Case Study: Northshore Manufacturing achieves 20% faster design cycles and $100K+ in warranty savings with SolidWorks

Improving material-handling equipment with SolidWorks Premium

Northshore Manufacturing, a leading maker of grapples, cranes and material-handling equipment for the waste/scrap industries, needed to move beyond 2D AutoCAD and an unsatisfactory Autodesk Inventor setup that suffered from poor support, cumbersome data management, and limited capabilities. The company evaluated 3D CAD options and adopted SolidWorks Premium from SolidWorks to improve design productivity, sheet-metal handling, and analysis workflows.

Using SolidWorks Premium and integrated SolidWorks Simulation, Northshore shortened design cycles by about 20%, resolved field failures with a welding workaround that saved more than $100,000 and cut field labor over 50%, and improved product quality and customer communications through collision detection and photorealistic renderings—leading even to a 25-unit order after an animation demo. SolidWorks’ tools and reseller support helped Northshore accelerate development of its BuiltRite® handlers and reduce warranty costs while enhancing design validation.

Northshore Manufacturing

Roger Walsberg

Designer