Jun 21 2006
The Magnum Group, a reputed India-based CAD Service Provider based at Chennai, India, will design part of a European superliner with a capacity of more than 3,500 people. The liner is scheduled for launch in 2008.
The Magnum Group has been chartered by a very large European air-conditioning contractor to design the ducting, piping and electrical cable layouts for several of the air-conditioning machinery rooms in the superliner.
This task is considerably more complex than designing similar layouts for land-based projects because of typically severe maritime space constraints. A superliner’s machinery room can measure only 20 foot by 20 foot but may have to contain more than 100 air-conditioning ducts.
The Magnum Group’s Executive Director Lucky Balaraman says, “these rooms are so complex that if we designed them using two-dimensional software, we would barely understand what we were doing.”
“We are going to design them in three dimensional CAD space using specialized software for 3D air-conditioning installation design. It will be as meaningful as building with the actual ducts and pipes,” Balaraman says.
He points out that the 3D software can automatically route many ducts going in different directions within a room without collisions. The Magnum Group can now do in hours what used to take days to accomplish, which translates into a shorter design cycle and lower costs to the customer.
“The success of this design project is guaranteed on account of several factors”, Balaraman says. “For instance, we have been working with this same customer for more than two years and have formed friendships at a personal level. This reduces the divide between our two companies. We are slowly coalescing into a single team.”
Balaraman lists other factors: over those two years, The Magnum Group has learned key phrases of the customer’s European language, mastered the customer’s CAD drafting style and evolved a speedy RFQ-Quotation-RFI-Order cycle.
“In addition, we use state-of-the-art communication tools for screen sharing and videoconferencing. A lot of people don’t realize it, but excellent communication between CAD outsourcer and CAD service provider is a necessary ingredient for success,” says Balaraman.
The Magnum Group is absolutely certain the project will have a stellar outcome and anticipates designing larger parts of similar superliners as a consequence. There is no doubt that the Company’s demonstrated skill in CAD design and CAD drafting coupled with its low prices constitute an unbeatable competitive tool in the hands of its customers.