Companies that focus on products for mining and construction can produce anything from crane systems that can reach 100m up in the sky to hydraulic roof supports that keep open mines deep in the ground.
No matter their solution, they all share many of the same challenges. For example, how do you design a product that’s too big to physically prototype and yet also too expensive for do overs if you get it wrong?
Over the next few weeks, we’ll try to answer questions like these as we explore companies from all over the world that use PTC products for building equipment that’s massive.
Let’s start in Spain, with a company whose conveyor systems are found all over the world.
Maquiaridos specializes in manufacturing conveyor belts for the mining industry, transporting tons of heavy materials from the mine to crusher to stockpile.
Like many companies in big machinery, Maquiaridos has to create products flexible enough to meet diverse customer needs. Clearly, every mine setup is unique, so no one solution fits every job, or even more than one job.
Not wishing to design each product from scratch, Maquiaridos developed a modular system for its conveyor belts so that its solutions are “totally versatile and functional and allows [Maquiaridos] to equip customers with a whole range of accessories.”
Head and tail sections of a conveyor designed in PTC Creo
Using modular design enables design re-use, lowest cost, and helps drives competitive pricing
Your custom conveyor system can come with walkways, top covers, side protection, and more. And, amazingly, everything can be assembled using just nuts and bolts, so there’s no need for welding out in the field.
All that takes a bit of engineering, as you might guess. From the company website:
Our Engineering department calculates everything from motor power to belt width, as well as parameters such as speed, slope, belt type, etc., to make our conveyor belts more operational, safe, and useful inside any material treating and processing system.
To ensure all that engineering doesn’t delay projects unnecessarily, the company decided to select the best CAD tool for its needs. Maquiaridos evaluated various 3D design software tools. The result? The company selected PTC Creo because of the ease with which engineers can work with large assemblies using the software.
The decision paid off. By using PTC Creo, engineers found that they were producing fewer errors and designing more efficiently. In fact, they say they can produce new designs 50% faster than before.
Flexible hinges enable full customization of conveyor systems
And as the software simplifies engineering designs, the team says they can create more sophisticated solutions.
“We have streamlined the process of designing parts and assemblies,” says Álvaro Pozo. “This allows us to increase design complexity while reducing errors in manufacturing.”
And according to Mark Edward, one of Maquiaridos’ clients in Australia: “They’ve put a lot of smart engineering into the design of their equipment. They come in modules and flat pack into containers. Typical systems are designed and assembled using modules from 1m to 12m in length, so they all fit in a 40 foot container. They get pre-assembled, pre-commissioned and then flat packed and sent to site. They use European quality components: SEW gear boxes and motors, Sandvik rollers and belt cleaners, Schneider Electric switching, belts are Dunlop and Continental – so they don’t cut any corners.”
Here’s an example of an animated conveyor belt in PTC Creo
In coming weeks we’ll introduce more companies that are building big with PTC Creo, including a company that makes equipment for brickyards and another that says it provided much of the muscle that helped give rise to China’s spectacular economic development.
- See more at: http://creo.ptc.com/2014/06/12/building-big-maquiaridos-delivers-for-the-mining-industry/#sthash.lF28LHqs.dpuf
