Using Dassault Systemes PLM, BOC Edwards has maintained its pre-eminent market position, improved design, increased engineering quality and made a positive impact on engineering and production as well as in the marketing department.
BOC Edwards is a world leader in vacuum technology for industrial, scientific, processing and semiconductor applications and employs around 4600 people worldwide. At its Sussex factories in Shoreham-by-Sea, Burgess Hill, and Eastbourne, the company uses CATIA V5 and ENOVIA SmartTeam to design and build vacuum pumps capable of achieving high vacuums down to 10-10mbar. BOC Edwards invented the concept of the oil-free 'dry' vacuum pump and now markets a range of dry pumps using claw, roots, scroll, screw and combined mechanisms. Other product technologies include rotary vane, vapour diffusion, liquid ring, steam ejector and turbo molecular.
The company's biggest single market is the microelectronics industry, which depends on vacuum for the production of silicon wafers. Innovation is critical to competing successfully in this global high technology industry where manufacturing processes are constantly evolving. New processes take place in harsh environments, often using highly corrosive chemicals. The average life of a typical semiconductor plant is three years, during which time the pump is working 24/7. A single batch of wafers can be worth thousands of pounds, so product reliability is vital. Customers are under pressure to reduce their costs in this highly competitive market, and BOC Edwards is meeting this challenge by producing cheaper, smaller, more efficient vacuum pumps that perform to the highest possible levels required by the most demanding of industries.
The company has been using CATIA since 1989 and introduced CATIA V5 in 2001. By 2007 the company will have moved exclusively to CATIA V5 with more than 60 seats each equipped with ENOVIA SmarTeam and forming the hub of an enterprise-wide PLM system.
PLM in action
At BOC Edwards, product development and operational and manufacturing processes are crucial to maintain its pre-eminent market position. One of the most important aspects of this is explained by the company's CAD manager, Timothy Draper. "To develop our pumps and the technologies that they incorporate and to ensure that they are made to the highest possible standards, requires us to work concurrently in several engineering disciplines."
He continues: "As experienced CATIA V5 users we can get the best out of the software. For example using parametric design we can capture knowledge and create template models for generic components. We also make extensive use of FEA within CATIA to ensure critical parts are correctly rated for their function. We use rendering for our marketing campaigns and are able to produce accurate and attractive marketing material well in advance of product completion."
BOC Edwards process specialist Mark Serejko takes up the story. "We started to look at how it was possible to remove production bottlenecks in the system. One of the major blocks was design. If you have to wait for a completed design before it is possible to consider engineering, that can be a major cause of delay. We are able to use Digital Mock Up (DMU) along with ENOVIA SmarTeam to provide engineers with information before the design is fully complete."
Thus at BOC Edwards, engineers have Bills of Materials (BOMs) and a relatively complete specification to work from so they can devise tooling and fixtures that will be ready when the final design is complete or even before that time. Taking the emphasis away from completion of a full design as a starting point for engineering has had some radical effects for the company as Timothy Draper succinctly puts it. "In the past people believed that a drawing provided the information about a product. Now Information exists in digital representations and by releasing that to appropriate departments they can start their work earlier."
This philosophy is partly derived from the automotive and aerospace industries where the use of DMU is standard procedure. Its use at BOC Edwards is an example of taking the most advanced ideas from one industry and applying them to another. In this case it works very well by allowing insight to the whole enterprise as early as possible. Even procurement and production departments can commence their work well in advance of a final design becoming available.
This way of working has produced other advantages at BOC Edwards. Mark Serejko explains. "The PLM system in place is being constantly expanded and developed to produce increasing levels of benefit throughout the company. Engineers and designers can work closely in a very efficient way. For example, finding space within a complete pump assembly to locate electronics or other components is a growing challenge as the overall size requirement reduces. Having access to the DMU earlier, means that these issues can be resolved sooner, and that leads to fewer hold-ups as we move closer to production."
