Defendi & STHENO/PRO

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Anyone with a passion for cooking appreciates the benefits of a good gas stove; yet few consumers may have heard of Defendi, the name behind some of the best and most reliable burners on the market today, and supplier to household names like Whirlpool and Indesit. The big players in the market, however, are sitting up and paying attention, because Defendi continually launches innovative products that beat the competition in efficiency and performance.

When Defendi’s design team switched to Pro/ENGINEER® for parametric component modelling, it also needed a sophisticated 2D solution for the complex drawings it creates for customers and design studies. The company found the perfect solution in STHENO/PRO™, CAD Schroer’s powerful drafting system, designed specifically to work interoperably with PTC®‘s leading modelling solution. STHENO/PRO provides the productivity and flexibility Defendi needs as it develops and adapts to meet new demands in the growing and competitive household appliances market. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Neue Füllfunktion für geschlossene Geometrien

Ab der neuen MEDUSA4 Version 5.1 kann durch eine Füllfunktion eine geschlossene Geometrie entsprechend Ihrer Linienfarbe ausgefüllt werden. Diese neue grafische Funktion verbessert die Darstellung der technischen Daten und das allgemeine Handling von Flächen. Natürlich werden die gefüllten Flächen auch beim Import und Export zu DXF oder DWG mit übertragen.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

CADConvert DXF/DWG (AutoCAD®) Schnittstellen-Erweiterung

Ab Version 5.1 unterstützt die CADConvert Schnittstelle das DXF/DWG-Format von AutoCAD R12 bis AutoCAD 2012.
In MEDUSA4 Version 5.1.2 wurden Verbesserungen an der DXF/DWG-Schnittstelle CADConvert vorgenommen, die eine verbesserte Handhabung von Sonderzeichen und Bögen beinhaltet. Weiterhin wurden die Positionierung von Textelementen und die Nutzung sehr kleiner oder sehr großer Skalierungen verbessert.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Optimiertes Handling von 2D Zeichnungen

In MEDUSA4 Version 5.1.2 wurden Verbesserungen bei den 2D Zeichenwerkzeugen und Hilfslinien vorgenommen. Das Handling sehr großer Zeichnungsblätter wurde optimiert. Genauso wurde die Verwaltung von Layern auf einem Blatt verbessert.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text][Translate to English:] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Project Data Control (PDC)

Project Data Control (PDC) ist eine optionale in MEDUSA4 und MPDS4 integrierte Datenmanagement Lösung für Konstruktionsdaten und die damit verwendeten Dokumente. Durch die offene Architektur bietet PDC vielseitige Integrationsmöglichkeiten. Dadurch können die Daten sowohl für andere PLM-, PDM- und ERP-Systeme zur Verfügung gestellt oder gar über das Web für andere Nutzergruppen zugänglich gemacht werden.
PDC erlaubt die Generierung einer an die Kundenanforderungen angepassten Datenbankstruktur, wobei entweder eine Oracle- oder andere Datenbank-Architektur verwendet werden kann. Der Zugriff auf die Datenbank erfolgt dabei aus MPDS4, MEDUSA4 oder dem Web. PDC erlaubt dabei die Verwaltung von allen konstruktionsnahen Daten, wie 3D-Modellen (DXF, STL, IGES, STEP, VRML, MOD), 2D-Zeichnungen, Tabellen oder Rohrleitungsisometrien. Natürlich werden auch alle zum Dokument dazugehörigen Daten, wie benutzerspezifische Attribute, Verweise, Stücklisten oder aktueller Bearbeitungsstatus vom System mit verwaltet.

PDC ermöglicht die Zusammenarbeit zwischen weltweit verteilten Teams, mit einer einfachen Implementierung und Administration. Die Vernetzung verschiedener Standorte erlaubt einen kontrollierten Datenaustausch bis hin zur kompletten Synchronisation gesamter Projektdatenbanken.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

What’s Cooking? Defendi and STHENO/PRO™ Dish Up Innovation

“Defendi is an innovative supplier of state-of-the-art gas components for cookers. CAD systems form an important part of our R&D process. We use 2D extensively, both for very detailed and complex drawings of the gas components produced with Pro/ENGINEER®, and for jig and tool design, e.g. the engineering of custom fixtures or vices for clamping down work pieces in our milling machines. STHENO/PRO proved to be the ideal answer, as it enables us to create new designs from scratch in standalone mode, or work in integrated mode with Pro/ENGINEER to augment Pro/DETAIL™ drawings. And because it is very customisable, we could adapt the system to meet our exacting requirements.”
(Mr Lorenzo Bratti, Design Engineer at Defendi Italy Srl)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

About Defendi Italy Srl

One of the world’s few specialist providers of high quality gas components for cooking appliances, Defendi Group has built its success on a foundation of deep technical know-how, investment in the latest design and production technologies, and a true “passion for innovation,” which guides the company’s extensive R&D activities. What started as a family business is now a worldwide player, capitalising on its strengths, forging industry networks, and building strong customer partnerships.

