Title: A case study of the development of a design enabler tool to support frame analysis for Wright Metal Products, a US SME

Authors: Madhusudan Kayyar; Farhad Ameri; Joshua D. Summers

Addresses: Gulfstream Corp., P.O. Box 2206, Savannah, GA, USA. ' Engineering Technology Department, Texas State University, 601 University Dr., San Marcos, TX 78666, USA. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, 250 Fluor Daniel Engineering Innovation Building, Clemson, SC 29631, USA

Abstract: This paper introduces a design tool that provides customised engineering analysis functionalities for a manufacturer of metal frames. This work is motivated by the need for supporting small to medium scale enterprises (SMEs) with affordable computer aided analysis tools. The design process followed by a SME, Wright Metal Products of Simpsonville, SC, primarily depends on special expertise of a few key individuals who design products based on past experience, augmented by trial and error. Recognising that this is an inefficient, time consuming, and expensive way of designing products and evaluating their performance, a specialised, simple, and affordable design enabler for engineering analysis is developed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the design process.

Keywords: engineering analysis; design enablers; crate design; metal frames; frame manufacturing; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; computer aided engineering; CAE; design process; product design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAET.2012.047814

International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology, 2012 Vol.4 No.4, pp.321 - 339

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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