Figure 1: John Deere & Co. partnered with software solution marketer PTC to develop its award-winning 9750 Single Tine Separator Combine.
Major developments in Internet-based technologies are profoundly changing the engineering/design process, revolutionizing the way OEMs and suppliers do business, and speeding the industry's time-to-market.
by Jenny R. Hessler, Assistant Editor
Without question, having an effective e-business solution is a primary focus for most OEMs and suppliers competing in today's off-highway industry. While the industry has not yet seen a major alliance such as Covisint, the exchange developed by automotive giants General Motors, Ford Motor Co., and DaimlerChrysler, the potential of e-business as an enabler for off-highway product development is by far its greatest value to date. Companies are drastically reducing product design cycles as Web-based collaboration tools offering real-time development options continue to flood the business-to-business (B2B) e-marketplace.
Figure 1: John Deere & Co. partnered with software solution marketer PTC to develop its award-winning 9750 Single Tine Separator Combine. |
John Deere & Co. is among the forefront of off-highway OEMs using Internet-based technologies to improve a product line. Deere partnered with software-solution developer and marketer PTC to develop its 9750 Single Tine Separator (STS) Combine (Figure 1). The 9750 STS features a patented Deere single tine-separation system - a breakthrough in agricultural harvesting equipment - leading Deere to win in the both the heavy-equipment category and best overall entry in the PTC 2000 Awards Competition, an international forum for PTC customers to display successful achievements using PTC solutions.
The 9750 STS Combine was a global project and Deere's first combine harvester program committed entirely to 3-D product modeling using PTC's Pro/ENGINEER software. Development was a collaborative effort, with users sharing data throughout the design process. Through Pro/ENGINEER and other PTC software tools, Deere created an electronic model, made design changes, tested, and produced the 9750 STS with a reduced time-to-market.
"PTC's Pro/ENGINEER enabled us to create a highly realistic electronic model," said Deere Project Engineer David Wolak. "We then were able to share the same model with our suppliers to coordinate key subsystems, which significantly reduced the prototype assembly problems," thus allowing Deere to deliver a quality product in "the shortest time possible."
