When machinery manufacturers like CLAAS Tractor develop new products, they must consider not only how the new technology will impact their customers, but how it will affect their own production processes.
Made at the CLAAS Tractor manufacturing facility in Le Mans, France, the CLAAS AXION 900 TERRA TRAC is innovative on a number of levels. It has a unique design – combining standard tractor wheels with crawler tracks at the rear to improve traction and soil protection. It was also the first to be developed and manufactured in CLAAS Tractor’s modernized factory, where all product development processes are powered by the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
This is an example of where the sum is greater than the parts. In a strategic move, CLAAS Tractor simultaneously modeled both the AXION 900 TERRA TRAC and the factory in which it would be produced, anticipating how new tractor’s production process on the future assembly line. Doing both at the same time on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform created such efficiency that CLAAS was able to build the tractor right the first time, without physical prototypes. “The factory of the future must integrate the products of tomorrow that have not yet been imagined,” said Etienne Bourasseau, industrial director at CLAAS Tractor. “It’s the first time that we developed caterpillar tracks on our assembly line. Having 3D views on the platform allowed us to see how the process, previously set up for standard tractors with four wheels, could be adapted to a new tractor model with caterpillar tracks.”
Among the many new capabilities delivered by the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the CLAAS team can now simulate new designs and handle design variants with ease, checking manufacturing feasibility early on in the development process to optimize the assembly line.
The results have been so impressive that CLAAS Tractor’s parent company, CLAAS Group, is now looking to extend the platform to other organizations and factories within its global business.
To discover more about how CLAAS Tractor has modernized its factory and is using the power of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to transform its production processes, watch the videos below or read the detailed case study.
Alyssa is a Communications Director on the Dassault Systèmes Corporate Publishing team. She’s been part of DS for over 20 years, in roles ranging from public relations to marketing programs. Twitter: @DS_Alyssa