CAD Speeds Up Dinnerware Designs

The Pfaltzgraff Company has become America's leading manufacturer and marketer of casual dinnerware and accessories for the home. To compete in this environment, Pfaltzgraff has adopted aggressive product introduction goals that include the design and development of dozens of new shapes every year. The paper considers how the job of designing and fabricating the tooling to mass produce these shapes falls to the computer-aided design (CAD) group of the Engineering Department. Most of the CAD staff have a mechanical engineering background and received their computer training on the job. The entire CAD staff work closely with the process engineering group who is responsible for production efficiency to achieve optimum tool performance.