Solutions for Best Performance in Cooking

Defendi engineers and manufactures a comprehensive range of gas burners of different materials, types and ratings, as well as valves, injectors and other accessories, offering power, efficiency and versatility in cooking. Its burners include standard as well as specialised products, such as easy-clean, sealed burners for glass or steel cook tops, caravan burners for use in small spaces, and four-ring wok burners (a Defendi patent), specially made to distribute heat properly to large pans.

The company has a strong R&D culture and holds a large number of patents. Defendi’s gas valves are made of brass or aluminium (the latest technology), and comply with all safety standards. Accessories include high precision injectors and injector holders, nuts, igniters and thermocouples.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Expansion and Innovation

Founded by Fernando Defendi in 1954 as a precision metal component manufacturing company, Defendi started specialising in gas cooker components in the 1970s, producing on behalf of several large household equipment companies.

The company’s headquarters are located in Camerano, on Italy’s beautiful Adriatic coast. The site hosts the corporate and product engineering offices, R&D and testing laboratories, as well as a large and expanding production facility, where high quality standard and custom parts are expertly manufactured. Defendi has recently opened new production and marketing sites – Defendi Mèxico and Defendi do Brasil – harnessing local knowledge to deliver competitively priced, just-in-time solutions to the expanding South and North American markets. All research, development and engineering work is currently done in Italy.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Defendi’s customers (household names, such as the multinational Whirlpool, as well as their suppliers, many of whom have recently moved production to Poland and the Mediterranean rim) provide their stoves to consumers and businesses throughout the world. Gas-operated appliances underlie strict guidelines and safety regulations, and Defendi, a British Standards Institute (BSI) registered company, produces and tests its products in its customers’ appliances to the standards of each export market, including CSA (Canadian Standards Association) and CE (conformity with EU directives).

Defendi’s dedicated R&D team works hard on new and innovative products, and regularly embarks on joint design projects with some of the world’s largest appliance manufacturers, creating special gas burners, valves or complete gas subsystems that set their products apart from the competition.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“This is a critical time for us,” explains Sales Manager Hans Elling, who joined Defendi in January 2007 to look after sales, marketing, PR, knowledge and process management, and supports the drive for strong and direct customer relationships. “In our market, there are really only 3 or 4 competitors who do what we do, producing quality product, and we have a lot of respect for them. Sometimes it feels a bit like David and Goliath. But change is in the air, and I’m very excited to be part of it. Here at Defendi, we have our own style – much like CAD Schroer: very technical, very competent, lots of expertise – now we are starting to be more assertive. We’ve been looking inward as well as outward, expanding the business in Italy and abroad, and developing eight new product lines to be launched shortly. STHENO/PRO has played a major part in our expansion.”

The Road to Engineering Excellence

“Computer Aided Design has been an important element of Defendi’s product design process since around 1994,” explains Lorenzo Bratti, who has been part of the company’s CAD team since 1998. “Our department initially used an Italian 2D package, which was acquired by think3®. That was the product I started using when I joined. But in 2003 we switched to Pro/ENGINEER, because the software was more powerful and better for modifying models and assemblies. It allowed us to work parametrically, and saved a lot of time. But we still had the issue of what to do with all our 2D drawings; we needed a system that could easily edit existing designs, and create new ones to our exacting standards.”

Marco Destefani, who heads up CAD Schroer’s Italian office near Milan, remembers that PTC recommended STHENO/PRO as the ideal 2D partner for Pro/ENGINEER. “A compatible drafting solution was key to Defendi’s Pro/ENGINEER buying decision; so I arrived to demo the very first release of STHENO/PRO, the only integrated 2D solution for Pro/E,” Marco remembers. CAD Schroer Group (CSG) and PTC maintain a close development partnership to ensure that STHENO/PRO is tightly aligned with PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER development strategy.

“Defendi did the right thing by sorting out an integrated 2D/3D strategy straightaway,” adds Marco. ”I know of many large accounts that went down the same route as Defendi, replacing legacy systems with a powerful 3D tool. They were convinced everything could be done in 3D. Months or years later they come to us, realising that the need for easily editable, accurate and informative 2D drawings has not gone away.”

