Automated CAD Tooling Generator

Problem

The manufacturing team required custom tooling fixtures for every new product iteration. Designing these fixtures in Siemens NX was a repetitive, manual process that took an average of 3 days per product, causing severe bottlenecks in the prototyping phase.

Approach

I analyzed the geometry of the last 50 tooling fixtures to identify common patterns and constraints. I realized that 80% of the geometry could be mathematically derived from the product’s bounding box and mounting points.

Solution

I developed a custom application using C# and NX Open API. The engineer simply selects the product body and specifies the required manufacturing process. The application automatically generates the tooling fixture, calculates optimal mounting points, and applies the correct tolerances.

Results

• Reduced tooling design time from 3 days to 15 minutes.
• Standardized tooling design, reducing manufacturing errors by 40%.
• Saved an estimated $120,000 annually in engineering hours.