It has become tradition for CDC (CATIA Design Consultants) to hold three seminars annually, in Port Elizabeth, Durban and Rosslyn respectively. As a result of the enormous popularity of their events this is the third year running that CDC have successfully put together and hosted its Durban CATIA Automotive tooling Seminar. The seminar’s focus was primarily on innovation and generative tooling for the automotive industry. The team at CDC dedicate themselves to providing the industry with the latest developments and trends in the automotive industry. Being an IBM business partner, CDC usually receives its information from its many sources worldwide even before the local industry does.

The seminar was a full-day event that was held at Weaver Conference Centre in Umbogintwini, Southgate Business Park and was attended by existing CATIA customers, CATIA enthusiasts and delegates interested in finding out more about the latest technology and industry developments. Companies gathered, from relatively small toolrooms to larger Tier 1 Suppliers and even large OEM’s such as Toyota for this worthwhile

occasion.

The automotive industry is facing tough challenges today: pressure to reduce costs, manufacturing obstacles, increased risk, demand to innovate – to name just a few. The local OEM’s are demanding ‘faster, better and cheaper’ production of tooling and prefer their supplier to use the same CAD/CAM technology as they do. The seminar served as a means of addressing some of these challenges in the automotive industry. 

CDC illustrated the current realities in the automotive industry and demonstrated how CATIA is the standard in the automotive industry worldwide. Video’s were shown of how CATIA is implemented in the design and manufacturing of products in almost every conceivable industry and how it is used in our everyday life activities. CDC’s application engineers demonstrated a real-time simulation of the standard bidding process which is undertaken by the majority of companies in the automotive industry. By using the latest release of CATIA version 5, CDC demonstrated how companies can embed company know-how, re-use their resources and optimize their processes by using the same system throughout.

CATIA is the common interface ‘language’ among disciplines and can be used in the development of an entire vehicle from design to manufacture to effect large reductions in design time, avoid costly mistakes, assist collaboration between departments within a company and communicate more effectively with customers. CDC demonstrated with live working examples how companies can reduce errors by making all their mistakes on the screen, before a physical product is developed. With CATIA, companies can be confident that it will be right the first time on the shop floor.

CDC supplies the full Product Lifecycle Management suite including CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA and SMARTEAM solutions. DELMIA application specialist, David Depret, represented Dassault Systemes and flew from France especially to attend the seminar and to demonstrate the revolutionary design functionality available in DELMIA and used in human simulation, for robotics and to handle large assemblies and factory layouts.

Some local CATIA customers who were guest speakers at the event, included representatives from OEM’s such as Toyota who have chosen CATIA as their standard CAD/ CAM solution. In his presentation, Toyota’s design office manager emphasized the importance of communicating with suppliers through the same CATIA native format.  TDM which is the largest press tool manufacturer in South Africa commented on the effective use of CATIA to increase productivity. Smiths Manufacturing which is one of the main suppliers to Toyota shared their experience and presented the benefits they have received from using CATIA. A representative from a local tool room in Durban called Mend-It Engineering was another guest speaker who described their implementation of CATIA and are living proof that CATIA is affordable ,not only by the OEM’s but also by smaller suppliers to the automotive industry.

The Seminar was well attended by the Durban members of TASA (the local Tool making Association of South Africa). A representative from TASA gave an overview on their visions and goals. He highlighted the need for more sophisticated and technologically up-to-date ‘toolmaker’ skills that are necessary for growth within the automotive industry and to compete against the overseas competitors. He also emphasized the importance of assisting smaller suppliers to be able to access the most appropriate CAD/CAM technologies available. CDC who share their vision and believe small toolrooms have a lot to gain through using CATIA, are also involved in assisting and supporting TASA members by supplying them with CATIA at a very affordable price.

CDC will be hosting their next CATIA automotive tooling seminar in Rosslyn in August this year and hope to attract as large an audience as at previous events. CDC’s mission is to provide the most advanced, cutting edge technology that is imperative in this challenging, ever-growing industry, accepted by the leading OEM’s and specifically suited to the automotive industry. Furthermore CDC will continue to supply in-depth industry knowledge and know-how through their dedicated support team.