Customized solutions with SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD
CHALLENGE:
- 2D CAD not effective for communicating with customers.
- Design with 2D CAD time-consuming and difficult in certain installations.
- No accurate bill of materials output.
- Manufacturing data must be created separately for each project.
SOLUTION:
- Communication with customers through eDrawings.
- Collisions and installation situations are planned accurately using a 3D scanner and SOLIDWORKS.
- Precise bills of materials are provided as a by-product of the design with SOLIDWORKS.
- Continuous process from design to production. Through the combination of SOLIDWORKS, SWOOD Design and SWOOD CAM.
RESULTS:
- Faster project handling.
- Improved communication with clients using 3D CAD data.
- Problems and errors in the design are detected and solved at an early stage.
A traditional company with innovative ideas
While many trainees leave their company shortly after their apprenticeship, Thomas Waehner is an exception: in 1985, he started his training as a carpenter at the Arnsdorf Joinery Senf and later worked there as a master carpenter. In 2004, he took over the company as Managing Director, remaining loyal to his training company.
Today, Thomas Waehner’s furniture and building joinery offers individual solutions for projects in a wide variety of areas: Office furnishings, furniture for the hotel and catering industry, complete living room furnishings and smaller and larger custom-made products are produced every day by the company’s 16 employees.
Additionally, Thomas Waehner has built up a second mainstay for the company: since 2020, saunas have also been manufactured by the company – unique solutions, always adapted to the wishes and structural conditions of the client.
Caption: Individual items, complete office, living room or hotel furnishings and saunas – all this is part of the Waehner joinery portfolio.
Less errors thanks to 3D CAD
“Every part is challenging”. Thomas Waehner knows what he’s talking about when it comes to planning his projects. From the initial idea with the architect or customer to on-site measurements, modifications, the selection of materials during sampling and the final installation – everything at his joinery comes from a single provider. Due to the individual structural conditions and the customers’ wishes that need to be considered, precise work is essential right from the start, as he explains: “The effort involved in planning is much greater than many people think. 3D data makes it easier to control errors and changes”.
The desire to use a 3D CAD solution initially came from an employee of the joinery who had already gained experience with SOLIDWORKS. At that time, the Waehner joinery was using the 2D CAD TurboCAD. However, it took another three years for Thomas Waehner to make the final switch to SOLIDWORKS, during which time he searched for the right solution for his company and intensively analyzed SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD. After initial contact with Bechtle PLM and a visit to a carpenter’s workshop that had been using SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD for a long time, the decision was made in favor of these systems.
Caption: With individual built-in elements, small details are crucial, such as compensating for height differences. The use of SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD simplifies planning and avoids errors.
Best results right from the start
“The installation took half a day. We spent four days in Dresden for training. Later, someone was here for one more day to integrate CAM into our system,” recalls Andreas Bergmann, design engineer at Thomas Waehner’s joinery, about the switch to SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD. “It was quite a big change at the beginning, but the seminar helped us to get to adjust to it. We had the basic skills; more detailed tasks came with practice. „You must work on it every day,” adds Conrad Waehner, who deals with the data from SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD daily in the work preparation department.
The first major project in which SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD were used immediately demonstrated the possibilities that 3D CAD offered. Conrad Waehner remembers: “The possibilities you have in 3D visualization are enormous. You can see much more than in 2D, you can visualize things. The output afterwards is like a difference like night and day in terms of the time you invest: We used to write all the programs by hand and had to enter all the dowels, now we save a lot of time.”
Caption: The joinery’s furniture and saunas are planned with SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD.
Perfect communication with customers and within the team
Regardless of the project, whether it’s a built-in wardrobe or sauna, the process is always the same. After Thomas Waehner’s initial consultation with the customer, in which the most important dimensions and information are noted down, the measurements are taken on site. A FlexiJet 3D scanner is often used to precisely record the structural conditions.
Thomas Waehner’s team also uses some of the templates included in SWOOD to quickly develop ideas. By simply modifying these templates, unique workpieces are created time and again. This data is used to create the first, less detailed draft, which is presented to the customer on a laptop or online. At this stage, eDrawings is used as a viewer to plan the next steps. With the customers’ change requests, the next step is the detailing and final design. This information is then sent back to the customer. Thomas Waehner likes to present the final product to customers as 3D models: “It’s always very impressive when you turn the piece of furniture or the room in front of the customer and show them sections or a photorealistic rendering. That’s a huge selling point. How can you convince the customer with 2D? That would no longer work”.
Conrad Waehner adds: “When we were working with 2D, we often had this problem: There were communication errors in the process, so the finished cabinet was not as the customer had originally imagined it. We were able to eliminate this by visualizing the 3D data”.
Once the designs and plans have been approved by the customer, manufacturing is started with the 3D data from SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD.
The employees get the information from eDrawings. You can’t change anything in the data, but you can get all the dimensions for production. Even if they may be missing in the drawing”.
Caption: eDrawings has significantly improved communication.
From CAD straight to machining
The furniture is manufactured in a continuous process from the design stage. Once the 3D data has been created with SOLIDWORKS and SWOOD, it is further processed with SWOOD CAM and the contours are transferred to the “Felder”-machine, where the individual parts are produced. This automated handover saves a lot of time, even with very individual projects.
The effect on the project duration is far greater, thanks to the automatically generated lists such as parts lists, cutting lists or the edge assignment generated with SWOOD. Conrad Waehner clearly emphasizes the time saved during construction: “For a simple cabinet, we definitely save 3-4 hours.”
Ready for the future
When it comes to the company’s focus for the future, Thomas Wähner emphasizes that his strategy is to keep the joinery economically stable. The 16 employees have plenty to do, with two apprentices starting at the company every year, meaning that there are always 4-6 apprentices working in the joinery. In contrast to many other industries, Thomas Waehner’s joinery has no shortage of new recruits: “There are even more people interested in training. We could take on even more apprentices if we wanted to.”
For some time now, the company has been working more regionally, with many orders coming from companies and private customers in the surrounding area. This strengthens employees’ loyalty to the company, as they can plan better without having to travel long distances or travel to their private homes. Combined with the professional implementation of the projects, Thomas Waehner’s joinery has a good basis for continuing to produce creative solutions for its customers in the future.
