Case Studies

Transportation Case Study—Viking Yacht Streamlines Luxury
For Viking Yacht, transitioning to 3D prototyping with Inventor was more than a software enhancement; it was luxury enhancing. Quick design evolution enabled Viking to close the gap between design, engineering, and manufacturing. Autodesk Inventor helped facilitate the following:

• Check inferences ahead of time and reduce problems previously caught in production
• Run stress tests to identify where to trim weight and improve boat performance
• Assign weights and masses to get a center of gravity that achieves optimum running angles

“We had no way to design tube and pipe layouts in our former 2D CAD software and had difficulty generating wire lengths. Inventor lets us clearly, quickly, and accurately determine the lengths of pipes, wires, and cables, even when they follow nonlinear surfaces.”

—Jamie Scherer, CAD Designer, Viking Yacht

Product Case Study—Marin Bikes 2008 Mountain Bike of the Year
Originally an efficiency exercise thanks to previous AutoCAD® software knowledge, Marin Bikes' adoption of Inventor was intergral in cutting development timelines in half. From complicated 3D shapes to simple tube forms, Marin Bikes has been able to tackle and solve real-world challenges, including:

• Pinpointing and resolving points of potential liability
• Optimal suspension component interaction
• Calculating compression details, like where loads transmit through the frame

“That was the first project we went through using Inventor, and the fact that we got the Mountain Bike of the Year award from Mountain Biking Magazine for that work proves the method is working.”

—Jason Faircloth, Product Manager, Marin Bikes

Industrial Machinery—Joy Mining Designs for Multi-Tasking
Before Joy Mining Machinery leveraged Inventor 3D mechanical design software, mining and bolting the roof were handled by two cumbersome machines. Now, mining professionals can multitask in tight spaces with a single piece of equipment. Autodesk Inventor enabled Joy to:

• Virtually experiment with optimal hydraulic placement, safe operator enclosures, and stress tests, and resolve client needs before cutting the first piece of steel
• Custom engineer the breaking down of huge equipment, lowering into a mine, and reassembly underground
• Give global stakeholders access to latest models (when combined with Autodesk® Vault data management software), reduce inventory, and eliminate redundant part design

“We interpret [customer] requirements to create digital prototypes in Autodesk Inventor software. The longer we keep design iterations in the virtual world, the easier and more cost-effective it is to experiment with new ideas.”

—Chris Flynn, Director of Engineering Systems, Joy Mining Machinery