Able Canopies design, manufacture and install canopy and shelter systems from four branches across the UK. In June 2011, their main branch in Clacton, Essex invested in SOLIDWORKS 3D Design software; within two weeks the company saw a 100% return on their investment from two contracts that would not have been won without SOLIDWORKS.
Operations Manager, Richard Izzarrd says, “SOLIDWORKS has given us the ability to react and be creative to win new contracts.” For Able Canopies, the flexibility that SOLIDWORKS adds to the design process has meant that they can quickly respond to specifications from a customer and communicate a readiness to supply a bespoke solution. “It’s also much easier to design complex products in SOLIDWORKS. The first product we put together blew people away, yet SOLIDWORKS made it deceptively simple to design.
”There are several key benefits that have transformed Able Canopies as a company. SOLIDWORKS has helped to standardise their product range by creating standard parts for common components used in many designs. This means that they can reuse design work on multiple occasions, stay consistent, and quickly and easily create variations on a concept.
Something that has changed how the company runs on a daily basis is SOLIDWORKS’s ability to easily create detailed assembly drawings. This has made communicating a design an easy task for Able Canopies. There is no uncertainty during on-site installation and everything goes to together right first time. Some parts of designs such as glass are outsourced to external companies; detailed drawings make getting a component manufactured elsewhere much more simple. These drawings are also used on the factory floor, where engineers now find it much easier to put together products – they now have detailed, measured drawings to work from instead of a sketch on the back of a cigarette packet.
The most notable benefit for Able Canopies, however is that they can now respond to and compete with other companies for tenders. Previously, detailed tender specifications from a prospective client require considerable effort to put together. So much so that to bid for a job required a lot of effort with little guarantee of success.
Now that Able Canopies use SOLIDWORKS, not only is putting together a bid much easier but they are also finding that their chances of winning a tender are significantly higher. Richard Izzard says, “In our experience, going into a meeting with architects and being able to alter a design in front of them and give definite measurements and details conveys a certain flexibility that proves that we can deliver the solution they want.
”Able Canopies recently won a contract worth £200,000 that they say would not have been possible without the use of SOLIDWORKS. Its use meant that they could produce a detailed, flexible design and create 3D visuals to communicate it. “The job is huge. A school in London wanted 55 metres of canopies over two levels. In the past we wouldn’t have been able to bid for such a tender because of the work involved in putting together a proposal, but with SOLIDWORKS it was much easier and much more effective.”
“We have been staggered at the speed we have been able to get SOLIDWORKS up and running. The guidance from Innova Systems has been exceptional”. Says Richard.
Mark Bradford, Managing Director at Innova Systems comments “Able Canopies have put their trust in SOLIDWORKS and Innova Systems. Now SOLIDWORKS has become an integral part of the business, helping with growth by winning new business in a fiercely competitive marketplace. Able Canopies are another great example that SOLIDWORKS provides a rapid return on investment for customers in the Architectural Metalwork industry”
Able Canopies design, manufacture and install canopy and shelter systems from four branches across the UK. In June 2011, their main branch in Clacton, Essex invested in SOLIDWORKS 3D Design software; within two weeks the company saw a 100% return on their investment from two contracts that would not have been won without SOLIDWORKS.
Operations Manager, Richard Izzarrd says, “SOLIDWORKS has given us the ability to react and be creative to win new contracts.” For Able Canopies, the flexibility that SOLIDWORKS adds to the design process has meant that they can quickly respond to specifications from a customer and communicate a readiness to supply a bespoke solution. “It’s also much easier to design complex products in SOLIDWORKS. The first product we put together blew people away, yet SOLIDWORKS made it deceptively simple to design.”
There are several key benefits that have transformed Able Canopies as a company. SOLIDWORKS has helped to standardise their product range by creating standard parts for common components used in many designs. This means that they can reuse design work on multiple occasions, stay consistent, and quickly and easily create variations on a concept.
Something that has changed how the company runs on a daily basis is SOLIDWORKS’s ability to easily create detailed assembly drawings. This has made communicating a design an easy task for Able Canopies. There is no uncertainty during on-site installation and everything goes to together right first time. Some parts of designs such as glass are outsourced to external companies; detailed drawings make getting a component manufactured elsewhere much more simple. These drawings are also used on the factory floor, where engineers now find it much easier to put together products – they now have detailed, measured drawings to work from instead of a sketch on the back of a cigarette packet.
The most notable benefit for Able Canopies, however is that they can now respond to and compete with other companies for tenders. Previously, detailed tender specifications from a prospective client require considerable effort to put together. So much so that to bid for a job required a lot of effort with little guarantee of success.
Now that Able Canopies use SOLIDWORKS, not only is putting together a bid much easier but they are also finding that their chances of winning a tender are significantly higher. Richard Izzard says, “In our experience, going into a meeting with architects and being able to alter a design in front of them and give definite measurements and details conveys a certain flexibility that proves that we can deliver the solution they want.”
Able Canopies recently won a contract worth £200,000 that they say would not have been possible without the use of SOLIDWORKS. Its use meant that they could produce a detailed, flexible design and create 3D visuals to communicate it. “The job is huge. A school in London wanted 55 metres of canopies over two levels. In the past we wouldn’t have been able to bid for such a tender because of the work involved in putting together a proposal, but with SOLIDWORKS it was much easier and much more effective.”
“We have been staggered at the speed we have been able to get SOLIDWORKS up and running. The guidance from Innova Systems has been exceptional”. Says Richard
Mark Bradford, Managing Director at Innova Systems comments “Able Canopies have put their trust in SOLIDWORKS and Innova Systems. Now SOLIDWORKS has become an integral part of the business, helping with growth by winning new business in a fiercely competitive marketplace. Able Canopies are another great example that SOLIDWORKS provides a rapid return on investment for customers in the Architectural Metalwork industry”.
