ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG
Short portrait of STIHL
Already in 1926 the company founder Andreas Stihl developed the first chainsaw (with electric motor). He introduced the first petrol chainsaw, the two-man saw "Baumfällmaschine Typ A" in 1929 (6 hp at 46 kg weight). Since 1971, STIHL has been the best-selling chainsaw brand in the world. In more than 90 years, STIHL has grown from a medium-sized company to a global corporation and from a classic mechanical engineering company to a market and technology leader in the field of chainsaws and power tools.
STIHL is a family business that makes it easier for people to work with and in nature and delights them with innovative products. The company continues to dominate the market with outstanding innovations, such as the STIHL MS 500i, the world's first chainsaw with electronically controlled injection (6.8 hp at 6.2 kg weight).
But STIHL is not only interested in its customers and products. Internal processes are also constantly optimized to ensure the best possible efficiency and product quality.
You can find detailed and up-to-date information on the Internet at https://www.stihl.com
The Difference View
… has been used at STIHL for many years with success and great consequence throughout the entire process chain - not only for external supplier drawings, but also for their own product drawings. Both for fast and reliable recognition of the changes made and in the design department for checking the change description against the changes actually made. The software is used at development sites on four continents, with data security playing a major role in global transmission. The Difference View itself, however, is not only used internally worldwide, but also in communication with the numerous suppliers.
STIHL was also the first customer to use the innovative COYODO Difference Mask productively. As a series manufacturer of chainsaws and power tools with high quality standards, the products are continuously optimised. Correspondingly many detailed changes are of course on the agenda.
For example, the time alone for approval of drawings has been considerably reduced, since product drawings no longer have to be completely checked for every small change. The Difference Mask automatically directs the examiner's focus to the few changed areas that can be captured and evaluated in the shortest possible time.
STIHL generates the DIFFdoxx difference views in two ways. Interactive in the browser during the development stage and automatically in the background for release in SAP, triggered by a status change. After check-in and approval, the Difference View is immediately available to all production companies worldwide. It is therefore not only "a matter of the product development department", but is used in the entire change process by all involved departments with increased effectiveness.
Stamp Technical Drawings
Reliable information plays a prominent role in the change process. The COYODO stamp functionality and in particular the STIHL stamp for external drawings helps to identify external drawings with unfamiliar title blocks and unknown numbers immediately and correctly via the internal STIHL identification characteristics:
Example chain sprocket cover (maintenance manual and stamp for external drawings)
Another application is a stamp for so-called note drawings. In the case of subsequent samples, it is generally no longer necessary to inspect all the dimensions, but only the changed ones in order to save effort. The dimensions to be checked are uniformly marked with a triangle arrow. The type of drawing and the identity in the document management system are expressed with a special form stamp.
Example stamp note drawing
The stamp content can be entered manually or automatically if the document is transferred directly from the SAP system to the STAMPdoxx stamp program.
Example of manual text input to the stamp note drawing (German user interface)
With the COYODO Difference View, our engineers can recognize all changes in the technical drawings at a glance. Since the beginning of 2018, the Difference Mask has again significantly reduced the comparison time in the change process. STIHL uses the interactive stamping functionality to quickly and clearly identify external drawings and to minimize the sampling inspection effort required for subsequent changes. The tools are a great supplement to our process and system landscape.
Martin Weygandt
Function Manager Engineering Data Management
ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG, Waiblingen
Conclusion
In the course of time, numerous functionalities and optimizations of the WORKdoxx tools have been developed and successfully implemented together.
Despite the increasing importance of "Model Based Definition" in the context of 3D CAD modelling, the technical drawing at STIHL continues to fulfil an important function in the engineering process.