Hans Elling nods, “Looking back at my past life in the tooling profession, I agree completely. Wherever you have 3D, you also need a good 2D package for detailed drawings.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

The Design Process

In a company of 215 staff members (and rising), Defendi’s CAD team currently consists of eight designers. It’s a young and dynamic team, which has doubled in size over the past five years. Six designers use STHENO/PRO extensively every day. It is also installed in the research and management departments. Currently Defendi deploys nine STHENO/PRO licenses alongside seven seats of Pro/ENGINEER.

The company does its component design in 3D, and uses 2D for all of the accompanying drawings and design studies. Lorenzo Bratti explains that Defendi has always made intelligent use of 2D and 3D, and each tool fulfils its very specific requirements. “We use 2D extensively, both for very detailed and complex drawings of the gas components produced with Pro/ENGINEER, and for jig and tool design, e.g. the engineering of custom fixtures or vices for clamping down work pieces in our milling machines. STHENO/PRO proved to be the ideal answer, as it enables us to create new designs from scratch in standalone mode, or work in integrated mode with Pro/ENGINEER to augment Pro/DETAIL drawings. And because it is very customisable, we could adapt the system to meet our exacting requirements.”

Design projects fall into three main categories: New proprietary product design, co-design with customers, and jig and tool design. On some occasions, design work starts from scratch; often, it is a matter of adapting existing designs. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

New Product Design

When a completely new product is engineered for the Defendi range, or as a co-design with customers (whose own designers have created the initial aesthetic model of a unique burner to support their individual branding) the CAD team often starts with a 3D model, created with, or imported into, Pro/ENGINEER.

Lorenzo Bratti explains, “After designing or editing the component in Pro/ENGINEER, we create a 2D view in Pro/DETAIL. With one click we then switch to STHENO/PRO, where the bulk of the design work is done, because its drafting functionality is easy to use and very comprehensive. We use STHENO/PRO for design studies, and for everything from symbols, dimensions and text to all the special views and details required by recipients. We often create dimensions in inches and centimetres, and drawing text in several languages.” [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Adapting Existing Designs

Customers who are looking for smaller adaptations to existing burners typically provide details of these changes, such as the new dimension of the top plate; the power required to suit individual stove top surfaces; the angles and number of the teeth in the burner; or having a fixed, rather than a removable, plate.

If a new product design (whether proprietary or for a customer) is based on an existing design, Defendi’s experts open the drawing in STHENO/PRO standalone to create a design study. 2D drawings are sent to the customer or internal project leaders in DXF or PDF for approval or comments prior to a Pro/ENGINEER model being created.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]New products as well as adaptations usually require extensive feasibility studies, and engineers and designers need to be aware of all existing patents, to avoid creating solutions already part of a competitors’ intellectual property.

Design time is fairly evenly divided between 2D and 3D, whereby the 2D drawings are much more complex than the 3D models. Standalone use of STHENO/PRO (where drawings are created or edited without the need for a Pro/ENGINEER license) happens about 10% of the time. Most of the time is spent working in integrated mode.

The only time Pro/ENGINEER is used without STHENO/PRO is when drawings are created for the laboratory, where the inside detail of a component is not required, and only a bill of materials has to be issued.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Jig and Tool Design

Defendi has a large number of high-tech milling and stamping machines in its manufacturing halls. The company does its own jig and tool design to engineer the clamps necessary for the machines to hold and process custom components. In this case, a 3D model of the clamp, together with the physical part that needs to be held, is created in Pro/ENGINEER.

The Pro/DETAIL drawings are then opened and augmented in STHENO/PRO, and saved back into Pro/ENGINEER. Files are exported as DXF or STEP to be sent to Defendi’s suppliers, who machine the purpose-made clamps.

Easy Data Exchange

“With software, the communication between systems is absolutely key,” says Hans Elling. Because Defendi works closely with customers’ and suppliers’ CAD departments, the ease of data exchange between STHENO/PRO, Pro/ENGINEER and external system is extremely important.

Mr Bratti agrees, “My colleagues and I save a lot time because STHENO/PRO’s DXF/DWG interface means we can open external drawings without data loss, then edit and augment them. One click and we are back in Pro/ENGINEER, with all the new data, saving it into our model file. There’s no need to import, export, and re-import.”

CSG’s Marco Destefani adds, “Our policy is: ‘never lose existing information’; there should be no need to re-invent the wheel. Get external data in there and working for you straight away.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Manufacturing and Testing

At the same time as it is expanding its production capabilities abroad, Defendi has been investing in the latest production equipment for its works in Camerano, where two new state-of-the-art manufacturing shops now bring the total up to four.

