CAT Tale - A Customer Success Story
Process Automation Group, a Division of Baxter - Round Lake Park, IL
Website: http://www.baxter.com/
Industry: Healthcare

The Challenge
Reliable medical equipment is as important to healthcare professionals as reliable CAD software is to the engineers who design that equipment. Aravind Durai, Senior Designer at Baxter International was appointed the task of choosing the best, most reliable CAD package for his Process Automation Group (part of Medication Delivery Business), a division of Baxter.

The Medication Delivery Business develops and manufactures a wide range of products focused on delivering critical fluids and drugs to patients, such as intravenous (IV) solutions. They were looking for a platform that would lend itself well to custom automated machinery which does not necessarily involve very complex geometries, but does lend itself very well to complicated assemblies.

The Solution
Having previously used 2D AutoCAD in the Process Automation Group, Durai compared SolidWorks to Autodesk’s Inventor. Due to its superior assembly capabilities, SolidWorks got the nod, and Durai recommended they begin their implementation with 2 stations of the software.

The first test for SolidWorks was its reliability in the face of Baxter’s customers.

“We first started to use SolidWorks to come up with different concepts for customer presentations,” Durai said, recalling a meeting with their Puerto Rico-based customer. “They liked the fact that they were looking at something that was more realistic - a picture of what the final product is going to look like, as opposed to trying to visualize the 3D product in their minds based on the 2D media.”

SolidWorks also proved to be extremely reliable in communicating initial concepts to potential customers.

“With SolidWorks we were able to design in 3D and get real-time feedback from our customers. They understood very well what we were trying to create and provided very valuable feedback to us. We were then able to incorporate that feedback into our concepts and present it back to our customers,” comments Durai.

Baxter’s Process Automation Group purchased a few more licenses of SolidWorks, and the next phase of the implementation process ensued. This meant that the next test for SolidWorks was its reliability at the final design phase of a project.

“SolidWorks helped us save time with our designs. For one customer, we had a completely signed-off, final design review package in less than 45 minutes,” said Durai. “And it was accepted 100 percent.”

The CAD implementation process continued and SolidWorks faced yet another test of reliability. At Baxter, projects are required to go through a standard engineering checking procedure before actually being released to the shop to be manufactured. SolidWorks proved its reliability once again. “No egregious errors” was concluded.

SolidWorks passed its first three tests of reliability throughout the beginning phase of its implementation at Baxter, but services and support provided by CATI pushed it over the top.

“Technical support has been remarkably good and the technical staff is top-notch,” comments Durai. “From an end-user point of view, we are in the process of implementing a pretty tightly-scheduled project, and we are looking for answers right now. With CATI Technical Support, I receive responses to my questions in a very timely fashion.”

Migrating to 3D CAD and implementing SolidWorks has been a challenge for Durai and his group. “People, in general, are fearful of change. When you are used to doing a certain thing a certain way for so long, you get into a comfort zone and you are reluctant to change. Overcoming that is definitely a big part of the challenge,” the senior designer said. However, when asked if choosing SolidWorks was a reliable decision, Durai responded emphatically, “Absolutely. I have no doubt in my mind.”