SWG, Australia

SWG Operations is an engineering, maintenance and construction company that designs, details and manufactures products for a wide spectrum of clients and industries. These range from local onshore resource industries, to offshore international oil and gas clients. The company’s fabrication and maintenance division specialises in steel fabrication and erection – from small, lightweight structures to large, heavy and complex systems.

Challenges:

• Design errors causing costly rework downstream in the manufacturing process
• 2D views do not highlight potential clashes
• Calculations to represent curved metal plates as flat patterns for fabrication are time consuming and prone to error
• Manual detailing of member end-cuts and holes meant duplicating assembly drawings
• Communicating a complex design via a 2D drawing is difficult

SolidWorks Benefits:

• Design errors and rework is reduced by up to 30 per cent, depending on the complexity of the project
• 3D models and views show moving parts and clearances between components
• Automated calculations and generation of flat patterns, saves considerable time, but more importantly ensures proper fit without error
• Item fabrication detail including accurate dimensions, flows automatically from the one 3D model input, reducing drafting time
• SWG uses SolidWorks 3D models in electronic webinars, allowing stakeholders to have interactive input to design.

“SolidWorks is a tool that allows us to measure twice and cut once in a virtual environment, which means that we can see structural clashes or errors, before we start building.”

James Ritorto

Lead Draughtsperson
SWG Operations
www.swg.com.au