We recently caught up with customer Alphason Design to see what they'd been up to with SolidWorks.

Description of Project: Contour AV Cabinet

Brief: Redesign/refresh the current AV cabinet offering with thoughts on replacing an existing model
Target achievements: Introduce an on trend, reature rich AV cabiner with minimum SKU's in five colour finishes
Timescale: Project inception August 2010, Product Launch June 2011

How did SolidWorks Help?

"SolidWorks was used throughout the entire development process:

  • Creating initial sketch models and renderings for concept selection.
  • Detailed 3D modelling of selected concept.
  • 3D assembly of all parts for performance analysis, utilising the drag and drop function from the standard parts library.
  • Technical drawing of individual parts and assemblies.
  • Creation of exploded drawings with BOM tables.
  • High resolution presentation renderings using the much improved inbuilt Photoview 360 application. The rendering quality has been much improved from previous versions. Now convincing photrealistic renders can be produced due to the vast array of material and lighting settings.
  • Line drawing of individual parts and exploded views were used for consumer assembly instructions and packaging artwork. The ability to save drawings in Adobe illustrator and PDF formats is a great advantage."

What was the outcome of the project?

"The project was delivered on time, the efficiency of SolidWorks aided the productivity of the entire design process. SolidWorks eliminated the guess work of whether the design would work in relaity. First initial prototype from the Far East came almost error free, any errors that had been made were due to the manufacturer using incorrect fixings or manufacturing parts not to be supplied drawings."

Chris Melia, Alphason Design

Above: pictures of the Alphason Design, Design First Contour cabinet designed by Chris Melia.

To visit the Alphason Design website please click any of the images above or the following link www.alphasondesigns.com