L. Kellenberger & Co. AG
Kellenberger grinds down lead times with CoCreate OneSpace Modeling and Model Manager

"Despite the increased complexity of our products and tighter deadlines, we delivered our machines with the new grinding head on time — by using CoCreate OneSpace Modeling."

Bernard Gschwend, Director of R & D at L. Kellenberger & Co. AG

The Complete Story

Kellenberger applies CoCreate OneSpace Modeling throughout its entire processes of product development, customization, and fixture construction.

The Swiss machine builder chose CoCreate software because its Dynamic Modeling based CAD system offers many advantages compared to history-based systems. For example, OneSpace Modeling doesn't require users to work with history trees and to understand parameterization and constraints, which makes OneSpace Modeling very quick to learn and simple to operate. At Kellenberger, developers worked productively with Modeling after just five days of training.

Plus, this type of modeling approach allows engineers at Kellenberger to implement new ideas and innovative recommendations without the potential stumbling blocks of previous modeling step sequences or missing parameters.

One of the major strengths of CoCreate and their PLM solution is the integrated data management system, which Kellenberger installed virtually straight out of the box. "We really need CoCreate OneSpace Model Manager to work efficiently with the 3D CAD system," says developer Roland Hänggi. "Depending on the workload or deadline pressure, particularly in the final stages, several of us need to be able to work on the same product."

With Model Manager, everyone can reach the most current information, and safeguards prevent files from being inadvertently overwritten. Plus, the system documents which parts are built into which assemblies, making it easy to inform staff members in the event of changes. Parts that are used several times are saved only once and are referenced together with their position in other assemblies, significantly reducing the flood of data.

Model Manager also plays an important role whenever the Kellenberger teams work on large assemblies. It can manage collision tests, analyze various configurations, and reload parts as required.

"The compact construction of the new grinding head is the result of using the 3D CAD in combination with Model Manager, which makes it possible to keep all collisions under control," says Hänggi. In addition, OneSpace Modeling noticeably reduced the time required for initial assembly because all parts fit together the first time around. Previously, part collisions often caused several weeks of delay—not to mention the related costs.

The advantages of the PLM solution from CoCreate were especially remarkable while developing the new grinding head assembly for KEL-VARIA. Some versions of the grinding head were already being sold even before all the corresponding components had been fully built. "The parallel work in 3D with the support of Model Manager really made a difference because we could quickly assign additional staff members to the missing components," says Gschwend. Thanks to the Dynamic Modeling based approach in OneSpace Modeling, our developers continued to work on 3D models from their colleagues without having to worry about the model's creation history or parametric dependencies.

"Despite the increased complexity of our products and tighter deadlines, we delivered our machines with the new grinding head on time – by using OneSpace Modeling," says Gschwend. "The development teams' productivity has surely increased by about 25%."

Kellenberger's next step is the complete support of Product Lifecycle Management. According to Gschwend, "Third-generation PLM-or 3G PLM-from CoCreate presents an extremely interesting and commercially attractive alternative to conventional PLM solutions. Now we're focused on taking advantage of CoCreate's modular approach to PLM by integrating our existing investments in business software and office environments into the CoCreate solutions."

Company Profile

L. Kellenberger & Co. AG in St. Gallen, a subsidiary of Hardinge, Inc, specializes in the development and production of hydraulically and numerically controlled precision grinding machines and systems in the middle- and high-performance range. The machines are mainly used for tool and mold construction. In other fields, such as the aviation and automotive industries, they're principally used in testing and prototype construction.

Kellenberger exports the majority of the roughly 180 machines they manufacture. The strong competition on the international market has forced the Swiss machine builder to react very quickly to technological advancements and at the same time to shorten production times and reduce costs.

"Our challenge is to offer our customers a complete solution for their particular grinding task," says Bernard Gschwend, Director of R & D at Kellenberger. In order to respond appropriately to customer demands, the company developed a new grinding head module for its high-end machines, so users can grind more components in a single session.

For more information, please visit: www.kellenberger.com.

"Despite the increased complexity of our products and tighter deadlines, we delivered our machines with the new grinding head on time & by using OneSpace Modeling."