February 2023 Stats
New Projects
Work In Progress
Completed Projects
Welcome to this month’s newsletter. Our upgrade to SolidWorks 2023, the latest version is now complete. It’s our primary design software and is proving to be time efficient which is what we like! This is helpful as we continue to be busy and thank everyone for their ongoing support. Here’s an insight into some latest work, will these inspire your next project?
- Additional design resource for an overstretched engineering team
- Architectural metal work for a public garden
- Design consultation with an academic research partner
- Design support for a manufacturing business
- Tooling for a pharmaceutical company
What type of SolidWorks User are you?
White Horse CAD’s founder and Managing Director Tim Bird, has a wealth of engineering experience. His career spans over three decades, of which started as a sheet metal worker and then as a tool maker. Using his practical experience, Tim progressed throughout this career into senior design engineer roles for global orthopaedic companies. The experience and knowledge gained over the years put Tim in good stead to launch White Horse CAD in 2017. The projects and industries we work with varies, however the use of SolidWorks has been consistent. Here, Tim reflects on the types of SolidWorks users…do any of these sound familiar?
“‘I think there are four basic types of SolidWorks users; sometimes you don’t have a choice about what type of user you are. As for me, during my career, I have been every type of user in the list below.
The Early Adopter: Eager for advances, has to use the latest version, even if it’s not proven to be 100% stable yet.
Safety First: Cautious and waits until SP1.0 to deploy the latest version.
The Stick In The Mud: Has a subscription, but is still running an older version because it’s rock solid.
Old School: Has bought SolidWorks 5+ years ago but doesn’t keep subscription current and prefers what they know.
There is no wrong or right way to use SolidWorks; it’s up to the individual or the business that invests its hard earnt money into the software and what type of user they want to be. In my experience, more “Stick In The Mud” users are out there than any other type. I take my hat off to the brave early adopters that migrated their entire back catalogue the day after SP0.1 was released; that’s a bold move (and one I have taken in the past).
White Horse CAD doesn’t mind what type of SolidWorks user you are; we have clients that fit firmly into each of the four types listed above and some that fit somewhere between. We may already have your version of SolidWorks installed on our computers. But if we don’t, we probably have the installation files in our database to install your version within a few hours. White Horse CAD supplies data 100% compatible with your system 100% of the time”.
Getting ahead of the game with animation
We’ve recently completed a number of animations and so thought it timely to share a bit more about this service. The requests nicely highlight the different gains to be had from animation be it for an existing product or a new one…
One client has a consumer electronic product. It is niche and not something that is readily available for buyers to physically get their hands on. Instead, buyers can use the animation on the client’s website to get 360-angle of the product and can zoom in to take a closer look. It’s proving to be a valuable marketing tool for the client.
A second client needs animation to explain how a complex medical device would be used. It is a concept, so the animation is an effective visual to attract potential investors. By applying different materials and finishes, the animation is particularly helpful in showing options before making decisions on the final design. The movement in the animation helps to bring the concept to life and sparks important conversations about the requirements for the device.
These boots were made for walking
Last year Tim challenged himself to walk the length of the Great Wall of China. A total distance of 3513.1 kilometres (2182.94 miles). To achieve this, he averaged 16000 steps a day.
This year Tim has challenged himself to walk an average of 11,000 steps a day. This is still around 8.5Km a day, so he has not hung his walking boots up yet, he is, however, giving them a bit of a rest.
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