Industrial machinery and heavy equipment

DiaComIndustrial diaphragm maker achieves seamless transferof tool design to manufacturing with Solid Edge
Products
Solid Edge, Solid Edge
CAM ProBusiness challenges
Deliver more complex
diaphragms
Update products to match
new market demands
Better align design andmanufacturing
Keys to successMove from 2D to 3D design
Use CAM software to programmachines
Buy CAD, CAM tools fromone source
Utilize dual support frompartner and Siemens PLM
SoftwareResults
30 percent faster new design
50 percent faster designchanges
Seamless transfer of design
intent to shop floorDiaCom targets new markets
demanding higher levels oftechnology for its complex
molded diaphragms
Cutting-edge products, new geographicmarkets
About six years ago, industrial diaphragm
manufacturer, DiaCom Corp. (DiaCom)
initiated a shift in its approach to tool
design and manufacturing. With a greatcustomer reputation already in place, thetime came to upgrade the company’stechnologies. The goal: expand into newmarkets.

manufacturing engineering manager at
DiaCom. “There’s more technology demand
from these new customers. They don’t justneed washers on a garden hose.”
DiaCom customers operate in a different
world, with more intricate design demands
leaning heavily on parametric modeling tomeet government and industry standards.
Many of its longtime, established customers now require a similar technologicalability to produce more advanced
diaphragms.

The Amherst, New Hampshire-based
company designs and manufactures innovative, cost-effective molded diaphragms
critical to the operation of essential industrial systems and equipment. DiaCom not
only produces diaphragms, but designs
and builds the tooling to manufacture
them. The company staffs design and tool
departments as part of its business model.
The new technology shifts have allowed
entry into new industries requiring more
complex diaphragms as well as parallelmarkets. Those industry targets include
aerospace, irrigation, automotive, oil, gas
and medical customers. “We wanted togrow dynamically by offering more intricate, cutting-edge products and also
expand into new geographic markets in
China and Europe,” says Mike Grywalski,

DiaCom designs and manufactures homogeneous, fabricreinforced, insert bonded, Teflon bonded and fab air
industrial diaphragms.

solidedge.siemens.com

“On a recent complex moldproject, Solid Edge modelingwas 25 to 30 percent fasterthan traditional 2D design
and was more accurate.”
Mike Grywalski
Manufacturing Engineering
Manager
DiaCom Corporation

Die set that can form four diaphragms at once.

Design for manufacturing
Expansion required more advanced software technology. Customers were starting
to come to DiaCom with 3D models towork from. The company was using 2Dcomputer-aided design (CAD) software,
producing “old-school” drawings thatcouldn‘t fully define some products.
DiaCom recognized the problem anddecided to shift its design paradigm.
Grywalski’s shopfloor background helped
him realize the need to bring the toolgroup on board with any CAD technology

changes. With many years of CAD andcomputer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
software experience, he recalled compatibility, communication and technicalsupport issues when using software fromtwo different vendors.
“We wanted to bring the tooling group onboard with our plans,” says Grywalski. “Wewanted to implement CAD and CAM applications from one software company so wecould get one-stop support.”“ Solid Edge and Solid Edge CAM Pro havemade a significant difference by improving
our technical design and tool-build
capabilities. They helped DiaCom provide
complex products which would not have been
as easily made several years ago.”
Mike Grywalski
Manufacturing Engineering Manager
DiaCom Corporation

“We wanted to bring thetooling group on board withour plans. We wanted toimplement CAD and CAM
applications from one
software company so we
could get one-stop support.”
Mike Grywalski
Manufacturing EngineeringManager
DiaCom Corporation

Exploded view of a die set capable of creating 20 diaphragms at once.

