Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is extending its portfolio for customers outside the print media industry. The Heidelberg CAx Quality Manager is a new CAD add-on that enables users in various sectors - such as mechanical and plant engineering, the automotive and aviation industries, medical technology, and the electrical industry - to quickly and reliably check the quality of their own product and production data (CAx data) and that of their suppliers. 

Making complexity manageable 
The quality of CAx data has a key impact on costs throughout the product life cycle. In addition to this, industrial products are becoming increasingly complex. To enable precise control right from the development stage, Heidelberg Engineering Consulting has developed a software product that can be integrated in Siemens' NX CAD system and thus incorporated in the product creation process. At the touch of a button, the Heidelberg CAx Quality Manager checks the quality of product data for the entire process chain - from development and production to assembly and service. Users can check individual components, complete assemblies, or drawings. The system indicates errors, suggests corrections, and documents all results. This enables errors to be identified and rectified at an early stage, which cuts costs. It also improves the quality of the existing CAx data, which provides a sound basis for modifying and further developing products.

Used to good effect at Heidelberg 
Heidelberg has been using the system itself for its own CAx data checking for around six years and has made improvements to the software on an ongoing basis. Particular benefits of the current version include intuitive operation and the speed of the checking process. Customers can use the software in their existing work environment without much training and can also add their own checking routines. What's more, the software supports configuration of NX models in line with customized CAx methods and standards. 

"Managing complex structures and processes is part of our core business here at Heidelberg. The Heidelberg CAx Quality Manager helps us a great deal in this respect. We have turned it into a market-leading technology, which we intend to expand further, and other sectors can now also benefit from this product," says Hartmut Ball, head of Engineering Consulting at Heidelberg. Four prestigious pilot customers from the mechanical engineering, automotive, and aviation industries are already using the Heidelberg CAx Quality Manager on a total of around 1,000 CAD workstations. 
  
"Heidelberg is proving increasingly successful in opening up new areas of business. In addition to our other activities in new areas, primarily energy technology, we are now also gaining a foothold in IT. The volume of orders in these new areas of business has already reached the mid two-digit million euro range, which is fully in line with our target," says Stephan Plenz, Member of the Management Board responsible for Heidelberg Equipment.