Whether Defendi is engineering brand new or slightly modified gas components, the necessary feasibility studies include manufacturing of prototypes and extensive laboratory tests on customer stoves. The type of gas used, the shape of the burner, the number of fingers in the grills, and the surface materials of the stoves (e.g. glass or stainless steel) are just a few of the elements that have to be considered when working out and testing impact on performance. Different countries have different testing procedures, so the company is extremely flexible in its laboratory services. And because of its expertise and the equipment available at the Camerano site, some customers, who do the entire component design and engineering in-house, will ask Defendi to manufacture and test their products[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]STHENO/PRO Customisations
The flexibility that is the hallmark of Defendi’s engineering and testing services has to extend to its software packages as well. Because STHENO/PRO is very customisable, CSG’s experts were able to adapt the product to perfectly suit Defendi’s drafting requirements.

“When I first demonstrated the software,” Marco remembers, “I said, ‘If you choose this product, I’ll help you get to where you want to be, creating 2D drawings as you did previously, integrated with your Pro/E environment.’” He travelled down from Milan, and spent considerable time helping with the STHENO/PRO and Pro/ENGINEER implementation, reading in data from legacy 2D and 3D systems.

“Our developers produced a series of customisations and enhancements to suit Daniele Eusepi’s (the Design Office Manager’s) preferences, everything from changing icons to creating thicker dimensions, changing text height, modifying the Sheet Header Tool, and adapting the colour and thickness of layers of entities coming from Pro/ENGINEER to match the corporate style,” Marco adds. “Many of these customisations are now in core product. After all, that’s what development is all about – learning what your customers want and need; sometimes delivering it extra quickly when required, then offering it to all clients in the next release.“

Engineering Solutions in Partnership
CAD Schroer, like Defendi, has been growing and changing. With offices in eight countries, and value added reseller partners in a further 27, the company’s customers value the fact that CSG can provide technical consultants like Marco Destefani to their headquarters, and local experts to subsidiary companies around the world. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“What differentiates us is that most of CSG’s engineers have a strong manufacturing background, meaning that we really understand our customers’ needs and can make intelligent suggestions. Each company is different; we appreciate that, and our software is flexible for that reason. For example, our clients use our development and customisation services to automate drawing creation by hooking STHENO/PRO up to existing design databases.“

Lorenzo Bratti agrees, “It’s been very important to us that CSG is also a service provider. We joke that Defendi has become Marco’s second home. He spent a lot of time helping us get our systems and processes right when we made the switch. He can sit down with us and make the software work exactly as we need it to.” [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“We’ve been investing heavily in growth. It’s essential to be where your customers are, and after Brazil and Mexico, we will be considering the Asian market,” says Hans Elling. “We have incredibly talented people here, who are extremely technical, deeply into products and product innovation, and always wishing to push the boundaries of the possible. Now we are also communicating more with the outside world, and forging strong relationships with likeminded companies like CAD Schroer and its other customers. These networks of experience, coupled with first class technology, help everyone to drive their business forward.”

For more information, visit www.defendi.com [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

A Pro/ENGINEER model and accompanying drawings of Defendi’s patented “Mini Wok” gas burner (pictured in photo above). Defendi’s designers augment basic Pro/DETAIL drawings by using the STHENO/PRO integrated drafting package to add complex dimensions, and to detail different component views for customer and downstream applications. All design work done in STHENO/PRO (bottom drawing) automatically updates to Pro/DETAIL (top drawing) and is stored in the Pro/ENGINEER design.

Un modello e disegni correlati Pro/ENGINEER del bruciatore a gas “Mini Wok” brevettato di Defendi (foto in alto). I progettisti di Defendi ingrandiscono i disegni Pro/DETAIL di base utilizzando il pacchetto di progettazione integrato STHENO/PRO per aggiungere quote complesse e per dettagliare diverse viste componenti per le applicazioni downstream e per i clienti. Tutto il lavoro di progettazione fatto in STHENO/PRO (disegno in basso) viene aggiornato automaticamente in Pro/DETAIL (disegno in alto).

Pro/ENGINEER-Modell und entsprechende Zeichnungen des patentierten „Mini Wok“-Gasbrenners von Defendi (siehe Foto oben). Die Konstrukteure von Defendi ergänzen Pro/DETAIL-Basiszeichnungen mithilfe des integrierten Zeichnungspakets STHENO/PRO und fügen so komplexe Bemaßungen hinzu. Außerdem können verschiedene Komponentenansichten für Kunden- und nachgelagerte Anwendungen detailliert dargestellt werden. Die komplette Konstruktion erfolgt in STHENO/PRO (untere Zeichnung) und wird automatisch für Pro/DETAIL (obere Zeichnung) aktualisiert und in der Pro/ENGINEER-Konstruktion gespeichert.