Tech-Long needed a more efficient way to design its large, complex beverage packaging machines.

 

Tech-Long leads beverage packaging in China
As the leading supplier of beverage packaging equipment in China, Tech-Long can provide a complete solution for beverage production facilities. Its machines span the process from pretreatment to secondary packaging and include: a fully automatic PET blow molding machine (the first in China), a five-gallon filling line, rotary barreled water equipment with the highest speed in Asia, high-speed filling system and packaging equipment. Tech-Long’s customers include multinationals such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Danone and San Miguel. The company also provides equipment and service for domestic beverage producers such as Wahaha, Robust, Coconut Palm and more.

 

Tech-Long’s products are complex machines. One machine may have as many as 28,000 components. Not only are these machines complex, some operate at very high speeds. Designing the machines so that all the various subassemblies interact flawlessly is a challenge. Facing pressure to control costs and speed time-to-market, members of Tech-Long’s management looked for ways to make the design process more efficient. In particular, they wanted a design approach that would let the machines be assembled virtually, so that interferences could be found earlier in the process. They also realized they could improve efficiency by re-using existing designs to a greater extent, so they wanted a design management system as well.

 

A two-part solution
Tech-Long chose Solid Edge software because it fully satisfied both requirements. Solid Edge’s assembly modeling functionality is capable of building virtual 3D models of entire machines. And because Solid Edge includes seamlessly integrated product data management (PDM) functionality (Solid Edge Insight), Tech-Long got the design management solution it needed at no additional cost.

 

Tech-Long now designs machines in 3D in Solid Edge, building virtual assemblies that are evaluated for fit and function onscreen. This new approach has definitely accomplished Tech-Long’s goal of greater efficiency in the design process. Productivity has improved by 20 to 50 percent. In addition, engineering change orders (ECO) are down more than 50 percent now that many problems are detected and fixed in the early stages of development.

 

The power of PDM
Solid Edge Insight has also contributed to Tech-Long’s enhanced efficiency in a number of ways. Its coding management function has standardized the way parts and subassemblies are named and stored, making it easier to find and re-use them in the future. Similarly, Insight’s configuration management capability helps avoid repeated redesign of parts. By establishing a basic platform built on existing parts, Insight helps shorten design time and enhance quality. It also permits more time for research and development.

 

Other features of Insight that play a critical role at Tech-Long include: change control and version management (ensures accuracy, consistency, validity and a historical record); where-used queries (allows searches of the database based on properties such as material, component code etc., facilitating data re-use); and design check-in and check-out (ensures security and integrity of designs even when multiple designers are working on them). For Tech-Long, all this adds up to faster time-to-market and increased revenues, helping the company retain its leadership position in a competitive market.