Integration of the New 3D Engineering System
Auburn, NY. Currier Plastics Inc., a multidiscipline processor (Injection Molding, Extrusion Blow Molding & Injection Stretch Blow Molding) has continued to grow in the Packaging, Electronics, Medical and Instrumentation markets and has recently made additional investments to their Design & Engineering Department by adding a Next Engine 3 Dimensional Scanner system. The 3D scanner system gives the user the ability to scan any object and obtain highly accurate and measured data (within 0.005 inch accuracy) that can then be further developed into a workable model.
This new equipment is part of a Currier Plastic systematic approach to reverse engineering. Currier can now take an existing design from their customers and quickly recreate it making design alterations such as light weighting, geometry and aesthetic appearance changes. With this new software & hardware, Currier can turn around new designs electronically in a shorter time frame impacting time to market and cost.
Larry Jedik, senior CAD Designer at Currier Plastics for eleven years, said “The addition of the 3D scanner system gives us full feature manipulation. We were looking for a more desirable way to help our customers go to market with new and innovative designs. Our systematic approach takes Currier Plastics to a new level of design development very quickly.” He added, “The way it works is simple. The customer presents a part they would like to duplicate; usually with some alterations. We perform a 3D scan of the part and the raw data is imported into RapidWorks software. From the scanned data, RapidWorks builds a feature tree, which further breaks down the object scanned into individual component parts much like Lego™ building blocks. This 3D scan produces a model that we then import into SolidWorks, our engineering modeling software. We can then generate the design renderings and drawings for our customers to review and approve and which can ultimately be used by our toolmakers to manufacture molds.”
“This streamlined approach makes delivery of an innovative design a lot cleaner and has helped Currier Plastics customers gain the competitive edge in brand recognition,” says Gary Kieffer, VP of New Product Development. He added that “Moving forward, Currier Plastics is committed to continuing our investments in our design offerings that will enable us to be more responsive to a growing need to deliver conceptual design work in a shorter time frame. This driving factor is in alignment with our corporate commitment to V² (Value X Velocity). V² is our trademark approach to combining speed or Velocity with superior Value that incorporates total quality, operational precision, efficiency and established organizational core values.” Currier Plastics is located in central New York and is the recent recipient of the 2010 Economic Champion by the CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity.
