Written by dudaSeptember 27, 2023

Unlocking Efficiency and Advantages: Design Automation’s Impact on Aggregate Crushers

Design automation is a critical process that cement industries can integrate into their operations. This article will detail the configuration of an aggregate crusher, which serves as the initial step in cement production. Design automation (DA) brings forth multiple benefits for the aggregate crusher configuration. Within the cement industry, proper sizing remains the foremost factor, and once achieved, it leads to various other advantages. Efficiency is enhanced as DA tools automate repetitive tasks like component selection, parameter adjustment, and design optimization. This not only saves time but also reduces errors, enabling engineers to configure crushers more swiftly and efficiently. 

Another advantage lies in customization. Crushers often need to be tailored to meet specific requirements or adapt to various applications. Design automation tools streamline customization by providing predefined options and configurations based on operational requirements, such as targeted production output and environmental factors like temperature fluctuations in the installation region, humidity, pressure, and even the risk of earthquakes.

For instance, the process of breaking down limestone into smaller pieces typically involves a combination of compression and impact forces. These crushed limestones are subsequently mixed with other materials to create cement. Cement production may involve different types of stone that require crushing, as well as other materials like gypsum and coal, which transform into dust resembling small rocks.

Standardized quality is a fundamental requirement, and Design Automation promotes consistency and standardization in crusher configurations. This minimizes output variability, enhances quality control, improves reliability, and boosts machinery performance. While this article focuses on the importance of DA for a single machinery piece in the process, it’s essential to note that Design Automation can be applied to all machinery post-crusher, optimizing the entire process. The objective is to highlight the benefits within each model and process step.

Collaboration and communication are integral aspects of Design Automation. Automation tools facilitate collaboration among various stakeholders involved in crusher configuration. Engineers, designers, and team members collaborate using a shared platform, exchanging information, making real-time updates, and accessing a centralized design data repository. This drives effective decision-making, leading to streamlined and higher-quality crusher configurations.

As previously mentioned, the aggregate crusher marks the process’s inception but holds significant value for subsequent steps like raw mix preparation. Stone crushers ensure uniform and thorough crushing of raw materials, resulting in a consistent and homogeneous raw mix. Secondary crushing might be necessary in cement manufacturing. After the initial crushing, secondary crushers further refine materials to achieve the desired particle size distribution or specific characteristics needed for cement production. 

 To provide a visual demonstration, a video showcases a crusher configuration within the context of the cement industry. The demo features an impact crusher, one of several options employed in the cement industry, alongside jaw crushers and cone crushers.

For those interested in the cement industry, another DEMO illustrates the configuration of an industrial bag filter. This equipment is crucial in the cement processing industry as an air pollution control device. It removes particulate matter like dust and fine particles from air exhaust generated during cement manufacturing processes, which encompass the handling, grinding, and processing of raw materials such as limestone, clay, and other minerals to produce cement clinker. WATCH HERE!

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Written by dudaJuly 14, 2023

Engineering & Design Automation is accelerating the outcomes for both manufacturers and customers in the wind energy industry.

Design automation can bring significant benefits to the wind turbine industry, especially when it comes to dealing with orders for distinct types of soils and terrains.

The layout of a wind turbine refers to the arrangement of its various components, such as the tower, blades, and nacelle. When designing and building wind turbines, the goal is to optimize their layout to achieve the most efficient and cost-effective energy generation.

By optimizing the layout of a wind turbine with mechanical configuration, it is possible to save time in the manufacturing and assembly process. Exemplifying, a well-designed layout can reduce the amount of material required for construction, which can decrease the time and cost of production. Similarly, an optimized layout can also make it easier and faster to assemble the various components of the turbine, which can result in considerable time savings for each order.

Private wind turbines, also known as small-scale or residential wind turbines, are wind energy systems designed for individual homes, farms, or businesses.

Optimizing the layout of wind turbines can lead to cost savings, improved efficiency, and faster construction times, all of which can be beneficial for wind energy companies and their customers.

Engineering & Design automation can bring significant benefits to the wind turbine industry, particularly when it comes to dealing with orders from different types of soils and terrains. By automating the design process, wind turbine companies can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver more customized and accurate solutions to their customers in a faster way.

The colors on wind turbines can be customised based on client preferences and the surrounding environment. For land-based turbines in green landscapes, incorporating green elements helps them blend in with the surroundings. Red lines are often added for safety and visibility, marking moving parts. A configurator can be used to visualise and select colors, considering onshore or offshore placement. This customisation ensures visually appealing and safe integration of the turbines.

Another example of customisation, using DA (Design Automation) the automation software can take into account factors such as soil density, moisture content, and other geotechnical factors to determine the most appropriate foundation design for a particular location.

Watch in this DEMO wind turbines being configured and placed in different environments, showcasing their installation on various types of soils and terrains:

 

Our team has knowledge when it comes to wind turbines, and our main deliverable to clients in this industry is the rapid production of 3D models and comprehensive documentation. For instance, we provide detailed 2D drawings with all the necessary specifications and a complete bill of materials.

