Delivering turnkey solutions amidst a global pandemic

For most companies around the world, the transition to a remote working environment is a challenging one. Even more so for creative environments like architecture and engineering where close working relationships are key to the success of a project.

As a global firm with teams based far apart, effective remote working is a consistent priority for Technica. Access to the latest data and storage has proved to be a critical factor to ensure the highest quality work possible in a deadline-driven environment.

“The biggest challenge was to store data in one place for easy collaboration between teams,” says Assaad Hani, Business Analyst at Technica International. “With Autodesk’s tools, we were able to maintain collaboration between the teams and ensure everyone was working off the latest data sets.”

Hani adds that Technica International benefited greatly from Autodesk’s Product Design & Manufacturing Collection during the lockdown period. “We were able to use the Shared View feature for collaboration between our teams to great effect, while our engineers were able to work on our 3D models with all the complexities, from home.”

 

In some countries where Technica International operates, internet connectivity can be unreliable and slow. With the latest update to the Autodesk Product Design & Manufacturing Collection, major modifications have been made to how the software handles large file sizes.

“This is one of the things we loved most about Autodesk software, there’s now an Express Mode that allows quick access to large assemblies,” says Fares Nassif, Mechanical Design Engineer at Technica International.

He adds that to get around the problem before, they used to label their files with a warning; this was not a solution but rather a way of minimizing problems throughout their workflow.

“Autodesk software saves time by handling smooth movement within layouts.” says Nassif, “It is so effective that it takes us half as much time to review projects.”

Considering Technica International’s expertise within electrical engineering and robotics, the company also makes use of Inventor to great effect. According to Eliane Jeitani, Senior Electrical Design Engineer at Technica International, their mechanical engineers save a lot of time on projects because they can now discover issues and interferences before they begin manufacturing.

Jeitani adds that another essential tool in their workflow process is Vault, a version control application through which her team can track the revision of any drawing at any point during a project. Jeitani says it is pivotal in the organizational workflow and makes collaboration much easier within her teams.

“It’s even great to use the available collaboration tool between our mechanical and electrical designs and we are using the Sync tool daily.”

This means that if any component was added from the mechanical side, a notification is generated for the electrical team to action.

“Compared to how we used to do it, with Autodesk’s solution, our work has resulted in far fewer inconsistencies,” says Jeitani. She adds that they have even created their own libraries using the Autodesk Electrical Catalogue.

“It is very easy to work with these tools. Our team now shares the same library and we’re starting to look at automating the generation of the electrical drawing too.” This means they can create templates for projects that allow the engineers to quickly get started and automatically create the drawings as needed.

One of the other major benefits that came with the implementation of Autodesk PDM is the integration with ERP software, adds Hani. “There is a lot of manual work such as generating purchase requests and even drawings. We wanted to close the loop between systems.” 

Hani says they are now working on a solution where the company will have pure integration between Autodesk products and their ERP platform.

 

While it sounds like the transition during a pandemic was easy, there was a lot of planning involved to get to this point. “We started about 2 years ago with assessments to improve our workflow. We analysed issues internally and noticed gaps between the design department and other teams within the company,” says Hani.

Technica International identified the need for CAD software with the ability to integrate PDM with their ERP solution. Hani says they started working with Shireen Kurdi, Sr. TSR at Autodesk, and the Technical Sales team who quickly suggested some workable solutions.

“We’re estimating a 70% improvement in workflow once we’ve fully implemented this solution from end-to-end,” says Hani.

 

These improvements really paid off recently when Technica produced a much-needed ventilator prototype in record time.

“Working in collaboration with a local hospital and university, we were able to do a quick mock-up of a ventilator and manufacture the first prototype for government approval,” says Selim Maalouf, Marketing Officer at Technica International

He adds that the collaboration between the biomedical experts and Technica’s engineers were pivotal in the success of this project’s quick execution.

“Of course, the Autodesk software played a huge factor in how our teams managed to produce these prototypes so quickly, even when teams were not working in the same room,” adds Maalouf. “Being able to work quicker with more efficiency has really changed how we are able to do business.”

 

Technica International did not foresee the global pandemic but it did recognize that it needed to adapt its business to the realities of a globally connected workforce. This has paid off hugely as they were able to quickly adapt to the market when the world changed.

With the help of Autodesk software, Technica International’s teams can work in a best-of-both-worlds scenario, giving them the ability to be as flexible as they need to be to deliver projects in record time.