Aeramic integrates various stages of the development process onto one platform

A one-stop solution for the aerospace industry

Aeramic Aerospace Pvt Ltd (Aeramic) is an Indian company operating in the aerospace and defense industry. The company has developed a team of highly qualified engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs) to create a one-stop solution for machining and surface treatments. They strive to provide the highest level of service for their customers through continuous technological advancements.

End-to-end production process requires a specialized solution

Aeramic provides an end-to-end solution for manufacturing precision components for the aerospace and defense industry. They could not benefit from crucial cross-departmental collaboration because each department relied on different software solutions to facilitate their workflow. The software solutions Aeramic was using prior to Siemens’ solutions could only be used by one person at a time, with no options for modeling or drafting. This led to delays in product development, engineering and manufacturing.

Using the previous software solution often delayed the import and export of computer-aided design (CAD) parts as the software failed to meet the baseline set of functionalities. Aeramic’s data storage was also problematic. The solution they were using was so inefficient they resorted to creating hard copies of their records. Ultimately, they deemed the software solution unreliable for product development, which became increasingly costly for customers.

Training and implementing NX

Aeramic enlisted Siemens partner, 3D Engineering Automation LLP (3D Engineering), to help them use NX™ software and provide technical support and information. NX is part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software, hardware and services. Aeramic was interested in using NX in their product development process to improve operational flows between multistage processes.

Aeramic wanted to use NX for various product design, development and manufacturing tasks such as 3D modeling, drafting, assembly, numerical control (NC) programming and computer numerical control (CNC) simulation.

Benefits at every stage of production

“Using NX improved productivity across all stages of the production process from modeling and assembly, to manufacturing and process documentation. Thanks to the boost in the efficiency of their product design, production and manufacturing, Aeramic is hoping to continue using Siemens solution," says Uday Satheesh, director for Aeramic.

To assist with the onboarding process, 3D Engineering provided webinars covering modeling, drafting and assembly training so Aeramic engineers were proficient in using the software for each part of the design, development and manufacturing process. The partner also offered maintenance and technical support for any difficulties that arose while engineers used NX.

Using NX created various benefits for the Aeramic team. Using a single software solution to facilitate multiple stages of production increased transparency of the development process, with visibility and access accorded to all departments simultaneously. This enabled the different production teams to collaborate more easily effectively by reducing time spent on design validation.

Using NX reduced setup and cycle time and improved product quality. Subsequently, manufacturing data is more accurate and the team can gather data faster than before, as they no longer have to transfer information between numerous software solutions at each stage.

Aeramic can now develop and modify postprocessors in the post-build section of NX. They can also acquire suitable NC programs for their CNC machines to meet their requirements, as well as comply with standardized aerospace documentation. “Using NX has allowed Aeramic to export manufacturing data into setup sheets, automating the process of inputting the cutting tool specifications during manufacturing,” says Chethan Kumar, a manager for Aeramic.

Simplifying data transfer methods

Leveraging NX features and participating in 3D Engineering training seminars helped Aeramic fulfill multiple departmental requirements. Using NX helped them integrate overall functionally rather than using piecemeal information technology (IT) solutions for each step of the workflow.

Engineers no longer have to upload and transfer data from one software program to the next for each successive stage of the production and manufacturing processes.

“Using NX helped Aeramic create faster manufacturing turnaround times and prevent valuable data loss while transferring data during production. Overall, company productivity has increased by a staggering 50 percent,” says Kumar.

By leveraging NX, the Aeramic team could make the move from 3-axis to 4-axis machining. Adopting a 4-axis CNC machining process provides quick, efficient work and precise results as it operated along the x, y, z and a axes. They have accomplished this by using NX to analyze the corresponding data.