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SMARTDRAW IN ENGINEERING:

Driving Productivity in Factory Automation

CLIENT PROFILE:

Name: Tim Surber Title: Electrician Organization: Heritage Products Location: Roachdale, Indiana Application: Creating electrical schematics and diagrams for automotive assembly equipment

The Roadblock

Tim Surber, an electrician for a Japanese automotive company, was getting frustrated. He needed a way to create electrical schematics and diagrams for his work in programming robots.

"I know that AutoCAD is the so-called 'industry standard,' but I must say it's a very confusing program for most people," said Surber. "Not anyone can just pick it up. It requires time and even classes to learn how the program works."

Surber didn't even need to create his drawings to scale. They were simply schematics, or visual aids, that would illustrate the electrical hardwiring for his factory automation equipment.

"I didn't need all of the confusing tools that AutoCAD swears by," said Surber.

Although he was told that he really needed to learn AutoCAD, Surber decided to do some research of his own. That's when he found SmartDraw on the Internet.

A Powerful Shortcut

Surber downloaded the free SmartDraw trial program from the Internet and was immediately impressed with its ease-of-use. "The program is just so user-friendly and easy to learn," said Surber. "I knew I would be able to complete my diagrams very quickly."

SmartDraw offers more than 50,000 pre-drawn symbols, images, and templates, including over 3000 for electrical engineering alone. From sensors to semiconductors, from switches to circuits, users can "drag and drop" virtually everything they need right into their drawing.

SmartDraw also allows users to create their own symbols and libraries for customized applications. For example, Surber's company has their own set of symbols and standards that they use in their diagrams. SmartDraw allowed him to easily incorporate these symbols and standards into his work.

"I loved how easy it was to draw my own symbols, and put them right into the symbol libraries so I could use them again and again," said Surber. "The drag-and-drop approach is just great!"

Going the Distance

After playing around with the software for a few days, Surber decided to purchase it.

"I used SmartDraw on my very next project at work," said Surber. "I drew ten pages of detailed electrical schematics for a new machine."

His coworkers were so impressed with the professional-looking results, that they assumed he had learned to use the company standard-AutoCAD.

"The guys at work were amazed that I had learned to use 'AutoCAD' so quickly" said Surber. "Needless to say, when I told them it was a different program, they wanted to see more of the software!"

"Now I use SmartDraw for every single one of my projects," said Surber. "I swear by it."

Not only is he able to create diagrams that he simply couldn't make with AutoCAD, but he's able to get his work done much faster.

"My boss is happy because I can whip out prints so quickly, and spend more time on the actual engineering part of my job," said Surber. "It would take me weeks to complete the same drawings in AutoCAD that I'm finishing in SmartDraw in hours!"

Surber is also impressed with the power of the program. He says his drawings are much more detailed than those that his coworkers create in AutoCAD. He works so quickly in the program that he actually has time to include more details-details that his coworkers are forced to leave out.

"Thank you, SmartDraw, for helping my career!" said Surber.

 

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