What do pretzels, particle beams and highways all have in common? The machines used to create them are all designed in programs like Solid Edge, by people like Bruce Shand. Shand has had a hand in design projects ranging from linear particle accelerator beamlines and tunnel boring equipment to industrial ovens used by companies such as Frito-Lay, Nabisco and Kraft.
He began his career nearly three decades ago when a friend recommended him for a job in drafting. A self-described gearhead, Shand said he was “kind of a natural.” He became fascinated with CAD in the late 1970s, using a monochromatic Computervision system, playing around with electromechanical layouts.
Now, Shand has more than 35 years of experience in mechanical drafting and design in various industries, including semiconductor capital equipment, solar power, telecom equipment, medical equipment, optics, heating and cooling, plumbing systems and pneumatics/hydraulics.
A user of multiple CAD platforms over the years, Shand has utilized Solid Edge since 2000. He now serves as a CAD integrator for The Lanly Company in Cleveland, Ohio, where he manages the CAD library, takes requests for library components from design colleagues and integrates them into the company’s database. His extensive experience in mechanical design comes in handy when working with the company’s designers.
Founded in 1938, The Lanly Company specializes in designing and building industrial ovens and dryers, material handling equipment, process control systems and custom heat processing equipment.
A typical project at Lanly starts with conceptual engineering design. Solid Edge is used to create volumes to represent the different assemblies that are required in the oven. Then, the designers use these volumes as an envelope for the detailed design. As the design is finalized, the files are released to the manufacturing plant where the ovens are built. As the ovens are built, and if any problems are discovered, changes are noted and corrected in the model.
From start to finish, a typical project at Lanly takes three to six months. When the designers start, they need to incorporate standard components that might not already be in the library, such as different steel extrusions, standard hardware and vendor-supplied components.
Shand fulfills designer requests by creating new library items and makes sure they conform to the company’s CAD standards. He also transfers models from different versions of software since some longer-term projects may still be in legacy AutoCAD. “I’m the filter, the funnel for that kind of stuff,” Shand said.
“Bruce’s role at Lanly is to build the database that we use to create our assemblies,” said colleague Michael Haslett, a lead mechanical designer at Lanly. “We use a lot of purchased parts that need to be recreated in Solid Edge. Already having these created saves the designers a lot of time. Bruce also has the experience to create blocks in a library that we can use in our drafts, which also saves time for our drafters.”
Haslett added that Shand has also helped with Lanly’s transition to Solid Edge when designers and drafters needed to gain experience with the program.
For his part, Shand says the engineers, designers and drafters have made remarkable progress in adapting from 2D to 3D CAD within a short time—all while continuing to crank out projects without the luxury of a leisurely learning curve.
“Learning by doing actual designs is usually the best anyway,” he said. “And these guys really know oven design. So, they knew what the end result should be. The challenge was making the new tool perform for them.”
“At The Lanly Company, we use Solid Edge in all the design work and drafting for the manufacturing of industrial ovens,” said Haslett. “One of the benefits of using this software is the ability to see exactly how the parts go together and if there are any interferences. Also, any revisions are easily completed by using the synchronous technology in the software.”
Siemens PLM Software introduced synchronous technology into product updates in 2008. This history-free, direct-modeling technology allows for a faster design experience by synchronizing geometry and rules through a decision-making inference engine.
Although he has a background in history-based CAD, Shand also appreciates synchronous technology and the flexibility it offers. “This technology is very powerful,” he said. “It’s great for importing vendor-supplied parts of varying formats and for sharing data. It’s also very flexible for adapting models to make them editable and therefore more usable.”
With decades of experience under his belt, Shand enjoys overseeing the database and the way it’s managed at Lanly. But perhaps what he enjoys most is helping people, tutoring and solving problems with the design teams.
Siemens has sponsored ENGINEERING.com to write this article. It has provided no editorial input. All opinions are mine. —Lisa Lance
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