and other smaller customers with specific design demands. The second concerns tanks for Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) companies such as Volvo and Scania. Given the very different dynamics of these two segments, each imposes different supplier requirements. |
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| THE CAS MARKET: “TIME IS MONEY” |
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“There are often several rounds of discussions with customers with respect to a design before reaching an agreement. This is why shortening the product design preparation time becomes crucial”, Matthias Nedfors, Product Manager of Fueltech Sweden R&D department says. That is exactly where CATIA PLM Express comes into play. During the design stage, a fuel and hydraulic oil tank have the same section cut, whereas the end product varies in length, size or positions of holes etc. “This is an ideal situation for using the parametric model”, states Matthias
Now by just simply clicking on the buttons or dragging arrows in the drawings, this tedious process is reduced from several days to only one or a few hours. This dramatically shortens construction lead time with not only a more effective product design process but also a much higher level of customer satisfaction.
The projects from OEM customers are quite large in terms of breadth and depth which means the communication is time consuming. It is crucial to match the customers’ PLM working environment. Fueltech Sweden was determined to switch to CATIA PLM Express in the early stages because both Volvo and Scania were also moving towards CATIA V5.
With the same working environment as their strategic customers as well as with their
R&D headquarters in Austria, all the product development verifications are under the same design program. This shortens the total product development lifecycle from 12 to 16 weeks to 4 to 6 weeks!
The first challenge for CATIA PLM Express came up almost immediately. Fueltech Sweden AB made a joint commitment with Parker Hannifin for the manufacture of complete hydraulic oil tanks. Fueltech Sweden AB makes the tanks in Sweden and equips them with Parker products, such as return filters, etc. “The challenge here is due to the fact that we receive 54 new products that have to be implemented into our system. We have great hopes that CATIA PLM Express will allow us to improve this process considerably,” says Matthias.
“Maybe one year from now we will be able to show you more of the impact CATIA PLM Express will have not only on the product development process, but also on the entire production chain”, comments Matthias.
Fueltech is looking forward to an exciting future with CATIA PLM Express and the implementation of ENOVIA SmarTeam. This investment will position Fueltech Sweden AB as an international tank supplier by enabling them to work more interactively with their major customers |
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