Case Study: Bowe Bell + Howell achieves 4× faster design and 70% less rework with SOLIDWORKS

Accelerating Automated Mail-sorting System Design With Solidworks Office Premium

Bowe Bell + Howell, a leading manufacturer of automated mail‑processing systems, needed to accelerate design of very large, complex assemblies and reduce errors after experiencing stability and capability problems with their prior 3D CAD tools. The company selected SolidWorks—deploying SolidWorks Professional and Premium along with Workgroup PDM and SolidWorks Simulation—to gain robust sheet‑metal, weldment, cable‑routing, interference detection and integrated analysis capabilities.

Using SolidWorks, Bowe Bell + Howell now develops new processing systems four times faster, has reduced rework by about 70%, and substantially cut design errors while improving visualization, simulation and customer communication via eDrawings. SolidWorks’ interference detection and simulation tools caught collisions and performance issues early, speeding time‑to‑production and enabling faster customization; the company is also moving to integrate SolidWorks Enterprise PDM with its ERP to link BOMs to costing and assembly instructions.

Bowe Bell + Howell

David Schwaba

Manager of Hardware Engineering