Customer Success Story

Gaspar Acevedo -- Magove

In 2002, Gaspar recognized that Magove needed 3D design tools and began to investigate 3D CAD software. In November, he contacted CIATEQ, a government office that has licenses for many CAD software applications. An employee there gave Gaspar an introduction to 3D solid modeling in a popular mid-range application, but the software crashed several times. They received assistance from a local technical support company. A few days later, the support representative contacted Gaspar directly and told him about Alibre Design.

Gaspar started a free trial of Alibre Design immediately. "I am very, very pleased with Alibre Design. On my second day using it, I was already doing simple parts. You can start using it right away. I had thought we would use 3D only when we especially needed it. After using Alibre Design for just a couple of weeks, I knew that we could drop 2D for good."

Gaspar found Alibre Design very easy to learn. "We had never done 3D design, but you'd be amazed at the stuff we have done here in very little time. Most of it is fixtures for automotive parts. We have created a fixture to inspect the mufflers for another automaker's exhaust systems. And we have created a fixture that will hold a structural piece of the chassis for a PT Cruiser as a robot laser-cuts it. We have also created a fixture to inspect fluid conductor tubes for Volkswagens. All this in just a few weeks after we started the free trial. It won't be long before we are doing full machine 3D designs."

Getting up to speed fast was critical to Magove. "When you're in manufacturing, time is money," Gaspar says. "When you're considering new technology, you have to think about how much time it will take to implement it. Alibre Design takes you there very fast, because the software is very easy to use and the people are very willing to get you going."

"Now, we are totally leaving behind 2D design and using 3D design for everything. We have two specific reasons for that decision. First, when you're designing something new, you're not sure how it will look. In 3D design, what you're looking at on the screen is so precise. It gives you a very precise description of how it will look when it's built. Our design ability is so much better. It's common in our industry to evaluate things as they are built, but it's cheaper to redesign than to rebuild. We have been reducing rework with 3D design."

"Second, most of the time, we're not experts in what our clients do. The client's input is very valuable in the design stage, but very hard to get with 2D drawings. With 3D, the client can give us very precise input. Less corrections are necessary after everything is finished."

Gaspar likes the value he gets from Alibre Design, too. "Alibre Design is very cost-effective. For what you pay compared to all that you get, it's a great deal. I'm very happy that I pushed my company to buy Alibre Design. The goal is for all of our engineers to be using Alibre Design in the first half of the year."

As a user who is new to 3D design, Gaspar needed assistance during his free trial and contacted Scott Erickson, a sales engineer, several times. "The help you get from people at Alibre like Scott is very valuable. He has gone out of his way for me, both before and after the sale."

"I wouldn't have a doubt in recommending Alibre Design to any company doing this type of design. The bottom line is that we're getting designs down to the shop floor quicker and more accurately."