One of the benefits we already pointed to is the speed, by automating the design process, wind turbine companies can reduce the time it takes to design and build each turbine. This can be especially important when dealing with orders from different geographical locations, soil types and the terrain may trigger a unique design of components.

Highlighting the cost savings, design automation reduces the reliance on manual labor, resulting in fewer engineering hours. This enables wind turbine companies to offer more competitive prices to their customers or to have a higher profit margin.

To have a full overview of the value Design Automation brings you can check our 6 VALUE AREAS.

In conclusion, the wind turbine and wind energy sector can greatly benefit from engineering and design automation, as well as product configuration. The aforementioned benefits, such as cost savings, faster 3D modeling, comprehensive documentation, and increased competitiveness, demonstrate the positive impact of automation and standardization in this industry. Embracing digitalization and leveraging advanced technologies can drive efficiency, enhance productivity, and support the continued growth and sustainability of the wind energy sector.

Watch below a wind turbine being configured by our team using Tacton Design Automation Studio:


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Written by dudaJuly 4, 2023

Applying Design Automation in the Food Industry: Fermentation Machinery Configuration DEMO

In the fast-paced world of the food industry, dairy processing equipment plays a vital role in ensuring efficient production and maintaining high product quality. However, the global market faces challenges, particularly in terms of high operating costs and risk of losing key engineers. In this article, we explore how Scandinavian Digital, with its extensive experience in the food industry, especially in the powder and dairy sectors, has harnessed the power of Design Automation to transform the business for customers in the manufacturing dairy machinery sector.

By embracing digitalisation, our team has paved the way for enhanced efficiency, improved product quality, and reduced costs in the dairy processing industry.

At Scandinavian Digital, we utilize Design Automation to meet the distinct requirements of our clients. Through the integration of the Tacton Design Automation plug-in in popular CAD solutions like PTC Creo, Autodesk Inventor, and SolidWorks, our clients can swiftly customise machinery models to align with specific needs within minutes.

The flexibility offered by our solution enables seamless integration of client preferences, resulting in precise 3D models, 2D drawings, and Bill-of-Materials. This reduces the time spent by engineers in designing equipment or accommodating changes requested by clients. The capability to customize equipment to meet individual requirements directly translates into improved customer satisfaction and heightened operational efficiency.

Fermentation is a critical process in the food industry. Therefore, the Scandinavian Digital experts recognizes the significance of the natural preservation method and has used Design Automation to show different types of configurations for a fermentation machinery, you can have a look at our DEMO that perfectly illustrates and states some of the benefits aggregated to the EDA (Engineering & Design Automation):

The adoption of Design Automation in the dairy machinery industry brings numerous benefits. Our team ensures the preservation of valuable knowledge and expertise by digitising product rules and storing them in the product model. This digitalisation enables non-experts to configure intricate products, generate accurate 3D models, 2D drawings, and Bill-of-Materials, even without in-depth product knowledge. It streamlines maintenance processes and empowers manufacturers to utilize data-driven insights for ongoing enhancements. By leveraging digital tools, manufacturers can elevate food safety standards, decrease operational costs, and consistently provide customers with top-quality dairy products.

Scandinavian Digital has effectively tackled the issues of expensive operations and improved efficiency, product quality, and customisation by utilising Design Automation and Product Configuration. As the dairy processing sector embraces digitalisation, Scandinavian Digital remains at the forefront, guaranteeing a promising future for dairy machinery innovation, sustainability, and excellence.

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Written by dudaMay 4, 2023

GEA Process Engineering A/S speeds up engineering with Scandinavian Digital’s solutions

Scandinavian Digital was chosen as partner to help GEA PE A/S automate engineering processes to improve quality and reduce engineering time. GEA´s purpose is “Engineering for a better world” and together with SD GEA PE A/S has embarked on a journey of true digital transformation which both delivers better products for the market as well as a leaner and better workplace for GEA PE A/S’s employees with a reduction of trivial repetitive work and elimination of rework.  

At its core, the “Automation of the Engineer-To-Order process” automates all technical CAD 3D models and 2D drawings during engineering execution. Time savings for GEA PE A/S are significant, but even better is the fact that the documentation is now consistent throughout all stages of the engineering execution, ultimately leading to the customer receiving a better product faster. 

Kári Holgarsson, Director Engineering Support, Rune Skovgaard-Petersen, Vice President Technology, Simon Nielsen, Scandinavian Digital CEO and Sten Krog Duerlund
Senior Director Product Engineering, Technology

The SD team has a profound experience in the successful automation of CAD engineering for complex products. In the past many years, the SD team has automated 250+ complex products – either very large engineering constructions and/or a complex combination of engineering components with a multitude of rules. At GEA PE A/S, SD is currently doing the same and rolling out the concept for 18 of GEA PE A/S’s key products. 

According to Rune Skovgaard-Petersen, Vice President Technology (TECH) the “automation of the engineering processes of these products will be a significant improvement for our entire organisation”. 

Beyond the simple automation of engineering processes, GEA PE A/S can now build on the existing solutions to further reduce cost and lead time in other areas. Building the foundation for systems engineering and collaborate globally to further drive productivity and results.
 

