Imass Design Solutions helps Expro design team

Leading global oilfield service company Expro International Group has invested in 20 new seats of Autodesk Inventor to add to 10 already installed

Leading global oilfield service company Expro International Group has invested in 20 new seats of Autodesk Inventor to add to 10 already installed.

Engineers already using the software report greater accuracy and increased productivity, plus better communication with colleagues, subcontractors and prospective customers through use of the visual model.

Expro has been working with Autodesk supplier Imass Design Solutions to streamline its design processes and workflow.

As a result, it has also implemented a work-in-progress data management solution, Autodesk Vault, which will link into its company-wide product data management (PDM) system.

The review by Imass is part of the Expro strategy to establish its brand new technology centre in Aberdeen as a hub of design excellence.

Inventor is currently being used by Expro engineers to design new subsea tools.

Gavin Hay, Expro CAD administrator reports that its lifelike 3D models and animation capabilities have really helped explain these innovative new products, even to those with no engineering knowledge.

Inventor is also being used in the Expro office in Houston, so it is now easier to communicate and exchange data between locations.

"Imass has done a total audit and an evaluation of the way we work.

Subsequently it has recommended an automatic feed of CAD information into our mainstream data management system," Hay explains: "This will avoid duplication of data or having to enter it manually with all the opportunities for error this presents".

Autodesk Vault is the first stage of the Autodesk incremental data management solution.

It organises 3D models, drawings and documents in a centralised location and reduces the time needed to find, reference and reuse design data.

As product designs evolve, version management features provide protection from unintentional overwriting of good designs.

In addition, users can save hours of valuable design time with the powerful copy and reuse capabilities that reduces the time required to start a new design.

"We're delighted to play a role in helping Expro enhance its technical design excellence," says Colin Watson, Imass business development director: "The company is typical of forward thinkers in the oil and gas industry reaping rewards from the efficient creation and management of design data".

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