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Annex Products Pty. Ltd. Taking the Lead in Smartphone Mounting Systems Development with SOLIDWORKS Professional
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
- Functional Applications - Product Data Management Systems
- Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Applicable Industries
- Consumer Goods
- Electronics
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Manufacturing System Automation
- Rapid Prototyping
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Establish and grow a startup smartphone accessory products company through fast, effective new product design and production to support newly launched smartphone models more quickly than the competition.
About The Customer
With ideas for creating unique smartphone accessories, Chris Peters and Rob Ward founded Annex Products in 2012, off the back of two successful Kickstarter campaigns. The first was for an iPhone® case that doubles as a bottle opener (the Opena® Case), and the second was for a smartphone mounting system (the Quad Lock®) that supports active lifestyles. While the Opena Case made a big splash, with rave reviews, the success of the Quad Lock mounting system—for securing smartphones to bicycles, armbands, a car dashboard, or other locations—has exceeded expectations so dramatically that it has become the company’s main consumer-facing brand. The Quad Lock is the lightest, strongest, and most secure iPhone mounting system on the market. Its patent-pending, dual-stage locking mechanism makes it possible for a single case to provide a mounting solution for cycling, running, driving, and more. The Quad Lock is available worldwide with sales in more than 100 countries. Its market impact, innovative design, and high production quality have prompted Apple to put the product through its rigorous testing regimen and begin selling the Quad Lock alongside its iPhones.
The Solution
Implement SOLIDWORKS Professional design software. Using SOLIDWORKS Professional design software, Annex quickly developed Quad Lock designs for every new iPhone model since 2011—as well as Samsung Galaxy smartphones—designing, testing, manufacturing, and delivering new products in a matter of weeks. The company’s design agility has helped it increase annual revenue from zero in 2011 to $10 million in 2016. Annex has received several awards for the Quad Lock design, and with more than half a million units sold, the company has grown from a startup to a market leader. Annex also utilizes the mold development and analysis tools in SOLIDWORKS Professional software—particularly the draft analysis tools—to ensure the manufacturability of its parts, most of which are injection-molded by a moldmaker and manufacturing partner. “SOLIDWORKS draft analysis is critical for us to not only guarantee that our parts will pop out of the molds but also to work out where the parting lines and injection points should go. It’s a key tool for assessing the manufacturability of our products,” Peters says.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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