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The Challenge
Dexter Magnetic Technologies is a global leader in providing magnetic solutions to focused markets. Dexter required alignment with a business
partner that would not only provide state-of-the-art engineering technology tools, but would also assist the magnetic solutions provider in achieving its short and long term business goals.
The North American permanent magnet industry has experienced significant change in the past ten years. The majority of the raw materials for the exotic alloys used by permanent magnet companies like Dexter are found in China.
“We realized some time ago that if customers want to buy large quantities of simple magnets ‘off the shelf’, they’re going to go to China to buy, based on cost” explained Dr. Gareth Hatch, Dexter’s Director of Technology. “We decided that in order to successfully compete in the global market, we needed to expand far beyond simple ‘off the shelf’ magnet production. We needed to become a complete magnetic solutions company, capable of producing the most complex and most advanced permanent magnet and electromagnet systems and assemblies.”
The Solution
By partnering with CATI, and reaping the benefits of an industry-experienced staff and leading technology solutions, Dexter engineers significantly enhanced their competitive advantage in the permanent magnet arena.
Hatch indicated that in repositioning their company, Dexter realized that the new strategy would require an expanded engineering staff and the development of ever more challenging engineered solutions using magnetic components.
“That really required a more advanced level of engineering design and
design tools,” said Hatch, an 8-year veteran at Dexter.
Hatch speaks of CATI’s proactive approach to keeping customers informed of value-added seminars, webcasts, customer events, etc. “By leveraging all of the value-added events hosted by CATI, an already well-educated Dexter Magnetic Technologies engineering team returns with additional skills and the ability to apply these skills to help improve our processes.”
He specifically noted CATI’s “What’s New in 2005” seminar, and said their engineers actually developed a portion of their design process around the SolidWorks enhancements that CATI introduced at that event.
“The staff at Computer Aided Technology is highly professional, experienced, friendly, and interested in building a long-term relationship, which is important to us.”
Summary and Metrics
- Design time is 10 to 20 times faster then with previous CAD technology
- Ability to build permanent magnet systems weighing thousands of pounds, containing hundreds of components, in weeks vs. months
- Now have the largest, most skilled team of magnetic design engineers in the U.S.
- Reduced product development lifecycle
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