goracon systemtechnik GmbH – the sky is our limit

goracon systemtechnik GmbH is a medium-sized company in the Münsterland region with many years of experience in access platform technology for buildings and wind turbines. Their spare parts catalogs were created on paper and involved an elaborate manual Microsoft Word process. These were hardly used, since spare parts were mainly ordered by photos and fax. Consequently, goracon had to come up with the time and effort to identify the parts. By introducing an electronic spare parts catalog, time and effort were to be transferred to the customer i.e. service technicians.

Starting point

So far, spare parts catalogs were created in a cumbersome manual fashion and only supplied in print. It involved creating CAD-system drawings, which were then transferred to Microsoft Word together with a parts list in a corresponding lay-out.  The printed catalogs were hardly used; instead customers und service technicians preferred ringing the after sales service or sending in photos showing the faulty parts.  On top of that, there were linguistic problems making parts identification a huge and ever increasing cost and time factor. An electronic spare parts catalog based on 3D engineering data should not only considerably simplify the search for the correct parts but also provide any required additional information, such as work instructions, data sheets etc.

goracon systemtechnik – a partner you can rely on

Goracon is a medium-sized business in the Münsterland region with its registered office in Steinfurt. Their long-standing experience in access platform technology vouches for first-class quality and product durability. 

Their 55 employees are involved in the development, construction and manufacturing of customer-specific access systems for buildings and wind turbines. Subsidiaries in Atlanta, USA and agencies in France, Spain, China and South Korea ensure that goracon is internationally represented.

Requirements

At goracon, there is an annual requirement of approx. 20 spare parts catalogs. The catalogs had to be created automatically from CAD-data and BeoSys parts lists. The catalogs have to provide a complete worldwide on-site overview of the spare parts for service technicians and customers and make knowledge transfer regarding parts mentioned in PDF files – and work instructions in particular – easier. The interactive HTML catalogs are supplied to the customers on a USB-memory stick and are also available on the internet. The user administration configured for goracon is to ensure that each user receives exactly the information he requires.

Solution

The order specific product structure stored in the BeoSys ERP-system is used as a basis for the spare parts catalog.

Via a fully automatic server process coupled with the 3D release, the 3D models are converted into the XVL format of Lattice Technologies Inc. and then made available in a list for catalog creation. In addition, they are checked into the ERP-system and consequently available for other purposes – beyond the spare parts catalog - to all entitled personnel within the company. Using XVL technology, the enormous compression ratios of the original data files range from 0.2 to 0.5% and ensure a perfect use of 3D models on the internet.

By simply pressing a button, CATALOGcreator® uses available data to generate dynamic HTML-catalogs for the required on- and offline applications. Printed catalogs are completely abandoned.

The cooperation between goracon and TID was extremely constructive and solution-focused, which right from the first presentation already involved a complete customer catalog. The user-friendliness of CATALOGcreator® and the fact that it provides excellent value for money made a major contribution towards the purchase decision.

Outlook

In future, the catalogs are to be used as a central service facility for spare parts identification, product information, knowledge transfer, quotations and spare parts orders.