The challenge
HydX AB develops and manufactures hydraulics-based automation solutions for the OEM marketplace within the industrial, mobile, and marine sectors. The company needed to digitalize its business processes even further to be able to quickly create smart solutions for its customers.
The solution
Smart digitalization makes it possible for HydX to design, produce and sell brand-new types of advanced hydraulic automation solutions and expand their business.
HydX AB headquartered in the southern Swedish town of Ystad is a company in the Swedish industrial group Volito Automationgruppen. HydX develops and manufactures automation solutions based on hydraulics for industrial, mobile, and marine purposes. This involves a lot of 3D modeling, production of manufacturing drawings as well as technical calculations and simulation. Smart product development processes and the level of digitalization plays a crucial role for HydX when optimizing purchasing, manufacturing, and marketing/sales processes.
Meeting Challenges upfront
Dealing with new challenges is a daily part of HydX’s business. As an interesting example Design Engineer Wictor Kocula mentions a recently completed project:
“The customer needed proof that our solution would be able to function in an environment with high seismic activity,” he explains.
HydX used the simulation capability to demonstrate how their product would react to the seismic influences in real life. In this case, the client wanted access to the full data set with the actual results of the simulations, Wictor Kocula explains:
“Within a few minutes, we had accurate data, which we could use to demonstrate to the customer that our solution met their requirements fully. It would have been virtually impossible to perform these calculations by hand.”
Optimized purchasing processes
HydX’s purchasing department makes extensive use of 3D models and drawings, explains Technical Manager Håkan Erlandsson: “When our subcontractors get an assignment from us, we provide them with drawings and 3D models for the manufacture of the components we need from them.”
Wictor Kocula adds: “The software is also a great decision tool for us when we are looking for prefabricated components. We can usually get 3D models of components from suppliers in the form of 3D models we can drag into our own 3D assemblies to analyze if they meet our needs. This helps us choose the right components for the right tasks very quickly.”
3D kick to sales and marketing
In HydX’s sales and marketing departments 3D models and drawings from SOLIDWORKS play a crucial role in the daily customer contact, says Wictor Kocula:
“If a customer for instance wants to see what our equipment will look like in their actual production environment I use the software to very quickly create screen images, drawings, and photorealistic renderings which the salespeople can present to the customer. This is even possible when I have not yet begun the design work. I can just reuse one of our existing models, and very quickly change a few components and dimensions.”
CAD models optimize production
All the employees in manufacturing at HydX have full access to 3D models and drawings from the CAD software via computers located directly at their workstations.
The models provide them with all the information they need to do their job in the most effective way minimizing the risk for errors. The models show to see how the individual components should be placed and how they fit together, and they also have access to technical information about the individual components like hoses, connectors, and bolts.
Good partnership means leads to minimum downtime
“Our cooperation with PLM Group is functioning well,” says Wictor Kocula: “We have a very informal communication about any problem that might arise. It usually concerns how we can use the software to solve various tasks in the most efficient way and when we are in contact with the support group, we quickly get detailed answers. This means that our downtime is minimal,” he says. Håkan Erlandsson adds: “We are basically lazy. We do not like to do the same thing again and again. If we can apply a good digital solution to some of our work we will do it in order to spend our valuable time in the most efficient manner.”
The success
- Ability to develop smart and complicated products
- Closer cooperation and communication with customers
- Professional documentation for sales and marketing
- Production documentation based on direct access to 3D models
