Design, mold creation and manufacturing at Takahata Seiko with TopSolid. Founded in 1929 as a manufacture of water meter parts. Takahata began its injection molding business in 1963 and built the Kofu plant in the Yamanashi prefecture the next year. In addition to the high precision gears, the company expanded its business into various fields such as OA equipments, electronic equipments, automobiles, cameras, optoelectronics, household electronics, and household appliances. Company Headquarters is in Tokyo. The company has 4 plants in Japan and 10 plants outside the country. Sales Revenue: 22.2 billion yen (as of fiscal year 2005 ended in March).
TAKAHATA SEIKO is the industry leader in the field of designing/manufacturing high precision dies and high precision molding, ranging from high precision gears for automobiles to forming and pressing dies.
“Always provide best ideas for our clients” is TAKAHATA SEIKO’s mantra, and based on this, they have laid out an integrated operating system of development, designing, machining and assembling. This operating system has been put in place to achieve low-cost product development while ensuring product safety and quality (less customer complaints) and increasing development speed.
Because the products Takahata Seiko handles require precision machining, TAKAHATA SEIKO carries out its own injection molding internally and tries to achieve optimization of each technology involving resin material, mold and injection molding. In mold machining, engineers who hold various nationally certified skills have a full command of numerous machine tools such as machining centers, EDM machines and wire cutters.
In order to create products that meet the market’s demands fast, TAKAHATA SEIKO installed 2D CAD in 1987, and by 1999, the company began reviewing new systems and investigating the transfer to 3D. At this time Takahata had been proposed a high-end CAD system at a very competitive price. However, the company opted for TopSolid’s unique integrated CAD/CAM software in November 1999.
TopSolid series is “easy to use on sites and is a system that people can go on using”
A determining factor in choosing TopSolid was the support and training provided by the Japanese TopSolid VAR, KODAMA Corporation. A reliable support system was essential for Takahata Seiko, so that employees would be up to speed as quickly as possible. “KODAMA Corporation designed and manufactured parts right in front of our eyes and made suggestions for a series of requests from mold designers at the benchmark when we were considering purchasing TopSolid,” says Mr. Shouji Toshima, Director of Engineering Division. “We were truly very impressed by the presentation and support provided by Kodama.”
True concurrent engineering was realized by installation of all operations at once. Generally in “concurrent engineering”, in which all operations interact and operate in parallel with one another, each operating section uses CAD/CAM/CAE separately thereby limiting the positive results which can be achieved.
In Takahata Seiko’s case installations were made in all departments at the same time. By reformulating the entire system by using TopSolid the company was able to directly connect all operations from part & mold design, creation of machining data to the creation of drawings directly and without converting data, thereby reducing time used from product development to mass production substantially.
Furthermore, because the product data during the development becomes the integrated database that each operation will utilize, in combination with the data construction of the “1 file, multiple components” concept, it facilitated communications between personnel responsible for each operation, which helped reduce designing errors and improve quality.
By being able to quickly repeat prototyping, evaluation, analysis, it also is contributing to create a fast decision making organization. Currently Takahata Seiko is equipped with 15 TopSolid’Design, 10 TopSolid’Mold and 2 TopSolid’Cam.
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SOHOME transforms its craftsmanship into industrial production
A TOPSOLID customer since 2018, Sohome Group has been supported in the evolution of its organization, transitioning from a family-owned business with primarily artisanal processes to a more structured company with formalized processes and systems, thanks in particular to industrial automation. In this case study, Grupo Sohome explains how TopSolid’Wood supports this evolution by bridging the gap between design and production. This feature thus illustrates how TOPSOLID supports companies in the furniture industry in structuring and optimizing their processes, while meeting requirements for design, customization, and production.
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VERMON relies on TOPSOLID to design and manufacture high-precision ultrasonic transducers
Founded in 1984 in Tours (France), VERMON is a leading player in the design and custom manufacturing of ultrasonic transducers, also known as ultrasonic probes. Their products, recognized for their performance and reliability, are designed for medical applications (ultrasound, 3D imaging, 2D arrays) and industrial applications (non-destructive testing, multi-element inspection) in demanding environments such as aerospace, nuclear power, and petrochemicals.
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AACD puts precision and innovation at the service of healthcare
We are pleased to share our new customer success story produced by our reseller partner, TOPSOLID Brazil, featuring AACD (Associação de Assistência à Criança Deficiente), a Brazilian organization specialized in the design and manufacturing of custom orthopedic prostheses, orthoses, and other medical devices. In this testimonial, AACD explains how TopSolid solutions help optimize the design and manufacturing of these devices by reducing production lead times, simplifying development processes, and improving overall operational efficiency. This customer story demonstrates TopSolid's ability to meet the requirements of a sector where precision, customization, and manufacturing process control are critical. Beyond the technology, this project also highlights the women and men who bring our ecosystem to life. In particular, we would like to acknowledge the personal commitment of Glauber Longo, the head of our partner and reseller TopSolid in Brazil, who has supported the AACD’s efforts for many years. His involvement has helped make this collaboration much more than just a client project: it is a wonderful convergence of innovation, commitment, and solidarity.