Model railway manufacturer on the right track with VISI CADCAM software

Model railway manufacturer PECO is supporting its growth by taking advantage of VISI CAD/CAM/CAE software from Hexagon in the company’s Devon-based design and manufacturing facility.

Established in 1946, PECO has expanded from its humble beginnings of manufacturing individual components to producing HO/OO ready-made track and then on to all things ‘model railway’. This includes ‘Pecorama’ one of Devon’s leading tourist attractions with a model railway exhibition, model shop, ride-on miniature steam railway, gallery and award-winning gardens. As a company with a ‘fan base’ as well as a customer base, PECO now runs a facility that makes over 3,000 product lines.

Toolroom Manager Simon Cockerham says: “We use VISI throughout our manufacturing process, from initial concept to final press or mould tool. We have numerous licences of VISI throughout our many departments. The software has always been very good for our business as it focuses on exactly what we need to do the job. Some of our previous software packages caused issues due to the tight tolerances of our components and the very deep nature of the machining processes that we have to undertake to achieve the geometries required in our press and mould tools.”

PC-based VISI incorporates modules such as: modelling; analysis; mould design; flow; electrode design; die tool design; 2.5, three and five-axis toolpaths; blanks; and reverse engineering. This capability provides PECO with the facility to: create solid models; design, analyse, validate and prepare mould tool geometries; and perform pre- and post-production analyses of plastic parts.

“One of the key reasons that we have VISI in our environment and that we’ve been customers for almost 17 years is because of its reliability and comprehensive capabilities – we need jobs to be right first time,” says Cockerham. “We use very expensive machine tools from Roders, Sodick and Hurco, as well as high-end peripheral equipment and cutters. VISI has always kept us safe throughout the entire process of generating our tools.”

The holistic Hexagon mould and die workflow removes blockers so the team can try new ideas, as Cockerham explains: “We use VISI for everything from design to producing wooden laser-cut kits for the factory and manufacturing custom machinery for our production facilities. We also use VISI for all of our press and mould tooling. The benefits of having VISI in the workplace are the integration between plot view, CADCAM, and the ability to create surface translations for mould flow analysis and laser ablation files. It streamlines integration between departments.”

Many other features the business needs are all connected within a single environment, which makes PECO’s training and application of VISI a lot easier for all concerned.

Over the 17 years, PECO has standardised its workflows on Hexagon’s mould and die software.

“We know that we’ve saved a lot of time and money with VISI. The savings are down to VISI software having all of the components and modules required to take our products from concept through to production and export around the world – all from under one roof.”