{"id":863,"date":"2013-05-30T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-30T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/2013\/05\/30\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/"},"modified":"2013-05-30T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-30T08:00:00","slug":"autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/","title":{"rendered":"Autodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a world where most large manufacturers are shipping their production to other countries, you might guess that the world\u2019s leading composite pallet manufacturer would be found \u201csomewhere offshore.\u201d You guessed wrong.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the use of software including Autodesk Factory Design Suite<\/a>, Southern California-based Plastics Research Corporation<\/a> (PRC) has successfully designed a factory that can make multiple millions of <\/em>composite pallets a year: a volume unmatched by any other composite pallet manufacturing facility in the world.<\/p>\n

\n\"LPMC<\/a><\/p>\n

Designing a factory that can successfully orchestrate all of the various \u201cmoving parts\u201d of composite pallet production is no small feat.<\/p>\n

Approximately 24 semi-tractor trailer trucks arrive daily at PRC\u2019s Ontario, Calif., factory carrying resins, powders and other raw materials. These materials are fed into a gigantic mixer that is six feet wide and 100 feet long, making it the largest compounder in the world <\/em>to handle that type of composite material.<\/p>\n

The resulting paste is sandwiched between sheets of fiberglass and formed into precisely measured \u201ccharges\u201d that weigh 50 pounds each. Robots whisk these charges over to molds, where the composite material is cured for exactly one minute. Other robots join the cured panels together with a urethane adhesive to create the finished pallet.<\/p>\n

\n\"Pallet<\/a><\/p>\n

Working with Autodesk Platinum Partner KETIV<\/a>, PRC used Factory Design Suite before anything was built to create a digital factory model. After evaluating multiple what-if layout scenarios, it was simply a matter of importing digital models of the various pieces of equipment and machinery (which PRC had created using Autodesk Inventor<\/a> software as part of Autodesk Product Design Suite<\/a>) into the digital factory layout \u2014 then moving them around until an optimal layout was achieved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took somebody with zero CAD experience and, within a week of working with Factory Design Suite, he was able to produce factory layouts for the team to evaluate,\u201d said Thomas Atkins, engineering manager at PRC.<\/p>\n

Not one to rest on its laurels, PRC is already planning further expansion of its manufacturing footprint by using its existing factory as a template for other factories in the country.<\/p>\n

Impressive what the right technology can do to turbocharge manufacturing efforts. You can also view PRC in action with Factory Design Suite in this video<\/a> on the Autodesk YouTube Channel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a world where most large manufacturers are shipping their production to other countries, you might guess that the world\u2019s leading composite pallet manufacturer would be found \u201csomewhere offshore.\u201d You guessed wrong.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the use of software including Autodesk Factory Design Suite<\/a>, Southern California-based Plastics Research Corporation<\/a> (PRC) has successfully designed a factory that can make multiple millions of <\/em>composite pallets a year: a volume unmatched by any other composite pallet manufacturing facility in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":287,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-manufacturing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAutodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory - In the Fold<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Autodesk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Autodesk\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2fe6071949598957391b579ca67e73a9\"},\"headline\":\"Autodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-30T08:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":383,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/inthefold.typepad.com\\\/.a\\\/6a017c3334c51a970b01901cbbf438970b-800wi\",\"articleSection\":[\"Manufacturing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/\",\"name\":\"Autodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory - In the Fold\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/inthefold.typepad.com\\\/.a\\\/6a017c3334c51a970b01901cbbf438970b-800wi\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-30T08:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2fe6071949598957391b579ca67e73a9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/inthefold.typepad.com\\\/.a\\\/6a017c3334c51a970b01901cbbf438970b-800wi\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/inthefold.typepad.com\\\/.a\\\/6a017c3334c51a970b01901cbbf438970b-800wi\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Autodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/\",\"name\":\"In the Fold\",\"description\":\"Autodesk news and opinions\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2fe6071949598957391b579ca67e73a9\",\"name\":\"Autodesk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caf5d9c8e479a59b474907508460510d684494e248b9803cd06197506a5cf068?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caf5d9c8e479a59b474907508460510d684494e248b9803cd06197506a5cf068?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caf5d9c8e479a59b474907508460510d684494e248b9803cd06197506a5cf068?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Autodesk\"},\"sameAs\":[\"brittbonhomme\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.autodesk.com\\\/inthefold\\\/author\\\/autodeskpr\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Autodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory - In the Fold","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Autodesk","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/"},"author":{"name":"Autodesk","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/#\/schema\/person\/2fe6071949598957391b579ca67e73a9"},"headline":"Autodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory","datePublished":"2013-05-30T08:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/"},"wordCount":383,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/inthefold.typepad.com\/.a\/6a017c3334c51a970b01901cbbf438970b-800wi","articleSection":["Manufacturing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/","name":"Autodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory - In the Fold","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/inthefold.typepad.com\/.a\/6a017c3334c51a970b01901cbbf438970b-800wi","datePublished":"2013-05-30T08:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/#\/schema\/person\/2fe6071949598957391b579ca67e73a9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/inthefold.typepad.com\/.a\/6a017c3334c51a970b01901cbbf438970b-800wi","contentUrl":"http:\/\/inthefold.typepad.com\/.a\/6a017c3334c51a970b01901cbbf438970b-800wi"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/autodesk-factory-design-suite-assists-worlds-leading-composite-pallet-factory\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Autodesk Factory Design Suite Assists World\u2019s Leading Composite Pallet Factory"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/","name":"In the Fold","description":"Autodesk news and opinions","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/#\/schema\/person\/2fe6071949598957391b579ca67e73a9","name":"Autodesk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caf5d9c8e479a59b474907508460510d684494e248b9803cd06197506a5cf068?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caf5d9c8e479a59b474907508460510d684494e248b9803cd06197506a5cf068?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caf5d9c8e479a59b474907508460510d684494e248b9803cd06197506a5cf068?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Autodesk"},"sameAs":["brittbonhomme"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/author\/autodeskpr\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/287"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}