Branson Ultrasonics Leverages EnSuite to Optimize Quoting Process and Cross functional Team Collaboration

Farmington Hills, Michigan – Branson Ultrasonics is an industry leader in plastics joining, precision cleaning, ultrasonic processing and ultrasonic metal welding equipment. The automotive division specializes in welding tail lamps, instrument panels, bumpers, manifolds, fuel filters, and numerous valves and sensors; cleaning ABS components, fuel injectors, electronic ignitions, and various precision parts.

Branson receives multiple application inquires a month from customers for their welding applications. A critical first step that determines the success of the project is the correct selection of the welding machine. Branson welding machines are available in varying sizes and application capacity.

Selecting the right machine is not a simple task as it involves having a clear understanding of the part geometry that is to be welded. Usually, customers send Branson data files produced directly from the CAD systems in which they were designed. As, there are numerous CAD systems commonly used in the industry, Branson required a tool that would seamlessly read any CAD format without a license of the CAD system that authored it. Besides the tool would also need to have features to interrogate the part geometry and extract the required information. After, a thorough investigation and benchmarking Branson decided to invest in CCE’s EnSuite software.

Ken Hunter, Branson’s director of non-ultrasonic tooling for North America likes the ability to efficiently quote jobs using EnSuite. “I use the data set retrieved by EnSuite to look at part sizes and angles, which allow me to determine what size machine I will need to use for a job.” said Ken. “We use many other features such as bounding box, cross sectioning and measure. Using EnSuite, I can assemble multiple parts of an assembly from different CAD formats without using a separate CAD license for each format.” added Ken.

Another EnSuite feature Branson finds very useful is its extremely user-friendly interface. This has allowed non-CAD savvy users access to valuable engineering information, thus fostering cross-functional collaboration between sales, estimating and engineering teams.

EnSuite is a CAD independent software package that provides an easy-to-use toolbox for designers and non-designers to view, translate, interrogate and re-purpose multi-CAD data for their functional applications. EnSuite supports all major 3D CAD formats including CATIA V4, CATIA V5, NX, Pro/E, SolidWorks, Parasolid, JT, CGR, STL, Solid Edge, 3D PDF, IGES and STEP.

CAD data sharing throughout the heterogeneous supply chain

CCE has announced that it has added the ability to create heterogeneous multi-CAD assemblies to EnSuite Version 2 - its multi-CAD viewing, translation and productivity software. This new feature enables users to build an assembly by inserting components from different proprietary and neutral CAD formats such as Pro/ENGINEER, CATIA V4 or V5, SolidWorks, Unigraphics, IGES, STEP and Parasolid.

This new feature makes it possible for each individual or company involved in a collaborative product development project to create and modify components in their own CAD system while the entire assembly can be viewed, evaluated and marked up in a single environment. The new software eliminates the need to invest in multiple CAD systems to perform design reviews which involve collaborators working in multiple CAD systems.

“This new upgrade recognizes today’s collaborative, heterogeneous design environment where internal designers and engineers, suppliers, consultants and customers all work together to create the best possible design,” says Vinay Wagle, V.P. Sales & Marketing of CCE. “EnSuite Version 2 greatly simplifies the collaboration process in this environment by enabling the entire assembly to be evaluated for form-fit-function while allowing everyone involved, to work in their own preferred environment without having to translate their data.”

Users that are viewing the multiple CAD assembly model can rotate, transform, move and delete components in the assembly model. They can add redlining, mark-up callouts, and standard shapes and text. EnSuite identifies the bill of materials (BOM) for the assembly. There is an option to display the Indented BOM which clearly shows the hierarchical information with the master, or top level, BOM describing a list of components and sub-assemblies. The isolate part function makes it possible to quickly isolate a part by making all of the other parts in the assembly transparent. The exploded view capability shows how parts fit together with other parts in the assembly without interference from other parts.

The latest EnSuite update will be available to all active subscription license customers as well as to new customers.

EnSuite goes far beyond the capabilities of conventional viewers and translators by providing a wide range of productivity tools for accessing critical engineering information. EnSuite prevents users from saving changes to the master CAD model to protect integrity of the master model. Licenses are automatically administered and the product updated over the Internet.

EnSuite is designed for companies that work in a multi-CAD environment, such as those used by customers, vendors and partners. EnSuite provides seamless interoperability with CATIA V4, CATIA V5, Pro/ENGINEER, Unigraphics, and SolidWorks CAD systems as well as Parasolid, IGES and STEP files. Files can be translated to and from any of these formats without the native CAD software.

For more information, contact CCE at +1-248-932-5295 or email Email Contact. Visit CCE’s Web site at http://www.cadcam-e.com/.