January / February - Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association

Industry Profi leMasterGraphics Inc.Moving From Mainstream toBest-In-ClassWithout a doubt, digital prototypingis becoming the new gold standard. Itis driving mainstream manufacturersto become best in their class.Unlike rapid prototyping, digitalprototyping allows manufacturers topreview a product’s performance inevery phase of development. Using aMake MasterGraphics your veryfi rst design data resource.single digital model, they can visualize,analyze and simulate the productbefore it ever hits the shop fl oor.“Digital prototyping is not justabout design, it’s about their entirework fl ow of design data,” said MarkLackovic, vice president of operationsat MasterGraphics.Experience It Before It’s RealThe Autodesk solution for digitalprototyping takes manufacturersbeyond 3D design. It makes designdata work by bridging the gaps thatusually exist between the design,engineering and manufacturingteams. As a result, products hit themarket faster.Other applications provide onlypart of the functionality needed tocreate a complete digitalprototype. They arenot equipped tosupport thedesign ofcomplexelectricalcomponents,for example,so thedesigninformationbecomesfragmented.Autodeskis the onlycomprehensive digitalprototyping solution onthe market. It provides completeinteroperability, eliminating theneed for multiple CAD packages.Autodesk brings together designdata from all phases of the productdevelopment process to create asingle digital model that can be usedin every stage of development. Theresult is seamless portability fromdesign intent to design tool.In addition to interoperability,the Autodesk digital prototypingsolution is unique in that it providesmanufacturers with the optionto render their designs. With thisfeature, they can show real lifelikeanimations of products withincredible detail and fl exibility.For example, BurgerBoats (a MasterGraphicscustomer) renders itsdesigns to sell highend,customizedyachts beforethey are everconstructed.Potentialcustomers cansee realisticsimulations ofcustom-builtyachts at boatshows. And they canplace an order beforea single screw is put inplace.The concept of digital prototypingisn’t new; in fact, it has been aroundfor about 20 years. However,Autodesk was the fi rst to bringit within reach for mainstreammanufacturers. Today a broad groupof manufacturers are able to realizeits benefi ts due to the fact thatit is attainable, cost-effective andscalable.“Most of our customerbase is made up of small tomedium manufacturers thatneed all the same capabilities aslarge manufacturers,” Lackovicsaid. “Autodesk is the mostcomprehensive solution on themarket. But it is cost-effective andpractical enough for even smallcompanies.”ATTAINABLE:Autodesk digital prototyping providesthe most straightforward andunproblematic path for manufacturersto create and maintain a single digitalmodel.COST-EFFECTIVE:Autodesk Manufacturing has a proventrack record of making powerfuldesktop technology available tocompanies of all sizes.SCALABLE:Digital prototyping is scalable, fl exibleand easy to integrate into existingbusiness practices. Manufacturersdon’t have to implement everythingat once; instead, they can realize thebenefi ts of digital prototyping at theirown pace, with minimal disruptions toexisting work fl ows.