Kautex Textron is a leader automotive supplier with 30 plants in 13 countries. Kautex is a pioneer in the design and manufacture of traditional and hybrid fuel systems, engine camshafts and plastic industrial packaging solutions.
For the era of new mobility, Kautex is also expanding its portfolio to offer thermoplastic composite and composite-metal hybrid battery systems as well as assisted and autonomous drive vehicle cleaning systems.
Kautex is a SkyReal customer for over 3 years now and uses the solution to project future manufacturing lines in 3D to help customers see how it will be used in the future.
Here’s a testimonial from @Andrew Estep who is Senior Plant Simulation Engineer at Kautex and a power user of the SkyReal solution :
“SkyReal is just one of many tools I have, so I don’t use the software all the time, but when I do it’s impressive. I’m able to prep large assembly files and layouts, then open them in the Skyreal environment and they operate smoothly.
The biggest use I’ve found for the software is creating a video to share or presenting with the team of walking through a layout we created together. Sort of documenting what the layout looks like after the concept we created together.
Most recently we had a workshop in Kautex US to quote a new product from an important automotive manufacturer, so I created a layout for 3 manufacturing lines involved from my library in Catia V5 with the team during the workshop. Then I imported into SkyReal, and created a video for sales to share with the customer of flying over and walking through. It helps to visualize scale and just how much equipment is involved when sales is trying to get the customer to understand a proposal and its price.
if I were to make layout changes while in the SkyReal environment, there is a “back to cad” feature where I can upload those changes back to the Catia V5 master file… it is exciting since others solutions may not offer it.”
The value of virtual reality to convince manufacturers
Innovation is a critical process in the business world, and convincing others that new ideas are worthwhile can indeed be a challenging task. Virtual Reality (VR) can be a valuable tool in this context, helping to facilitate the process of idea validation and communication.
The use of virtual reality is beneficial at every stage of an industrial production project. In many cases, the technology saves considerable time. In other cases, customers gain confidence and teams gain skills.
At SkyReal, we have designed a solution that virtualizes every phase of an industrial project.
Pre-sales
The pre-sales phase is crucial to the success of a project. The most important thing is to have a final product that meets the customer’s needs and expectations.
Presenting an idea is no longer limited to mere words or sketches on paper. In the age of Industry 5.0, the 3D materialization of projects has become a crucial step in bringing a vision to life. For innovation projects in particular, 3D visualization offers invaluable advantages that can greatly influence the pre-sales phase.
During this stage, new technologies save precious time, as they can help to convince by making concrete a project that until then was embryonic. Thanks to a virtual reality headset, customers can be immersed directly in their project. All parties involved can build the concept together, and validate precise elements (size, location, ergonomics).
Both customer and manufacturer are reassured and confident. This saves a considerable amount of time during the implementation phase, since all the parties involved are in agreement before the product goes into production.
Full immersion product presentation
Imagine being able to show potential customers a prototype of a machine, piece of equipment or production line in action, without having to build a physical model. With VR, this is possible. Customers can “enter” a virtual factory, see products in operation, touch them, handle them, all in a safe and totally controlled environment.
Cost and time savings
Creating models, prototypes or actual installations for demonstrations can be costly and time-consuming. VR makes it possible to simulate these elements with an impressive degree of realism, eliminating the need for hardware resources while delivering an unrivaled customer experience.
Real-time personalization
VR offers the possibility of modifying and adjusting products in real time. If a customer wishes to see a production unit in a different color, or consider a different configuration, it takes just a few clicks to adapt the virtual representation to their requests
A visualization of a plane cabin made in SKyReal, with every option available in a dedicated designed UI
Virtual reality offers manufacturers a multitude of pre-sales benefits, from cost reduction to enhanced customer experience. It’s a technology of the future that deserves to be considered by all companies wishing to stand out and offer the best to their customers.
Embark on this technological revolution today!