GEA Group is a EUR 5.2 billion company on the German MDAX, headquartered in Düsseldorf. More than 18,000 employees across 62 countries and 5 divisions develop and deliver highly specialised process equipment for Powder, Liquid, Separation, Flow Refrigeration and Monitoring with the Food, Chemical, Farming, Dairy and Healthcare industries. 


Simon Nielsen, CEO, Scandinavian Digital. 

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Written by dudaJanuary 5, 2023

The end of never-ending engineering

Morten Hugo Bennick, CTO and Senior Partner at Scandinavian Digital and internally regarded as “Mr. Config,” provides insights into why many companies still resist automating engineering processes, instead relying heavily on the human brain to tackle challenges that could be resolved in minutes using Symbolic AI.

With over 20 years of expertise in configuration, Morten speaks with authority, emphasizing that symbolic AI is no joke—it’s a powerful critique of companies that aim to stay competitive yet fail to adopt modern solutions like digitalisation, task automation, and configurators. Scandinavian Digital is leading the charge in changing its clients’ daily results and engineering efficiency through the application of symbolic AI.

Symbolic AI plays a protagonist role in the configurators Scandinavian Digital employs. These configurators transform data input into symbolic outputs—such as 3D models, 2D drawings, and other engineering assets—allowing complex engineering challenges to be solved quickly, efficiently, and with minimal error. As Morten explains, “Anything can be configured,” and in order to improve engineering tasks and results… it must be!

The reality of “never-ending engineering” isn’t just a notion, it’s a costly, time-intensive issue that symbolic AI can alleviate. According to Morten, engineering processes will not end completely, but they can be significantly reduced, saving companies substantial time and resources. This reduction in repetitive engineering tasks means skilled professionals can shift focus to innovation, data security, and strategic goals rather than spending months on tasks that could be streamlined to a week or less. Furthermore, the automation of these processes ensures that critical knowledge stays within the company, rather than leaving with departing employees. You can see the benefits of using symbolic AI for CPQ and design automation across Scandinavian Digital’s six value areas.

Morten advocates for automated engineering processes with confidence, stating, “We expect that the investment will reach break-even within 1-3 years.” He adds that using Symbolic AI not only reduces errors but also grants engineers more time for innovation, increasing growth opportunities for the company.

Scandinavian Digital offers a comprehensive process for organizations looking to modernise, beginning with CPQ (Configure, Quote, and Price) and extending to advanced Design Automation projects. Through Symbolic AI, Scandinavian Digital provides end-to-end solutions that deliver long-term value, enabling companies to operate smarter, faster, and with greater precision.

For companies ready to embrace the future of engineering, Scandinavian Digital is here to transform your engineering bottlenecks with symbolic AI.

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Written by rodrigoaJanuary 29, 2022

SD is an official reseller for Tacton’s Design Automation solutions in the Nordics and DACH regions

Scandinavian Digital partners with the Tacton team.

Adding to its business services, Scandinavian Digital will now sell and deliver Tacton’s best-of-breed Design Automation solutions in the Nordics and DACH regions for the full range of computer-aided design (CAD) systems (SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor and PTC Creo). The partnership will enable more design and manufacturing companies to optimize their engineering and design processes through software, training, and full-service manufacturing business solutions. Scandinavian Digital has already delivered more than 200 Design Automation models to major clients in these regions, and has plans to further expand Tacton’s presence as an official reseller.

Engineers today are under incredible pressure to generate 2D and 3D CAD drawings on time due to custom designs. They must constantly update or create new drawings as needs change, resulting in significant human labor. To address this, Tacton Design Automation creates comprehensive 2D drawings and 3D models of bespoke, customized products and parts automatically, allowing engineers to focus on other higher value tasks. As a result, companies can eliminate costly design errors, reduce lead time, cost of hours and goods, and improve product quality. Further, there is no programming or IT expertise needed, making it fast and easy to introduce and update products.

“Our partnership with Scandinavian Digital will allow us to expand our company’s reach in key regions, and offer our leading Design Automation solution to more joint customers,” said Viveka Tengö, VP Global Channel and Alliances at Tacton. “With our solutions, customers can accomplish design projects in a much shorter time and with a standardized quality. We are helping sales and engineering teams work better together and increase their efficiency to drive their organization’s bottom line. This partnership is key to making this a reality for today’s leading companies in the Nordics and DACH regions.”

“We are very satisfied with our partnership with Tacton,” said Simon Nielsen, CEO and Co-Founder at Scandinavian Digital. “Tacton’s state-of-the-art Design Automation tool coupled with Scandinavian Digital’s strong knowledge in product complexity helps customers easily utilize 3D CAD models to empower their businesses. Tacton’s Design Automation is a game changer for any company with complex engineered products.”

“This partnership will help advance our mutual goals in the Nordics and DACH regions,” said Morten Hugo Bennick, Managing Partner at Scandinavian Digital. “With this solution, manufacturing teams can feel assurance and support to configure their products with 100 percent valid configuration and significantly reduced errors and costs. In fact, we’ve already seen success with managing hundreds of Design Automation projects for Tacton, and look forward to our future growth.”

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