For many years, Husqvarna AB had been using CATIA for the design and development of its products and had built an impressive library of components. One of their main production groups, however, remained mired with a 2D AutoCAD drafting system because they felt that CATIA was too expensive and complicated to use. Husqvarna management knew it would be more efficient to use the existing library of 3D components as the basis for all new tools development.

Therefore, they needed an easy-to-use 3D solution to manage their library of components and assemblies. In 2004, after a long evaluation, they decided to deploy IronCAD because they could kick start their design process with catalogs of predefined shapes that can be easily modified to create working geometry.

IronCAD offers the ability to import and export all standard CAD file formats so Husqvarna designers could easily leverage their legacy data and collaborate across platforms. Their CATIA 3D files were easily imported into IRONCAD catalogs including both CAT-Product (assemblies) and CAT-Part (individual part files). Many of these files now use IronCAD Smart eBehaviors, which add intelligence to assemblies, parts, and features. These control position, orientation, and sizing, and can even contain user-defined behavior.

Because IronCAD’s Unified Design Environment lets users create multiple parts in a single file, the Husqvarna production team completely eliminated their data management issues. Once imported, the files were easily adapted using specialized IronCAD tools such as handles, which can modify geometry in almost every aspect of the design environment. Other tools include the IronCAD TriBall™, which plays an integral role by enabling positioning of any component or assembly within a 3D scene. Furthermore, the imported 3D geometry can be easily modified in IronCAD without the need of traditional CAD history.

Use of IronCAD at Husqvarna has grown over the years. Multiple departments within Husqvarna have adopted the solution, including the QA lab, which now uses IronCAD for quality control. Even the foundry and manufacturing department use IronCAD to solve layout and production issues.

“We have the great benefit of IronCAD in production at Husqvarna and are quite satisfied with the functionality, training, and support,” Åke Lindholm, IT Coordinator NORDIC, Husqvarna Group.

‍