Founded in 1956, Comelit Group S.p.A. designs and manufactures video intercom systems, burglar alarms, CCTV systems, home automation, fire detection and access control systems. From its head office in San Lorenzo di Rovetta (BG), Comelit manages a well-organised sales network comprising 15 subsidiaries spread all over the world, and exports to more than 70 countries. Strongly oriented towards international growth and innovation, it is a continuously developing enterprise that, while maintaining deep ties with the territory to which it belongs, has succeeded in developing a global vision, integrated with the specific needs of each market. The Group, which made a turnover of over €100 million in 2016, now has over 400 employees. The technological innovation that characterises Comelit's growth goes hand in hand with an original and distinctive design that combines the use of high-tech materials with a search for simple lines, essential shapes and inventive new colour schemes. A globally recognised style that has won the company prestigious international awards over the years. But for our attention to our clientele to be authentic, there must be innovation, in terms of the continuous pursuit of quality aimed at improving life itself. This is why Comelit is constantly engaged in making its products simpler and more functional for their users, and in the implementation of ever more effective production tools for those who design and build, from the technical office right through to the production plant. Against this backdrop, for the last two years or so, Autodesk Moldflow Insight, backed up by Prisma Tech's consulting, has been supporting the mould design process for the plastic components of Comelit products, speeding up production times without detriment to the quality of the finished product.
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In Comelit’s market, time-to-market is the priority that makes the difference. “The challenge is twofold because the need to get to market before the rest must be reconciled with the quality of our products, the level of which must always be high," explains Luca Morandi, from Comelit's Mechanical Design & Industrialisation Area. Optimising the time required for each stage of processing, from design to the moulding of the component parts of Comelit products, is a decisive factor. The reorganisation of the processes on the basis of these requirements was initially a concern of the internal technical department. “In the various stages of production, the creation of the moulds for the plastic components of our product solutions is a critical step,' Morandi emphasises. “So it is essential to provide our moulding suppliers with a 3D model of the part that is as accurate as possible and that requires as few modifications as possible to be manufactured.”
It’s a virtual reproduction, but one that is absolutely identical to what will be printed, making it possible to consider potential problems in advance and reduce the time lost due to any mould changes that turn out to be necessary during the execution phase. Such changes slow down productivity, lengthening time-to-market beyond acceptable standards.
In order to simulate and foresee all possible moulding problems that designers have to cope with when the mould is already at the design stage - in order to be able to correct the model beforehand - Comelit was seeking a type of software that could simulate shapes and resolve inconsistencies already on a 3D digital model. “Thanks to the consulting services of Prisma Tech, the partner that provides us with tools to back up our work as designers, we have introduced Autodesk Moldflow Insight into the company,” Morandi adds. "Autodesk Moldflow Insight helps us simulate the filling and cooling of parts, so that we can detect any aesthetic defects or deformations that might appear on the finished part. So it enables us to realise, before proceeding with the production of the parts, if there are any imperfections or problems of any kind”. Operating on a virtual model also gives Comelit's designers the opportunity to decide on the final surface finishes on the moulds from the outset. “Before using Moldflow, we had to wait until the first pieces were ready before considering these details,” Morandi points out. “Now, at last, we have parts ready to be put on the market, right at the very beginning.”
The benefits of using Moldflow have extended throughout Comelit's entire production chain, thanks to the time saved during the processing phases. “On projects completed to date with Moldflow, we have reduced our products’ time-to-market by roughly one and a half months,” enthuses Morandi. “So return on investment due to this solution was almost immediate.” In fact, the time-to-market of Comelit’s products is unrivalled, with lower production costs and the elimination of all the steps previously dedicated to making changes and corrections to the moulds - which used to be very frequent. What’s more, this is all done without detriment to the high quality of the end result. “Moldflow has been part of our production processes for two years now,” adds Morandi. “It was actually easy to integrate and we had no problems learning how to use it. Now, we are further integrating the Autodesk solution in our work by increasing the number of employees who use it, with a view to gaining even more benefits.” A success on all fronts: the value of Autodesk Moldflow and the backup given by Prisma Tech during selection, integration and training for designers is a given. “Moldflow is perfectly aligned with our vision: to make our business processes more efficient without any negative impact on what we do," Morandi concludes. “Improving the quality of our solutions can further improve the quality of people’s lives.”
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