Century Tool & Gage Makes Transition From 2-D to 3-D With think3 for Worldclass Mold Design.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 2001

thinkdesign -- "Just as Robust" as High-end Products,

But Affordable & Easy to Use, Says Century Tool

Mechanical design software upstart think3 today announced that Century Tool and Gage (Fenton, MI) has successfully made the transition from 2-D to 3-D, standardizing on think3's single-environment 3-D solid and surface modeling software, thinkdesign(TM).

Century Tool and Gage (Fenton, MI) builds compression molds and secondary tooling for the automotive, heavy truck, aerospace and personal watercraft industries. The company specializes in molded headliners, door panels, package trays, acoustical components, trunk trim applications and exterior body panels (roofs, hoods and deck lids). At Century Tool's modern 90,000 square foot facility, the company operates 12 CNC duplicating mills with Fidia controllers, and its designers use state-of-the-art design and manufacturing software products, including thinkdesign for computer aided design (CAD) and WorkNC for computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). Century Tool is currently phasing out AutoCAD in favor of thinkdesign for CAD.

"Up until thinkdesign came into the picture, we were a longtime 2D organization," explains Tim Cummings, a member of the 15-person design and engineering team at Century Tool. "We realized the benefits of migrating to a 3D tool would help us use solid modeling and surfacing techniques. The additional skills will help us become more competitive."

Century Tool began implementing thinkdesign in mid-2000. "We were pleasantly surprised with its ease of use, affordability, and customer support," says Cummings. "Being 2D users, thinkdesign made it very easy to work in a 3D environment. The transition has been relatively simple. We really enjoy working in 3D versus 2D. It's a whole new world for us."

Game-Based Learning & Online Training Speed 3-D Learning Curve

Cummings and his team used think3's Monkey Wrench Conspiracy game-based training to become familiar with working in the 3D environment and with thinkdesign. They used the Monkey Wrench Conspiracy (now Time Mechanic) and think3's other online offerings as their exclusive training strategy. "This approach has worked well for us," notes Cummings. "Everyone can work at their own pace and come familiar with the product as they feel comfortable, although we do expect everyone to become up to speed quickly. In addition, by using the Monkey Wrench Conspiracy and online training, we aren't losing anyone to off-site classroom-type training. It's a great way to educate while maintaining production."

thinkdesign: "Just as Robust" as High-end Products, But Affordable & Easy to Use

Before selecting the software, Cummings and his colleagues considered high-end CAD products from Dassault and UGS. "Before jumping on those expensive bandwagons, we wanted to make sure that we were making the right decision," says Cummings. "We knew that both of those products would be able to handle the complex designs we tackle every day. We weren't sure that some of the other 3D solid modelers would be up to the task. However, once we started using thinkdesign and trying it out on some of our most challenging designs, we realized that it is just as robust as the high-end products. thinkdesign can handle just about everything that a much more expensive and harder to use package can at a much more affordable price."

Century Tool Achieves Immediate Success on Most Challenging Designs

Century Tool has used thinkdesign on several projects. "Using the software, I normally pull in the surface data of the part itself from the customer. If the data comes from another CAD system, it's either converted to IGES or we have converters here for Catia and for Unigraphics.

"Then we download the data into thinkdesign and we clean up anything that is

not a closed solid. The software helps me make sure that it's okay to run tool paths to manufacturer the surface. Then, we build the mold surfaces with the rest of the block of steel. Once the block of steel is built, we use thinkdesign to put all the plumbing holes through it because we have to put a plumbing circuit through it. The design itself becomes quite complex with 3D holes everywhere. In addition, there are multiple jumpers to run steam to heat the mold. In addition, there are many attachments that are screwed to the mold.

"We are very impressed that thinkdesign can handle such complicated assemblies. One mold can have up to 60 or more components and each component can have four holes in it. Models like that can be up to 150 megabytes in size. thinkdesign handles the job with no problem at all."

Cummings says that in the past, working in 2D, there were many times when errors occurred downstream. For molds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, this was an untenable situation for Century Tool. "Costly mistakes happened not because we aren't good at what we do, but because working in the 2D world didn't allow us to catch errors deep within the model. We simply couldn't see them. To keep our customers happy, we often absorbed the additional costs incurred due to mistakes and production bottlenecks."

Single Environment Solid & Surface Modeling Reduces Mold Design Time

According to Cummings, thinkdesign's unique surface and solids interoperability is a significant advantage, making it possible for designers to switch back and forth as needed.

"As a result, it doesn't take long to build our molds. In addition, they are more accurate and smoother. Before, using AutoCAD, we used to just mock up a design. The tools were not as attractive and they were not easy to change either. Now when we get changes, if we have to change the run off, we can make a solid and use that to cut away at the solid that we already had. It's a lot simpler and straightforward. Our customers and management understand the solid models. It's quite a change from trying to explain a model while looking at a 2D drawing."

About Century Tool & Gage

For the past 25 years Century Tool has taken pride in its ability to surpass its customers expectations by building compression molds and secondary tooling for the automotive, heavy truck, aerospace and personal watercraft industries. With the largest complement of two-spindle duplicating mills in the Mid-west, and being completely self sufficient, we can provide custom services to meet your total program needs. We specialize in molded headliners, door panels, package trays, acoustical components, trunk trim applications and exterior body panels, (roofs, hoods and deck lids). Visit http://www.centurytool.com for more information about Century Tool and Gage.

About think3

think3 is a privately held mechanical computer aided design (MCAD) company on a mission to revolutionize the $9 billion CAD software industry by bringing powerful, flexible, affordable "mass 3-D" design software to every engineer's desktop.

think3 software is used to design everyday physical objects, everything from Alessi boutique home accessories, adidas sports shoes, Buell Motorcycle Company (a division of Harley Davidson) sports bikes, and Salton small home appliances, to Tycos Tool & Die molds for exterior automotive parts (e.g., fenders, bumpers), Mizuno sporting goods, Candy/Hoover vacuum cleaner motors, and Dinan custom BMW engine parts, among others.

think3 is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with engineering centered in Bologna, Italy and supported by R&D teams in Bangalore, India, Boston, Massachusetts, Marseilles, France, Pesaro, Italy, and Salt Lake City, Utah. think3 products are sold through a worldwide network of distributors and VARs, and online at http://www.think3.com. For more information, call 1-800-323-6770 or send an email to [e-mail].