RND Automation & Engineering, which specializes in manufacturing custom assembly, inspection, and packaging automation machinery, takes its motto, “from concept to reality,” very seriously. Whether it’s creating a special device for loading vials into blister packs or building a piece of equipment used to test the radioactivity of small parts, RND embraces the offbeat and obscure, commissioning design projects that others might take a pass on. To ensure that it can produce this one-off machinery and do so at a profit, RND set off on a course around digital prototyping and simulation as part of a broader strategy to build products with a minimum amount of physical prototyping.

The stakes around digital prototyping are particularly high for RND, which was spun off from a larger company about five years ago. Key engineering and management talent in the larger firm’s custom machinery division parlayed more than 15-plus years of experience in the field and put it to work as a much smaller operation, with a plan to scale as required through the use of a contract workforce. Being a more compact organization presents its own share of challenges, however. RND is obviously highly focused on conservation of resources. Moreover, the firm cannot always match the engineering breadth of larger manufacturers, nor does it have a stable of on-staff assemblers and machinists to backstop the engineering and design process. For these reasons, RND committed to a digital prototyping and simulation strategy not only to help compensate for those perceived limitations but also to give it a competitive edge.

The classic manufacturing practice for this segment is heavily reliant on physical prototyping and, as a result, significant manpower. Manufacturing giants such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and Coca-Cola turn to firms like RND to design and build custom equipment for assembly, inspection, pharmaceutical processing, robotics, and materials handling. Projects can range in size from million dollar–plus automated work cells to semiautomatic, operator-assisted devices small enough for a tabletop.

Typically, companies will build a series of prototypes of the custom automation equipment, make changes and revisions, and then issue a short production run in the late-stage development cycle to ensure that the end result is the optimal design. Some large firms take a design only part of the way, relying on the preproduction assembly and machining process to fine-tune physical prototypes and work out any manufacturing kinks before settling on a final product.

From its inception, RND was committed to altering that lengthy, physical prototype–centric workflow. RND knew it had to reduce the number of late-stage design revisions and, more important, minimize any “cutting of metal” beyond the official start of production to keep its costs in check. Despite the unique design characteristics of the different machinery it produces, it boiled down to a common design challenge across all RND projects: Get the design right the first time without incurring all the time and expense associated with cutting metal and the rest of a protracted physical prototyping cycle.

Simulating the Robot

The first step on the path to digital prototyping was standardizing a set of tools, in this case, Autodesk Inventor three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD). One of the most significant changes to the RND workflow came via the simulation capabilities of the tool. Using Autodesk Inventor, RND engineers got a jump on tolerance analysis, the process of making sure that assemblies and parts of the machinery fit together properly without causing any interference. Before the software, engineers would make assumptions, do intricate hand calculations, and possibly invoke simplifications to the design to guard against common configuration problems such as linkages that bind or deflecting plates. Machinists and assemblers would take the physical prototypes to a shop floor and mimic the movement of robots to uncover possible interferences or other problems with the operation. With the software, that manual trial-and-error process is performed digitally, and engineers can simply query properties such as the mass moment of inertia as opposed to doing hand calculations to gain very quick access to the figures they need.

Simulating the motion of robots in 3D has other benefits in terms of saving time and cost. Traditionally, engineers would have to remake parts, adjust the wiring, and even drill holes in the final stages—all in the service of getting the physical prototypes to the proper fit and function. Today, with a digital prototyping process in place, RND avoids those extra material and labor costs, and when parts hit the floor, they bolt together properly without any issues the majority of the time. In addition, the digital prototyping strategy has facilitated reuse, not necessarily of specific parts and assembly designs but of motion analysis tests and processes that have been proved out with digital prototyping and can be applied to other robots and automation projects.

Being able to finesse robot designs via simulation, not through the production of multiple physical prototypes, also has helped RND meet customers’ increased demands for more streamlined automation equipment. In the past, engineers typically would err on the side of increasing machinery size to accommodate new features and functions. Today, with the new processes, RND is able to optimize designs via 3D simulation and meet customers’ calls for smaller equipment, even mobile models, whenever possible.

Crossing Cultural Boundaries

Because RND was an upstart and knew from the beginning that it needed an agile strategy to be competitive, selling management on the benefits and return on investment of an investment in digital prototyping was not an issue. However, there were cultural obstacles to overcome. Engineers accustomed to a physical prototyping process initially had trouble adapting to digital simulation and were skeptical about trusting results from the software. There was also pushback from engineers who resisted spending time early in the cycle using software to refine designs as opposed to going straight to the prototype stage and possibly nailing the proper configuration right out of the gate.

In all cases, time and training helped overcome engineers’ resistance. Giving staffers the time to master the digital prototyping software and processes was a critical aspect of getting them on board, as was proving out the benefits of the new approach with real-world examples and analysis of specific cost and time savings. After all, RND has made it a mission to take customers “from concept to reality.” Arming its own people with the right information helped it do the same thing for the new digital prototyping strategy.

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