Since its foundation in 1969, the products of ROSE Systemtechnik GmbH have been well-known to many national and international machine and plant manufacturers.
Industrial enclosures, HMI-solutions (Human Machine Interface), and hazardous area equipment (explosion-proof enclosure systems) are developed and manufactured at three sites in Germany and three further sites in India.
The company has been using the SOLIDWORKS portfolio in product development since 2009, from data management, design and validation to the rapid creation of different designs.
Three different business units are organized under the name Rose Systemtechnik: the production of industrial enclosures, HMI-solutions and hazardous area equipment for areas with a potentially explosive atmosphere. In each of these areas, there is a variety of product variants: different materials, sizes and equipment for the applications of the company’s customers. The number of product variants that are developed and produced is almost unmanageable and is constantly increasing: customers require customized solutions, and new ideas are implemented to maintain a good market position.
3D CAD as the first step in development
The switch to SOLIDWORKS in 2009 brought 3D design to the company, which had previously been working using 2D CAD. The switch not only brought advantages for their own product development, their customers also benefit as the 3D CAD data can be made available to them for use in their own designs.
The 5 workstations that were initially equipped with SOLIDWORKS have grown to over 40. The complexity of the installed software has also increased over the years: from installations with just 3D CAD workstations to a complex IT-environment with product data management, simulation software, automated transfers to different departments, and applications for efficient variant creation and quality management.
International cooperation – like working next door
Shortly after the switch to SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD, the next step was taken: a solution had to be provided for collaboration with all the company’s sites. It was found in 2011 in the form of SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional.
By using the SOLIDWORKS PDM workflow to map the processes, errors during handovers were minimized and the dual control principle was introduced for the release of 3D CAD data.
“Without SOLIDWORKS, we cannot design the CAD files, and without SOLIDWORKS PDM, collaboration is not possible. We work with the same data all over the world.”
Emrah Erdem, Head of the Solution Team at ROSE Systemtechnik
Customized solutions implemented quickly across international teams
ROSE Systemtechnik uses DriveWorks for the efficient realization of new variants of their products. As a SOLIDWORKS Gold Partner, this tool is directly integrated into SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD. Based on the fundamental 3D CAD models and rules, DriveWorks is used to repeatedly create new variants of the products, including the associated drawings.
The advantages are quite clear: the automatic creation of models and drawings frees up capacity in development and design, which can be used for other purposes, such as new developments or improvements to existing components.
The processes in which automation was possible were identified in a project in 2018 and the first DriveWorks configurator was implemented. In addition to the deep integration in SOLIDWORKS, a major advantage of DriveWorks was recognizable right from the beginning: The customer support at the sites in Germany is provided by experts from Bechtle PLM, who are specially trained and educated by DriveWorks. International support for the solution is also provided by SOLIDWORKS and DriveWorks resellers, qualified on-site support can be provided at every location.
The ExD-Configurator was developed by the employees in India for fast design of the enclosures and the connected attachments. This speeds up the creation of customized housings for customers. New variants are created from a master model using DriveWorks, based on predefined rules set by the ROSE team. Not only is the 3D CAD data generated, 2D drawings are also created. The parameters of the new variants are not entered in SOLIDWORKS, but via a user-friendly input form.
“With the help of DriveWorks, we were able to achieve greater accuracy and automation in a completely new cycle.”
Sunjay Deshmukh, Product Manager at ROSE Systemtechnik
Designing the variants and manufacturing the unfinished parts for the housings are the daily tasks of the employees in one of the sites in India. Completion of the housings and final assembly take place at the plant in Porta Westfalica. The customized files for the new variants are exchanged via SOLIDWORKS PDM. This ensures that all international departments always have the same level of information.
Flexible solutions for the future
At ROSE, as well as at the company’s customers, the signs of the times are pointing towards change. New solutions must be found to make companies more economical and to survive on the market. Thanks to its strong position in the automotive, food and beverage, packaging and manufacturing digitalization sectors and its ability to respond quickly to customer requirements, ROSE Systemtechnik is well established in the market. SOLIDWORKS and DriveWorks support this with tools for fast, flexible solutions.