Reduced Data Re-entry
Linking calculations, drawings, and bills of material was projected to reduce repeated data entry and lower the possibility of engineering errors.
Southern Heat Exchanger
Engineering Internship Success Story
Improving Engineering Drawings Through Software Integration
Southern Heat Exchanger Corporation partnered with the Alabama Productivity Center to improve its engineering drawing production process.
The project focused on implementing Compress and Autodesk Inventor to reduce repeated data entry, limit errors caused by disconnected calculations, drawings, and bills of material, and improve the on-time delivery of engineering drawings.
APC assigned Marcus Taylor, a University of Alabama mechanical engineering student with a minor in computer science and experience using Inventor, to support the project.
The Objective
Connecting Calculations, Drawings, and Manufacturing Data
SHECO's previous drawing-production system had been created more than 20 years earlier and offered limited opportunities for automation or continuous improvement.
Marcus worked to create a more connected process in which calculations, engineering drawings, and eventually bills of material could share data.
By reducing the number of times information had to be entered manually, the new system was designed to save engineering time and decrease the risk of inconsistent or incorrect information.
Project Accomplishments
Building a More Efficient Drawing Process
Automated Drawing Tasks
Automating routine drawing tasks reduced the amount of time the engineering department needed to spend creating each drawing.
Continuous Improvement
The updated system gave SHECO the ability to continue refining its drawing-creation process instead of remaining limited by the older legacy system.
CNC Manufacturing Support
The resulting models could be used by computer-aided manufacturing software to generate machine code for equipment such as plasma tables, laser tables, vertical turning lathes, and drill tables.
Measurable Results
Project Impact
$6,500
Increased Sales
$54,850
Cost Savings
$2,000
Investment Savings
$63,350
Total Impact
Client Testimonial
“
Our intern, Marcus Taylor, has been able to make excellent progress—better than we expected—on the project to improve the engineering drawing production process. We are near the original schedule despite being able to expand the capabilities of the program significantly.
Jeremy Wolfe
Engineering Manager
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