Caster Concepts, manufacturer of heavy duty industrial casters and caster wheels, has announced the launch of a new product configurator. The first customizable CAD designer for industrial caster downloads provides design engineers with on-demand CAD models that easily integrate into products.
"This Custom "Build Your Own" Caster Configurator radically impacts how Caster Concepts distributes technical information," stated Bill Dobbins, president of Caster Concepts. "We are giving everyone from engineers to purchasers the power to design and create. We believe this tool will streamline communication while providing a standard or custom product that precisely meets our customers' exact needs."
Caster Concepts collaborated with PARTsolutions, a company specializing in online parts catalogs and product configuration software for industrial manufacturers, to develop the tool. Together they created an online product configurator for non-standard products, enabling users to build their own custom casters or wheels based on predetermined parameters.
In addition to the unlimited custom models available, Caster Concepts' complete line of off-the-shelf products—more than 20,000 standard products—were converted into an easy-to-access online catalog with 2D drawings and 3D CAD models. The 3D CAD models are available for download in more than 150 formats. This enables users to quickly find and configure the exact part they need for their design, without having to compromise design quality by using a neutral CAD file.
"We sell products in many different vertical markets. Those customers have long-standing relationships with their preferred distributors in those markets. We're looking to enhance that relationship and foster a great customer experience by giving our distributors access to this tool, to help them better serve their customers," Dobbins added.
"Today it's all about speed to market," said Jackie Masternak, Caster Concepts sales manager. "When a customer comes to you and they need a caster built to their specifications, chances are they don't want to wait days or weeks. By enabling the user to configure and order the exact caster they need, we greatly decrease design and manufacturing time."
