Autodesk Inventor visualisations impress Norwegian Army

Marshall Specialist Vehicles (MSV) designs and manufactures expandable field hospital systems and recently selected AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor software from Autodesk in order to streamline the design process and to provide it with 3D capabilities. John Prentice, design office manager, explains the decision to select Inventor: "A lot of our work involves fitting our clients' components or those they specify into the fixed space of our containers." Using Inventor's digital prototyping capabilities MSV is able to create 3D models of its designs to show clients how and where their equipment will be positioned.

Prentice explains: "When you are drafting in 2D you can lose a lot of detail and information, but with 3D you can allocate the correct volume and size, and ensure that you have positioned things correctly."

MSV made the decision to go with Autodesk products on a subscription basis, as it was already using AutoCAD and felt that the two products sat well next to the existing software. Prentice states: "Inventor also offered the best bang for buck, compared to comparable solutions." The company selected a subscription as it offers a number of benefits including a reduction in the cost of upgrading one version of AutoCAD of around 60 per cent.

Training and software support

Micro Concepts has been working closely with MSV throughout the implementation process, providing training as well as support. According to Prentice, "The training has been really beneficial; it is clear and well laid out and in terms of the support we have received, Micro Concepts cannot do enough for us.

"Occasionally we have the odd hiccup, whether it be a hardware or a software problem, or if one of our designers is pushing the boundaries of the software and hits a snag Micro Concepts is more than happy to come in and talk us through how to fix the problem."

In terms of the benefits that Inventor and AutoCAD Electrical have brought to the company, Prentice says: "The software enables us to reduce the time taken to complete the design cycle; we are now able to move from concept designs to manufacturing drawings much faster and with fewer mistakes than when we designed in 2D. It has brought us into the 21st century."

Moving forward the company plans to extend the number of seats of AutoCAD Electrical by 150 per cent to cover the entire electrical design team.