September 23, 2003

By: Mark Harris
Website: http://www.bearing-n-bearings.com

Rose Bearings Ltd. creates spherical bearing designs for air craft, race cars, helicopters, and high-speed trains with SolidWorks® software

Passengers on the French high-speed train TGV can enjoy a smooth ride because of a bearing designed with SolidWorks three-dimensional computer-aided design (3D CAD) software, SolidWorks announced today. England-based manufacturer Rose Bearings relies on SolidWorks intuitive, Windows-based environment to design specialized bearings for such high-profile applications as the Airbus fleet of aircraft, TGV high-speed train, Ferrari sports cars, and Apache helicopters.

Rose Bearings is a subsidiary of Japan-based Minebea, one of the largest bearing manufacturers by volume in the world. The company manufactures a variety of bearings for special applications, such as the design the French are currently testing for the TGV to provide a smoother ride and lower maintenance needs than previous designs. Rose Bearings chose SolidWorks because it translates design information from different CAD technologies easily and accurately into SolidWorks, making it easy for Rose Bearings to exchange design information with its clients. SolidWorks’ ease of use and short learning curve is helping Rose Bearings migrate from static 2D drawings to life-like 3D designs for all products.

"Our clients have tight deadlines and in order to win their business, we have to meet them," said Chris Bennett, engineering manager at Rose Bearings. "So when we moved from a 2D system to 3D, we didn’t want to spend too much time ramping up on complex 3D CAD software. SolidWorks has set the standard for making it easy for companies to make the transition. We were able to make the switch quickly so that we can improve the turn-around time for our clients."

Streamlining client design change implementation

Rose Bearings uses SolidWorks’ Gold Partner Product, SmartExpress from SmarTeam, Inc., to streamline the design change process. Before SmartExpress, when a design changed the altered version would physically pass from one department to another to determine its impact on feasibility, production, and cost. With SolidWorks and SmartExpress, Rose Bearings can register the design change once, and make all other departments simultaneously aware of the change and its impact. This simultaneous notification saves the company valuable production time and eliminates waste.

"SolidWorks’ user friendliness played a key role in our decision to deploy it," said Bennett. "With the combination of SmartExpress and SolidWorks’ ability to work with different CAD systems, we’re able to streamline how we communicate with our clients, and how we respond to their design changes. No one customer of ours uses one single CAD system. SolidWorks can handle the data integration of most leading systems. It gives us the opportunity to interface with our client base more easily, without having to manually transfer and interpret design information."

Rose Bearings uses SolidWorks eDrawings to conduct design reviews via e-mail; PhotoWorks™ for creating photorealistic images of its designs; and SolidWorks Toolbox to streamline product design by providing a list of standard parts, such as screws, nuts, washers, and bolts that a user can automatically add throughout a design. It also uses Structural Reasearch & Analysis Corp.’s COSMOS/Works to conduct structural analyses on its bearings to make sure they can withstand the stresses imposed by the client’s product.

"A specialized bearing that provides stability for military aircraft and high-speed trains like the TGV requires precision design," said Simon Booker, SolidWorks sales and marketing director for the U.K. and Ireland. "Switching to 3D helps Rose Bearings’ designers see exactly how their products fit into the overall design up front, eliminating the need for costly re-design and re-work."

Rose Bearings is working with SolidWorks reseller, Cadtek, for ongoing software implementation, training, and support.

About The Author:

Mark Harris is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.bearing-n-bearings.com.  Keep things running smoothly with ball bearings, roller bearings, ball thrust bearings and tapered bearings.