The Right 3D CAD System for Designing Wood Processing Machines

Logosol is a Swedish company that develops unique woodworking and wood processing machines and services.

With innovative and affordable solutions, Logosol has visibly changed forestry and woodworking for more than 25 years. Their wood processing machines are known for their simplicity of design, reliability, and efficiency.

The modular nature of their products and accessories means that customers can easily upgrade as their business grows.

Offering the most diverse range of woodworking and wood processing machines and services in 65 countries makes Logosol a global leader in its industry.

Designing Wood Processing Machines in House, in 3D

As the company grew, Logosol wanted to ramp up product development and committed to hiring a mechanical engineer so it could produce all new designs and drawings in-house for its wood processing machines and other products. (Until 2005, Logosol had used external consultants to produce all drawings.)

Another aim of this initiative was to start modeling using a 3D CAD software for the 3D design benefits it brings such as better fitting assemblies and visualization. (Logosol’s outside vendors had all produced designs in 2D using older AutoCAD software.)

Productivity Gains with the IronCAD Design Collaboration Suite

Logosol wanted a fairly simple and intuitive 3D CAD system that would be suitable for the designs of their wood processing machines (which mainly consist of laser-cut sheet metal and extruded aluminum profiles).

They chose IronCAD since it combined suitable ease-of-use features with a competitive price. As Logosol continued to use IronCAD, other benefits became apparent, further reinforcing their decision:

  • Quick and easy to model using the drag-and-drop design methodology (“We often make ‘sketches’ in IronCAD instead of using pen and paper; it’s that quick!” says Logosol’s Erik Svensson).
  • Integration with Rhino makes creating advanced surfaces easy.
  • The TriBall tool is very powerful and makes other 3D CAD systems feel somewhat cumbersome to work with. (“The work process is a bit different compared to other major 3D CAD systems but it doesn’t take many days before you get up to speed and you really can take advantage of the drag-and-drop methodology and the awesome TriBall tool,” says Svensson)
  • Really good compatibility through the Parasolid and ACIS kernels.
  • Good integration with CSI Design Data Manager (Logosol’s PDM system).
  • Powerful add-ons such as the new sheet metal Tabs and Slots tool in IronCAD Mechanical.

The productivity gains with IronCAD were massive.

Just having the ability to try different ideas in the 3D environment was a quantum leap forward when compared to using 2D drawings and assemblies.

Being able to visualize in 3D and make design changes to their relatively complex wood processing machines without having to worry about breaking a model’s constraints made working in 3D much easier than initially expected. IronCAD’s unique approach to 3D design that doesn’t force you to work with design intent was a major factor in this.

Tools such as the patented TriBall, drag and drop from catalogs, and design handles also helped to make the transition to 3D a simple one.

Logosol continues to be an industry leader in the field of wood processing equipment through the hard work of Logosol employees and IronCAD. Business is so successful that the design team continues to grow in size and consistently meets market demands and needs for the forestry products industry.

Click here to learn more about the IRONCAD design solution.