VMI Group streamlines the development of car tire production machines. With the introduction of SolidWorks 3D CAD combined with the PDM functionality of PRO.FILE, VMI has proven to be able to build 80 to 90% of customer-specific requests from standard building blocks. The result is a significant cost reduction thanks to both the reduction in engineering hours and production hours. At the same time, the quality has increased.
VMI Group is a global player in the market for car tire production machines. VMI is an internationally operating organization, with offices in the United States, Brazil, China and Germany. Worldwide it employs 800 people, in the Netherlands about 450. In addition to the division for production machines for car and truck tires, VMI also has a division that produces cleaning machines for soft drink cans, and a division that produces machines for the production of non-woven pads.
Victor de Heij of VMI tells; “With the help of our SolidWorks design software, combined with our PDM system, we were able to keep an overview of the approximately 200 building blocks that we have developed. What we have achieved is that by choosing the right building blocks, we can still make a machine that is fully tailored to the wishes and needs of the customer, but with a significant reduction in the number of engineering hours. The production hours also fell thanks to the standardization, which ultimately led to a considerable reduction in costs and an increase in quality.”