The company selected Solid Edge® software for 3D design and Solid Edge CAM
Pro software for manufacturing, both fromproduct lifecycle management (PLM)
specialist Siemens PLM Software. DiaComrelies on Siemens PLM Software solution
partner LMGi for implementation, training
and system support.
Move from 2D to 3D design foradvanced parts
DiaCom evaluated multiple CAD systems
including SOLIDWORKS® software,
AutoCAD® software, Inventor® software,
Pro/ENGINEER® software and Solid Edge.
“While there were many software
programs available, we selected Solid Edge
because of available support from LMGi as
well as from Siemens’ Global TechnicalAccess Center organization. This support
network paid off well as we initiatedchanges.” Besides the 24/7 support for
both CAD and CAM questions, LMGi andSiemens PLM Software helped DiaCom
identify postprocessors for its machine
tools and solve other hardware/softwareinterface challenges.
DiaCom determined that the Siemens PLM
Software technology was impressive andpricing was competitive. “Solid Edge gave

us the technological capability to design
the more complex parts required by existing customers as well as the other newcustomers we work with,” says Grywalski.
“Today‘s changes are often more challenging and can take longer. With 3D, it’seasier to make customer-requested designchanges than it was with traditional 2Dsoftware.”
DiaCom has started to use the synchronous technology capability of Solid Edge,
applying the simplicity of direct modelingwith the control of parametric design. Thecompany continues to evaluate synchronous technology as well as traditional
ordered design. “In some cases, theordered approach makes the most sense,”
Grywalski says. “At other times, thesynchronous approach seems best. Eitherway, we are seeing a reduction in design
time and higher accuracy, both of whichhave a positive impact on manufacturing.
For example, on a recent complex moldproject, the use of Solid Edge modelingwas 25 to 30 percent faster than traditional 2D design and was more accurate.”

Making modifications to existing
diaphragm designs is quite common at
DiaCom. By using synchronous technology
instead of traditional history-based
processes, DiaCom has experienced areduction in revision time by up to50 percent on recent design work.
DiaCom is designing programs to create
automated part and tool models based on
variable tables in Solid Edge. By applying
new business engineering processes, these
programs are being used by designers toaccelerate design without sacrificing
accuracy. Though this is in the early stagesof development, the company has alreadyexperienced significant benefits with thenew approach.

Solid Edge manufacturing
For its computer numerical control (CNC)
programming tool, DiaCom selected
Solid Edge Cam Pro from Siemens PLM
Software. DiaCom uses Solid Edge Cam Pro
to program its Okuma CNC lathe andFadal CNC mill, among other pieces ofequipment to machine the compression
molds that are used to manufacture thediaphragms. DiaCom’s tool room leadpioneered the use of Solid Edge
Cam Pro to program the machine tools.
Additionally, the mill and lathe machine
operators have been trained in the use ofSolid Edge Cam Pro to program themachine tools.

Upper and lower mold cavities (center and right), and the diaphragm they produce (left).

“The combination of Solid Edge and Solid Edge
Cam Pro has provided “a seamless transfer oftool design communication between thedesign group and the shopfloor.”
Mike Grywalski
Manufacturing Engineering Manager
DiaCom Corporation

Solutions/Services
Solid Edgewww.siemens.com/solidedge
Customer’s primary business
DiaCom Corporation
designs and manufactures
innovative, cost-effective
molded diaphragms critical tothe operation of essential
industrial systems and equipment.
www.diacom.com
Customer location
Amherst, New Hampshire
United States
Solution Provider Partner
LMGi
www.TLMGi.com“Solid Edge gave us thetechnological capability todesign the more complex
parts required by existingcustomers as well as theother new customers wework with.”“With 3D CAD in place, we have been
designing some pretty complex parts forvarious applications. Many customers
prefer not to use traditional diaphragmdesigns,” Grywalski says. The more sophisticated designs also required Solid Edge
CAM Pro 3-axis machine milling andturning programming capabilities.
The combination of Solid Edge and SolidEdge Cam Pro has provided “a seamless
transfer of tool design communication
between our design group and the shop
floor,” says Grywalski. DiaCom evaluatedfour CAM packages and is pleased with its
choice of Solid Edge Cam Pro.

Other results from the technologyupgrades and market expansion included
building a new tooling complex andexpansion of the design and tool manufacturing staff by about 60 percent.
“Solid Edge and Solid Edge Cam Pro havemade a significant difference by improving
our technical design and tool-build capabilities,” said Grywalski. “They helped
DiaCom provide complex products, which
would not have been as easily madeseveral years ago.”

Mike Grywalski
Manufacturing Engineering
Manager
DiaCom Corporation

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