Design Automation Saves Time and
Money
Harry Irwin
Project Engineer
Schaefer’s Electrical Enclosures, Inc.
1
About myself
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After a two year Vo-tech drafting course in high school I
landed a job as an electrical draftsman in 1978.
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Moving on to a 15 year stint with the Golden Cat division
of Nestle Purina I started drawing at a board but around
1988 began using Autocad.
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In 1999 I began designing equipment in 3D with Autocad.
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Coming to Schaefer’s Electrical Enclosures in 2003 I began
using Solid Edge version 8.
2
About Schaefer’s Electrical Enclosures
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1986 - Company started by Frank Schaefer
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$0-2.1M in sales, 35 employees, 35K SF facility
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1999 - Company purchased by current group of private investors
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$2.1M-$20+M in sales, 184 employees, 155K SF facility
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Company has always been focused on design and manufacture of “custom”
electrical enclosures
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Includes standard style enclosures with
custom options or non-standard,
“exotic”, customs
3
Capital Investments
1999 - 3D CAD Software, CNC Punch and Hydraulic Brakes
2002 - Converted from Wet Paint to Powder Coat System
2003 & 2007 - Laser Cutting Capability Added
2009 - Purchased a New Facility with Greenfield Layout
Automated Laser Cell, Larger Powder Coat System with 5 Separate Powder Booths
2010 - Designed and Installed Custom Folding Machine
2010 - Robotic Stud Welding Equipment
2011 - Upgraded Laser Equipment
2011 - Robotic Small Welding Cell
2012 - Installed Salvagnini Fully Integrated Production Cell
- Fiber Laser, Cartesian Load/Unload and Automatic Bending Center
2013 - Installed Reis Robotic Welding System
4
About Engineering Design Automation, Inc. (EDA)
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Statement from web sight >>http://www.edainc.net/<<
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Since 1991, Engineering Design Automation, Inc. (EDA) has been helping
manufacturing companies to dramatically reduce the hours spent on sales
quotations, engineering, drafting, and manufacturing. EDA has a proven
record of both increasing our clients’ competitiveness by allowing them to
respond to customer inquiries more rapidly, and lowering their production
costs by eliminating design errors and reducing sales and engineering time
per order.

Solution Partners
5
EDA presents at Solid Edge University 2014
Madison Presenting at Developer Day - SEU 2014
6
EDA configurator software
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USES MICROSOFT EXCEL AS A REPOSITORY FOR DESIGN OPTIONS &
CALCULATIONS
CAN BE LINKED TO YOUR EXISTING EXCEL DESIGN SPREADSHEETS
INCLUDES A SINGLE-CLICK FUNCTION TO CREATE CONFIGURED 3D PARTS,
SUBASSEMBLIES & ASSEMBLIES FROM EXCEL
IS INTEGRATED WITH SOLID EDGE AND SOLID EDGE REVISION MANAGER
CAN CREATE 2D PROPOSAL, APPROVAL & MANUFACTURING DRAWINGS IN
VARIOUS FORMATS (.DFT, DWG, DXF, PDF, ETC.)
CAN CREATE MANUFACTURING OUTPUT FILES: DXF, SAT, STEP, AND MORE
WEB-BASED OPTION HOSTED ON YOUR COMPANY WEBSITE FOR CUSTOMERS
OR STAFF
CAN BE MAINTAINED BY COMPANY ENGINEERS ONCE IMPLEMENTED
7
Design objective for the Automated Configurator

Streamline the process of creating a new custom enclosure built
from a standard base version on a per-order demand
 Currently, our catalog lists around 55 varieties of standard
enclosures
 Six of those enclosures have a configurator engine to
automate the creation of that style at a new size and with
various optional hardware.
 Improve on standardization for product design and
manufacturing processes
8
Previous, non-configurator, design methods
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Use “Revision Manager” to make new copy from master model or
previously created model
New models
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Previous, non-configurator, design methods
Use “Revision Manager” to make new copy from master model or previously
created model
10
Previous, non-configurator, design methods -cont.
Door clamps
and padlock
tabs removed
Cutout modeled
into door to
receive new
handle and latch
system
Clamp
flanges
removed
from three
sides of door
Manual hardware swaps required (this is just one example of many
combinations)
11
Previous, non-configurator, design methods -cont.
Solid Edge .psm file
DXF file
DXF files, used for cutting, manually created from sheet metal parts
12
New work flow for building Models
The EDA Configurator Process
Solid Edge Revision Manager
Solid Edge
EDA Excel AddIn
Draft Files
3D Model of Enclosure
Assembly and Parts
13
User Interface
Excel Spread Sheet
DXF and txt Files
New work flow for building Models
The Master Models (templates)
_F Wrap
_H Wrap
Fully Loaded Master Models made
from 1 of 3 Wrap versions
14
_V Wrap
New work flow for building Models
The Drawings (.dft)
15
New work flow for building Models
The Drawings (.dft)
16
New work flow for building Models
The Drawings (.dft)
View Scale and Location on Sheet
Callouts w/ Property Text
17
New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Input Sheet
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New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Input Sheet
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New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Lookup Sheet
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New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Calculation Sheet
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New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Revision Sheet
22
New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Action Sheet
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New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Action Sheet
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New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Action Sheet
EDA can
add more
command
s
25
New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Action Sheet –cont.
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New work flow for building Models
The EDA Spread Sheet – Action Sheet –cont.
27
Live Demo and Q & A
Custom Enclosures from Scratch
28