Integrating the latest technologies and techniques to double the speed of the design process

Using the latest 3D technologies

Since its founding in 1993, Recycolor Ltd. (Recycolor) has specialized in the design, manufacture and construction of complete painting plants. Based in Budapest, Hungary, Recycolor focuses on promoting environmentally friendly painting technologies. The company primarily employs spray and water-based paints, which help reduce air pollution and minimize hazardous waste.

As experts in painting technology, Recycolor offers a full suite of solutions to customers, from design to implementation. It uses Siemens Digital Industries Software’s Solid Edge® software for the 3D design of paint lines.

“Our primary focus remains the design, manufacture and construction of comprehensive painting facilities.” says Ákos Jakusovszky, managing director. “Additionally, we sell and service Graco products, providing spare parts and consultancy services.” Graco specializes in developing and manufacturing fluid-handling systems and products.

Acting as Graco’s representative in Hungary since 2000, Recycolor distributes a range of their spray paint manufacturing equipment, which constitutes 40 percent of the company’s revenue. Recycolor supplies products such as road-marking equipment, polyurethane (PUR) and polyurea sprayers, paste and resin dispensing systems, spray guns, dispensing valves and other tools for industries, including woodworking, automotive and corrosion protection.

Moving to Solid Edge

Since its inception, Recycolor’s revenue has largely been driven by creating complete painting plants, including design, production and execution.

The company leverages Solid Edge, which is part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software, hardware and services, throughout these workflows. Solid Edge is provided by the Enterprise Group, a Siemens Gold Partner.

“Our team uses Solid Edge, which is essential for integrating the latest technologies and techniques into our design process,” says Jakusovszky. “It is critical to have the right software for this purpose.”

Recycolor transitioned to Solid Edge from another computer-aided design (CAD) software, a move that enabled the company to align with industry standards and support collaboration with subcontractors who also use Solid Edge.

“All our subcontractors use Solid Edge due to the strong interoperability between modules, whether it’s designing parts, sheet metal, assemblies or creating shop drawings,” says Gergő Bóna, project engineer. The switch to Solid Edge was also in response to industry demand for highly accurate and realistic 3D modeling, which is essential for companies ordering painting equipment and paint lines.

Better design process

Recycolor’s engineers say that switching to Solid Edge enhanced design and preproduction workflows. The engineers particularly found the software’s shortcut functions helpful because it enables significant time
savings and offers a high degree of flexibility during part design. An important criterion in the selection process was to be able to transfer the 3D design drawings to production as soon as possible. Using Solid Edge, this is a simple and quick process that has reduced the time it takes to generate drawings by 33 percent.

“What is most useful about Solid Edge and saves the most time is the capability to replace a part with a copy,” says Tamás Schmidt, project engineer. “This function allows me to quickly duplicate a part that has already been designed and incorporate it with different dimensions elsewhere in the assembly.” Schmidt notes this enhances workspace and flexibility in scaling projects. The speed of the software operation experienced in the previous tests has been confirmed in daily practice as Solid Edge handles large assemblies with less hardware 25 percent faster than was previously the case.

“The interoperability of Solid Edge between 3D and 2D environments is excellent, unlike our previous CAD software, which I found to limit workspace to a drawing sheet,” says Schmidt.

Beyond part design, Recycolor engineers use Solid Edge throughout the project lifecycle, from initial planning to following up after completion. The functionality of Solid Edge supports the design of sheet metal parts, reducing the time it takes to do this type of modeling by 20 percent.

The Solid Edge synchronous modeling is the Swiss Army knife of design as it combines speed and simplicity. Using Solid Edge reduced the time it takes when handling imported models by 40 percent.

“Recycolor uses a specific function of the software for each phase of a project,” says Schmidt. “The first phase is the bidding phase, where we typically use the 2D draft module. Once the deal is confirmed, we begin 3D design.”

“The final phase is creating site drawings for environmental and explosion protection permits, where we also work in 2D mode,” explains Bóna.