LMCE Group is building a better world with fewer machines. Product design with SOLIDWORKS solutions can be done by designers based in different geographical locations, making it a good solution at Group level. In this story, R&D Manager Ville Pesonen from Lännen Tractors describes how SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional has improved their data management.
Sustainable products with innovative tools
LMCE Group (Lännen Mobile Construction Equipment) is an international provider of smart and mobile multipurpose solutions. Which means that designers innovate high quality products that last long, have low CO2 emissions, and a capability of multitasking and performing the tasks of several different machine types. SOLIDWORKS solutions are helping designers achieve that goal.
Today LMCE Group is still privately owned, and their factories are located in Finland and Sweden. The company, which employs 160 people, has a history dating back to the 1950s and includes the following companies:
- Lännen MCE Oy, Lännen Tractors Oy and Aquamec Oy in Finland
- Lannen Tractors AB and Lundberg Hymas AB in Sweden.
LMCE Group produces machines for different environments and purposes: such as smart and mobile solutions for infrastructure and public works, municipal engineering, urban and property maintenance, and water environment.
Lännen 8700M – Agile and fast multipurpose backhoe loader
Benefits with SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional
Years back, the company received extra SOLIDWORKS licenses through an acquisition, which led to a discussion within LMCE Group to move from multi CAD environment to one platform.
“We decided to continue with SOLIDWORKS products and switched to SOLIDWORKS PDM Solution. Since SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional is fully integrated into SOLIDWORKS CAD, PDM Professional was an obvious choice,” says R&D Manager Ville Pesonen.
The decision to manage their data on PDM has helped with optimizing productivity and collaboration.
“It´s always good to have just one PDM-system in use and therefore I think cooperation within the Group will be even smoother in the future. Because the product is widely used it gives us more flexibility to collaborate with subcontractor designers. When they already have a SOLIDWORKS license and they know the software, we only need to give them rental licences to access our PDM-system.”
LMCE Group has expanded to a new business model – offering design as a service
When a product is designed in a cloud platform, it makes no difference where the designers work – inhouse or externally. Design resources can also be used within the Group, which not only provides new challenges for designers but also keeps talents in-house.
SOLIDWORKS is a professional design software that is used not only by our designers, but also by many subcontracting companies. While working with the old PDM-system, Lännen Tractors had a very limited number of subcontractors to work with because the designers had no experience with other software than SOLIDWORKS.
“Now that designing is not limited to our own products, Lännen Tractors also offers design services as a subcontractor. Reach truck for Mecalift and N-series thinning harvester for Nisula Forest are great examples of products where the design is created by collaborating with Lännen Tractors,” says Ville Pesonen.
Photo: Nisula Forest Oy – N6 Thinning harvester on duty
PDM Pro can be optimized according to company needs
Today Lännen Tractors design work is mostly done in SOLIDWORKS. Initially, however, the existing production system was not compatible with SOLIDWORKS, so the new software was only used to design new products. This allowed the design work to continue smoothly during the transition phase.
“PDM Pro has options available, and it requires patience to get it modified to your company’s needs. Although everything was setup quite fast”, Ville reminisces.
If you are prepared to invest time and energy into the setup work, it will be worth it, and working will be joyful from that moment on. PDM Pro is quite a logical system, if something will not work there is always an obvious reason and an available fix for it.
PLM support is available 24/7
“We have used PLM Group’s services for many years and their support services have become familiar to us in a positive way. Their support is easy to contact via phone or e-mail and help is always available when needed”, says Ville and continues:
“In the beginning we had technical challenges mainly related to preference settings, but PLM Group’s technical support guided us along the way. Overall implementation of the software in Lännen Tractors went well. In the future, we are also planning to use PLM Group’s support services in our subcontractor’s software deployments.”
Next, Web2 solution will be tested
Lännen Tractors has now adopted the PDM Professional, and the next steps are related to the SOLIDWORKS online (WEb2) interface, an option they have not tried yet.
Web2 interface is a lighter and cheaper version of PDM and it´s mainly used for previewing parts, models, data cards and Bill of Materials. It also allows you to easily share and print information. No installation is required because the program works through a web browser. This lighter version offers remote access when you are not connected to the same network as your company’s servers.
“In Lännen Tractors, PDM Professional is used by designers, and next we need to test if Web2 solution is suitable for production, aftermarket and sales needs. If everything goes well, this is something we will promote for our other companies as well in LMCE Group. “
Web2 requires a minor setup to deploy if it is only used on the internal network. If it´s used outside of the company’s own network, a separate certificate is required. For example, in production, employees could preview 3D-models and drawings and print them if they needed. Web2 is not only working in computers but also in smartphones and tablets too.
Visit LMCE Group website or contact us to learn more about our solutions.