Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
Applicable Industries
- Packaging
- Transportation
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Intelligent Packaging
- Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing
Services
- Testing & Certification
About The Customer
Mabe is a global company that designs, produces, and distributes appliances to more than 70 countries. Incorporated in 1946 in Mexico City, the company produces a wide range of goods including fridge freezers, ovens and washer-dryers. For white goods manufacturers like Mabe, the quality of the design and engineering of their home appliances is paramount for the best possible customer experience. However, these products are all subject to potential drop and impact damage from the warehouse through to transportation to the customer’s doorstep. Mabe, a $3 billion global company headquartered in Mexico City, understands the importance of carefully designed packaging to protect the 15 brands of appliances that it designs, manufactures and distributes for sale in 70 countries.
The Challenge
Mabe, a global company that designs, produces, and distributes appliances to over 70 countries, faced a challenge in improving the protection of its washer-dryer by optimizing packaging material. The company wanted to reduce potential transit damage to its products while avoiding the use of excessive packaging that would lead to significantly higher material and shipping costs. The challenge was to produce an optimized packaging design that took into account a variety of loading scenarios and alternative package designs, and to do so early in the design stage, before any physical testing of the packaging was performed. Mabe also wanted to transfer the analytical simulation techniques developed for the washer-dryer to packaging for other products in the future, allowing the company to optimize and accelerate its design efforts.
The Solution
Mabe collaborated with Altair ProductDesign for its experience in applying optimization strategies for an extensive array of products and packaging. The first task was to generate a finite element analysis (FEA) model that accurately represented Mabe’s product and its packaging structure. Altair's HyperWorks’ pre-processing solution, HyperMesh, was utilized to create a complete FEA model of all the product’s relevant structural components as well as such packaging structures as expanded polystyrene (EPS) foams, laminate paper and corrugated board. Altair ProductDesign engineers were then able to subject the virtual model of the washer-dryer and packaging material to the same loads that they endured in physical testing. Topology optimization using HyperWorks’ OptiStruct and HyperStudy technologies were utilized to improve product protection, reduce material costs, reduce packaging weight and improve performance of both the EPS foam structures and the laminated paper corner posts.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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