Case Study: PFlow Industries achieves 50% faster design changes and integrated engineer-to-order automation with SolidWorks

Automating vertical lift development with SolidWorks software

PFlow Industries, Inc., a leading engineer-to-order manufacturer of vertical lift systems, faced the challenge of reusing designs and automating its custom system development to drive efficiency from order entry through manufacturing. After evaluating several 3D CAD packages, PFlow Industries selected SolidWorks 3D CAD software (along with DriveWorks KBE and DBWorks integrations) for its ease of use, configuration capabilities, and compatibility with PDM and ERP systems.

Using a phased implementation centered on SolidWorks, PFlow automated roughly 80% of its design work by building configurable part-and-assembly models and linking DriveWorks to generate manufacturing documentation from sales orders (integrated with Epicore Manage 2000). The SolidWorks-based solution cut design-change time by about 50%, substantially reduced errors released to manufacturing, increased innovation and agility, and established the foundation for a fully integrated design automation system.

PFlow Industries

Mark Webster

Vice President of Engineering