engatech

Tulsa, OK, February 2, 2009 -- When a hurricane in the Houston area knocked out a crucial supplier, Lektron Inc. scrambled to salvage a high-profile bid for the State of Oklahoma, worth more than $1 million.

"We were on a tight timeline to complete a project because we had a supplier drop out," said Gordon Gray, electrical engineer of Lektron Inc. "We needed a fixture to be designed and manufactured in a week." 

Lektron didn't have the manpower to achieve that kind of turn-around, and the application requirements called for a finished fixture to be submitted with the bid. They turned the drafting and design portion of the project over to EngATech with barely a week to spare.

"There's no way we could have even bid for this project without EngATech's help. We were down to about T minus a week or a week and a day," said Gordon. "We got EngATech involved and we were able to pull it off."

"Before the hurricane hit, Lektron's supplier had assured them the project would be completed on time. As the storm pummeled the Houston area over the next three or four days, Gordon called to check whether those assurances still held, but he received no answer.

"It wasn't really high on their priority list to call and tell us what was going on," said Gordon.

With a tough timeline and a million-dollar bid on the line, Gordon had high expectations for EngATech to deliver the designs.

"I went through 3D SolidWorks training with EngATech, so I knew they had some quality personnel there," said Gordon. "We were pretty demanding in the timelines and how the final products would work.

"EngATech was able to roll with the punches as even the design ideas were changing to accommodate the short timeline."

According to Clay Slaton, General Manager at EngATech, communication is key to meeting these types of constrained timelines.  Therefore, they use remote visual login technology and SolidWorks eDrawings®, the latest in 3D CAD communication, to give clients immediate access to the design process.

"In the past, engineers and draftsmen had to create drawings with the views that people needed," said Slaton. "With SolidWorks EDrawings®, clients can zoom in, zoom out and get exactly the views they want on the fly."

EngATech’s philosophies in client communications resulted in drawings delivered right on schedule for Lektron's metal fabricator to build the fixtures.  “We were able to submit the completed fixtures with our bid, and we ended up being the low bidder on the project,” said Gordon.