Electronics and semiconductor

Long-YuanAdvanced sheet metal modeling tools shrink cycle time for electrical equipment by 30 percent

ProductSolid Edge

Business challengesIndustry downturnRising prices for raw materials and higher labor costsHigher product development efficiency needed to compete

Keys to successSolid Edge for fast sheet metal modeling Femap for FEA and pre- and post-processingTechnical support and training from Siemens PLM Software partner in Beijing

ResultsAbility to meet customers’ re-quirements in 30 percent less timeMaterial utilization rate im-proved by 100 percentGreater agility in addressing domestic and international market trends and weathering economic downturnsContinuous environmental ad-vancements

Solid Edge and Femap help Chinese manufacturer adapt to electrical industry’s ups and downs

Leading role in ChinaWith a history dating back nearly 30 years, and more than 20 years of special-ized manufacturing experience, Beijing Long-Yuan Switch Equipment Co., Ltd. (Long-Yuan) supplies medium-voltage (MV) and high-voltage (HV) switch products, as well as electrical equipment used in special environ-ments such as railways, mines and new energy applications.

HV switches play an important role in electrical equipment, controlling and protecting role power transmission and distribution. As a result, quality control is the most important aspect of Long-Yuan’s operation. Relying on a technology-driven development mode, Long-Yuan promotes continuous improvement in technolo-gies and quality, a focus that has given the com-pany a 15 percent share

www.siemens.com/solidedge

of the Chinese market, as well as a pres-ence internationally.

Long-Yuan is equipped with world-class, high-precision numerical control (NC) lathes, 5-axis NC machining centers, high-precision and high-efficiency NC laser cut-ting machine tools, high-voltage insulation testing equipment, and partial discharge testing equipment, as well as fully auto-matic wire processing machines specifi-cally for HV and low voltage (LV) switches and assemblies. Overall, the company has

some of the most advanced industrial equipment in China.

PLM for product advancementThe company’s success has always depended on the health of the electrical industry. When the industry experienced a downturn in 2011, Long-Yuan manage-ment realized that the company’s stable customer base and robust products would help in facing the crisis. The company also made some major changes to its design process, installing product lifecycle man-agement (PLM) solutions from Siemens

“ The sheet metal function is surely one of the strengths of Solid Edge. New functions are developed every year to better meet a variety of sheet metal-specific design requirements.”

Tong Bao-Quan Chief Engineer Beijing Long-Yuan Switch Equipment Co., Ltd.

PLM Software. These included Solid Edge® software for computer-aided design (CAD) and Femap™ software for finite element analysis (FEA) pre- and postprocessing. The company now uses these PLM technol-ogies for new product advancement, speeding research and development (R&D) and gradually building one of China’s most advanced design and manufacturing platforms.

Superior sheet metal functionalityBecause Long-Yuan’s products are housed in sheet metal cabinets, advanced sheet metal design and manufacturing capabili-ties are critical to the company’s success. From the most basic blanking to the fin-ished product, the use of Solid Edge has brought about great improvements in this endeavor, being suitable for sheet metal parts for a variety of electrical products, especially those with more non-scalar elements.

“ …Solid Edge has enabled us to reduce our design time by 30 percent as well as double our utilization rate across materials.”Tong Bao-Quan Chief Engineer Beijing Long-Yuan Switch Equipment Co., Ltd.

By using Solid Edge, 3D sheet metal designs subject to process programming can be performed directly, including designs of double hems and three-sided corner bends. Such designs can be unfolded automatically in 3D in accor-dance with the customer’s empirical parameters, displaying the bend sequence and performing such bend process tests as interference and collision. This saves a lot of time compared to manual unfolding and also promotes higher precision. The most important process in sheet metal operations is calculating the unfolded area. Using the Solid Edge sheet metal module, 3D models of sheet metal parts (as well as the unfolded models) can be saved in the same sheet metal file, and conversion between the two can be made easily through the Feature Manager. When the engineering drawings are generated, the system will automatically identify if there are both folded and unfolded models in the sheet metal file, and give prompts to the user for the correct choice. The unfolded sheet metal graphics correlate with design models so that the unfolded graphics will be updated automatically in case of changes to the models, enabling a more flexible sheet metal design process.

The integration of sheet metal design with manufacturing minimizes the time required to go from customers’ drawings to actual products. Product variants can be made quickly and in accordance with both domestic and international market trends, enhancing Long-Yuan’s adaptability to market fluctuations.

Tong Bao-Quan, Long-Yuan’s chief engi-neer, confirms the selection of Solid Edge. “We had a lot of options for both 2D design and complex 3D design,” he explains. “However, taking functionally into account, the scope of selection imme-diately narrowed. The sheet metal func-tion is surely one of the strengths of Solid

“ With specific sheet metal functionality, such automati-cally adding bend deforma-tion, bend calculations, and unfolding, Solid Edge has reduced our design time by 30 percent.” With specific sheet metal functionality, such as auto-matically adding bend defor-mation, bend calculations and unfolding, Solid Edge has enabled us to reduce our design time by 30 percent as well as double our utilization rate across materials.”

Tong Bao-Quan Chief Engineer Beijing Long-Yuan Switch Equipment Co., Ltd.

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Siemens PLM Software Americas +1 314 264 8287Europe +44 (0) 1276 413200Asia-Pacific +852 2230 3308

Solutions/ServicesSolid Edge www.siemens.com/solidedgeFemap www.siemens.com/plm/femap

Customer’s primary businessBeijing Long-Yuan Switch Equipment Co., Ltd. specializes in the production and operation of MV and HV switch products, as well as electrical equipment used in special environments such as railways, mines, and new energy applications.

Customer locationBeijing China

PartnerHenghua Creative Tech Co., Ltd.

Edge. New functions are developed every year to better meet a variety of sheet metal-specific design requirements. With specific sheet metal functionality, such as automatically adding bend deformation, bend calculations and unfolding, Solid Edge has enabled us to reduce our design time by 30 percent as well as double our utilization rate across materials.”

Using FEA to assess environmental impactHV switch products tend to be ultra high voltage (UHV)-based, eco-friendly, intelli-gent, compact, and maintenance-free. Using FEA technology helps meet these requirements, as well as makes it easier to adapt the equipment to changes in voltage. Femap provides industry-specific reliability analysis and assessment. In addition, use of Femap enables Long-Yuan to assess the environmental impact of its

products over their entire lifecycle and ensure that its products are as eco-friendly as possible.

In the future, Long-Yuan plans to increase the use of simulation and optimization tools, with the goal of performing target-oriented, structured optimization studies and optimizing products during the initial stage of design.