AnsaldoBreda Powers the Italian Public Transport Industry

By DE Editors

The AnsaldoBreda (formerly Breda) plant (Pistoia, Italy)  uses Autodesk Inventor and other Autodesk mechanical products in all aspects of train, bus, and railway design. Nearly 100 on-site workstations use the software for design, plus it is used by many more suppliers and subcontractors on their various railway, subway and bus construction projects.

As an important industry in Italy, the railway construction industry depends upon design tools that can manage the complexities of railway design. It is not surprising that two of the sector’s most respected companies,  Ansaldo and Breda, recently merged to form a new organization — AnsaldoBreda  for the purpose of streamlining industrial operations.

AnsaldoBreda’s design department uses a complete family of Autodesk mechanical products, including Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, and AutoCAD LT. The products are used on nearly 100 workstations onsite and by many more suppliers and subcontractors for AnsaldoBreda.

Before using Autodesk Inventor, the company used AutoCAD software because of its position in the marketplace and its value. At that time subcontractors only worked in 2D. (The distribution of Autodesk products in Italy exceeds 500,000 units, which makes them the most widely used design products in the country.)

Just the standardization on Autodesk software reaped astonishing results, as AnsaldoBreda could communicate with all their suppliers and customers using documents produced in AutoCAD and did not have to rely upon translation software or other costly methods.

Although AnsaldoBreda was already an Autodesk customer, four years ago when they decided to explore 3D design tools, they assessed many products on the market. Autodesk Inventor was selected because the learning curve for AnsaldoBreda designers was quick and all the information produced in AutoCAD could be imported directly into Inventor to be used there without translation or loss of resources.

AnsaldoBreda put the 3D features of Autodesk Inventor to the test when designing the “bogie,” one of the most specific areas of the vehicles the company produces because of strict design rules, and because this section greatly impacts passenger comfort.

Using the Autodesk Inventor solid modeler and sheet metal module, models were created that consisted of thousands of elements. The undercarriage, which is under the floor, is considerably complex, because it houses the technological systems: tanks, pipes, connections, and inspection points.

3D tools have been instrumental in sizing, positioning, and connecting the various components of the design to one another in digital format. 3D models must be tested to make sure the design is functional, and that the part can be assembled and maintained easily during operation. With interference-checking features, the designer can check the digital model before it is committed to an actual physical operational vehicle for any clashes in the design.

3D is also used in the production plant, where a 3D view of the assembly in an exploded format is used along with 2D tables to clarify instructions for assembly.

AnsaldoBreda is unusual in that it has given its 3D model to subcontractors, who are often small companies working with Autodesk supply software and training courses. Communication between AnsaldoBreda and their network of suppliers is now greatly improved as they can exchange design data directly, which leads to quicker response times and greater accuracy in design and production.

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Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.