Case Study on Reverse Engineering

The Client

The client is a manufacturer and supplier of spare parts used in a wide range of refrigeration compressors. Its market presence extends to the UK, Europe and Middle East.

Situation - Business Needs

The client had hundreds of fiber gaskets that needed to undergo reverse engineering in order to produce true dimensional solid models in DXF file format. The major factors warranting an offshore solution were dearth of skilled engineers and draftsmen in the local market, and client's budgetary constraints. The client was positive about the outcome of an offshore possibility, which would allow savings in operating costs in addition to allowing it to focus on its core business goals. Apart from the cost factor, it also wanted to benefit from the competency of an outsourcing vendor to create better operational efficiency and streamline its processes.

The client's business situation had the following components -

• Having hundreds of gaskets reverse-engineered according to predetermined specifications
• The gaskets needed to be shipped to an offshore location
• Ensuring high-quality output to derive a true dimensional model of each gasket in DXF file format
• Using the DXF files to develop shapes to cut the gaskets

Challenges

Some of the key challenges faced during the course of the project were -

• Increased complexity of job due to different shapes and sizes of the gaskets
• Criticality of measuring, analyzing and testing each gasket design to match design intent
• Providing the output in an editable DXF file format with true dimensional quality
• Ensuring effectiveness and profitability of the project by working within the budgetary limitations and timeline provided by the client

The Flatworld Solution

The Flatworld project team did a careful analysis of the requirements before deciding on their final approach. The salient features of The Flatworld Solutions comprised of -

• Getting a few sample gaskets laser scanned to get the cloud point data
• Producing drawings from the available data
• Converting the scans to DXF files using SolidWorks 2012
• Sending the samples to the client for approval
• Proceeding work on 500 gaskets- full order quantity - after approval from the client
• Deploying world-class workstations complete with the latest versions of AutoCAD and SolidWorks
• Earmarking adequate resources to meet project deadlines
• Utilizing the latest backup and disaster recovery systems to prevent downtime
• Employing stringent security measures for providing top of the line client data security

Results

• The client witnessed savings in the range of 40% to 60%
• Elimination of scrupulous expenses by directing available resources towards achieving core business goals
• Flatworld solutions seamlessly integrated into the clients manufacturing processes to improve efficiency and foster growth in client's business