Chain Configurator Assists Packaging Applications

PARTsolutions, LLC, a global provider of 3-D part catalogs for manufacturers and enterprises, and U.S. Tsubaki Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of power transmission and motion control products, recently launched the U.S. Tsubaki Attachment Chain Configurator. Created for the company's Roller Chain Division, the U.S. Tsubaki Attachment Chain Configurator contains many of the most common attachments used in a wide variety of conveyor and packaging applications, and automates a process that has traditionally been manual and prone to errors. This new digital tool not only enables engineers and designers to create custom attachment chain configurations interactively via the Internet, but also provides users with the ability to download 3-D files in a variety of electronic formats and request a quotation. The Tsubaki Chain Configurator uses PARTsolutions' rules-based logic to quickly configure and download high-quality product data in native CAD, simplifying the previous time-consuming and complex manual paper process of configuring standard chains or specialty attachments. More specifically, with the web-based graphical configurator, customers and partners can take the following actions:

• Interactively design hundreds of thousands of attachment chain variants by selecting graphic representations of chain sizes (pitch), types, materials, repeating sections and attachments.
• Preview the product interactively on screen.
• Download the product as a 2-D or 3-D CAD model in any of more than 85 native and neutral CAD and graphic file formats.
• Submit the configured product for quotation.

For U.S. Tsubaki, the solution is having a dramatic impact on its demand generation by allowing the company to proactively deliver sales and support information to its customers in less time. In its 90-day beta period with select customers and partners, U.S. Tsubaki is averaging 300+ configurations a month and is saving end users hours of time in configuringcustom attachment chains.

"During the recent economic downturn, we were looking for a new and innovative way to leverage our technical expertise and provide a useful resource to the end-users of our attachment chain products," said George Basel, director of marketing, U.S. Tsubaki. "The Tsubaki Attachment Chain Configurator provides a service that none of our competitors have and helps to drive more traffic to our website, generate new inquiries, and ultimately grow our sales."