INDUSTRY

EAD Motors is using SolidWorks 3D PartStream.NET service to provide customers such as Abbott Laboratories, Beckman Coulter, and Ingersoll Rand with an interactive online storefront that enables engineers to accelerate product development. 3D PartStream.NET lets customers download 3D CAD models of EAD motors into their product designs for everything from medical diagnostic equipment to packaging machinery to ensure fit and function prior to purchasing them. Since 1942, Dover, N.H.-based EAD has developed a wide variety of custom-built electric motors that operate within customers' machinery. Its motors move test tubes in automated labs, operate pumps, open and close valves, and move semiconductors. Though the company previously offered 2D drawing downloads from its online catalog, it chose to deploy 3D PartStream.NET after customers requested an option to download 3D models. EAD saw a 50 percent increase in Web site traffic from potential customers downloading product models in the first month the 3D option was available. "We sell to a sophisticated customer base that faces tight timetables, tough competition, and increasing demands for innovation and improved performance, and many of them use SolidWorks or other 3D design systems to help them meet these demands," said Tom Ouellette, EAD Motors' vice president of sales and marketing. "We evaluated several products and found 3D PartStream.NET to have the easiest user interface and the best functionality for customers. The fact that it offered a 3D parts configurator was a huge bonus." 3D PartStream.NET lets users custom configure the EAD Motors they need by varying product specs such as shaft length and motor speed. This feature accelerates product searches by allowing customers to choose the specs for the motor that will fit their specific requirements. Downloading the right motor model also ensures customers will "design in" and purchase the EAD product. EAD Motors are available on SolidWorks' 3D ContentCentralSM (www.3dcontentcentral.com) Web site, an online directory of suppliers offering downloadable 3D part models to hundreds of thousands of product designers and engineers around the world. Ouellette expects 3D PartStream.NET and 3D ContentCentral to significantly increase the company's exposure and sales leads per month, lowering its cost per sales lead and increasing revenue. "Significant customization in the electric motor industry means vendors must work hard to simplify the purchasing process," said Bob Noftle, general manager of 3D content solutions at SolidWorks Corporation. "EAD has carved a niche in the industry by offering highly customized products and responding to customer needs at every turn. Deploying 3D PartStream.NET underscores its commitment to that mission, and highlights a rapidly growing trend of suppliers offering downloadable 3D models to customers."