Product Development
Robotics -- Laboratory/Industrial Automation
Motion Control -- Electronics Packaging (CE, UL)
Machine Design -- Thermal Systems -- Automotive
and Railway Systems -- Fluid Handling --
Consumer Products -- Aerospace/Defense
Products -- Optical Systems -- Office Equipment
Exercise/Sports Medicine -- Precision Machining
Sheet Metal -- Thermoformed/Molded Plastics
High Perfomance Plastics -- Aluminum Casting
Engineering Services
Product Development -- Concept Generation through
    Prototype Fabrication, Strategic Partners with
    Industrial Design and Electronics Hardware/
    Software Design
Engineering Analysis -- Finite Element, Failure
Machine and Process Design -- Industrial Robotics,
    Laboratory/Shop Floor Automation
Prototype Fabrication -- In-House Sheetmetal/
    Machining Capability, Strategic Partners
    with Local Manufacturers, Testing (both
    Functional and Cycle.
Design Tools
CAD -- PTC Pro/Engineer (now CREO), Solidworks,
Autodesk Inventor

Analysis -- Pro/Mechanica, Autodesk Simulation

Data Management (Product Life Cycle) --
PTC Windchill, Autodesk Vault

Issue Tracking -- Issue View
Sustainable Support
Maintain CAD data and designs with ongoing
product support

Product Life Cycle Management

Secure data with daily offsite backups

Client access through Cisco firewall
utilizing VPN client

FTP sites

3D Modeling Secrets Exposed:

by Michael Herron

3-D Modeling is a powerful and essential component of the design process. In the right hands, it can speed product development in several ways. First, it provides the necessary design definition to simulate how your product will look and work, reducing the need for early and expensive prototypes. It can also provide fully rendered pictures for marketing materials and crucial design decisions--all before any materials are cut. 3D models can also represent--in every detail--your final product. Even today, 2-D drawings are used to make and verify your product. When these 2-D drawings are produced correctly from high-quality, well organized 3-D models, accuracy of the 2-D drawings is assured. When any changes are made to the 3-D model, the 2-D drawings are automatically and instantly updated to reflect these changes. High-quality, well organized 3-D models are essential for this unbreakable connection between the 3-D and 2-D design definitions to be maintained. All 3-D Modeling tools allow and encourage 2-D design elements to be either indirectly related to, or to simply over-ride information in the 3D model. This can be useful to quickly producing a usable 2-D drawing in the shortest possible time. Unfortunately, when changes are made--even to a high-quality, well organized 3-D model-- the relationships between these indirect or overridden features is broken and often doesn't update correctly. The situation is even worse with a 3-D model that is not well organized.

3-D models are very similar to computer software. In the hands of a skilled and disciplined designer, 3-D models are producible, well organized, and contain all the design information and intent that can be carried through the entire life-cycle of the part. Changes and revisions are a natural part of the product lifecycle. Often, these changes are made by someone other than the original designer. If the design intent is unclear and the model is disorganized, even seemingly minor changes can result in unintended consequences. As in software coding, these consequences, if caught early, result in costly re-engineering time and delays. If not caught, the costs can be much higher.

At GCI, high-quality, well-organized and complete 3-D models are our hallmark. We are unique among design consultants in that our rigorous training program ensures that all 3-D models are properly organized and contain all the design information necessary to not only produce the part, but to understand it. This is critical to the lifecycle--especially if you are assuming control of the design we generate.

In addition to well-organized, easy to understand 3-D models, our 2-D drawings contain no dimensions, tolerances or symbols that aren't directly part of the model. This ensures that the 2-D drawing, which is often the only design definition that is used to create the part, is accurate and always up-to-date with the 3-D model. Designing parts this way requires much more discipline, training and forethought, and is one of the ways Guerra Consulting, Inc. stands apart from other design consultants.

Any design consultant can provide pretty pictures of past projects. Many have the skills to produce a design that meets your functional requirements. At Guerra Consulting, our unique training program and talented group of experienced engineers add value by providing designs that meet your requirements without requiring costly re-engineering to integrate the product into your organization's product lifecycle.