Case Studies

Fort Vale Engineering Case Study

Introduction

The company sought to improve oversight of design data, reduce reliance on disconnected file systems, and equip engineers with tools capable of handling high‑accuracy modelling and rigorous product revisions.

As Fortvale’s product range and engineering complexity grew, the need for strong digital workflows became critical. With large volumes of parts, assemblies, and detailed design requirements, traditional manual practices could no longer scale efficiently. The company sought to improve oversight of design data, reduce reliance on disconnected file systems, and equip engineers with tools capable of handling high‑accuracy modelling and rigorous product revisions.

PLM Central’s visit to Fortvale Engineering showcased how the company had adopted PTC Creo and PTC Windchill as the core design and product data management solutions. Creo provided parametric modelling capabilities that support precision design work, enabling engineers to create accurate 3D geometry, manage complex assemblies, and iterate rapidly with confidence.

Windchill complemented this by serving as a centralised PLM system, giving teams a structured environment to manage revisions, maintain consistent data, and provide visibility across functions. Together, these tools formed a unified digital backbone that integrated design with lifecycle processes.

Fortvale’s deployment of Creo and Windchill brought immediate clarity and control to its engineering workflows. Designers benefited from powerful CAD tools that support both detailed part definition and broader assembly management, reducing errors and improving consistency across product families. Windchill’s centralised data management eliminated ambiguity around versions and documentation, providing teams with a single source of truth for design information that could be shared reliably across departments. The improved digital framework not only enhanced day‑to‑day design activities but also strengthened readiness for downstream manufacturing, quality assurance, and future scaling.

Voll Marintek Case Study

Introduction

Voll Marintek is an engineering organisation operating in marine and offshore technology, specialising in advanced solutions for challenging environments such as offshore well intervention.

With a focus on innovation and technical excellence, Voll Marintek’s engineering teams leverage advanced CAD tools to design critical components and systems that meet stringent quality and performance requirements. As a finalist in the Offshore Well Intervention Awards, the company’s engineering work demands both precision and reliability.

Despite having adopted industry‑leading CAD software, Voll Marintek encountered challenges in day‑to‑day usage of the tools, particularly when complex features or workflows caused friction. These technical obstacles sometimes slowed progress and tested confidence in fully exploiting the capabilities of the design software, which could hinder engineering productivity and limit the speed at which solutions could be delivered.

To address these challenges, Voll Marintek partnered with PLM Central for dedicated support and problem‑resolution services focused on PTC Creo, the primary CAD solution used across its engineering teams. PLM Central provided responsive and practical support whenever Creo usage issues arose diagnosing specific technical concerns, offering expert guidance, and demonstrating effective ways of overcoming hurdles within the software. Through this responsive support relationship, Voll Marintek was able to fully leverage the CAD tools at its disposal, gaining confidence in applying advanced functionality to real‑world design tasks.

The support provided by PLM Central had a direct and measurable impact on Voll Marintek’s engineering operations. By resolving technical issues quickly and effectively, often at critical points, the internal team regained confidence in Creo, reducing downtime caused by tool frustration and enabling engineers to focus on innovation rather than work around solutions. This, in turn, contributed to smoother workflows, faster design problem solving, and better utilisation of existing software investments. As Voll Marintek continues to pursue its engineering goals and accolades, the strengthened CAD adoption and reduced obstacles have helped the company maintain momentum on key projects.

“I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest appreciation for the incredible support you’ve provided to Voll Marintek. Our journey has been intense, and your contribution has truly made a significant impact. Your quick and friendly support has been nothing short of outstanding, particularly during the times when PTC Creo presented challenges. Your dedication and efforts played a crucial role in convincing me to continue with Creo. Wishing you all the best, and I’m truly grateful that you’ve been a part of our Lean Machine journey. It’s an exciting time for us as we’re finalists in the Offshore Well Intervention Award 2023. Looking forward to pioneering new solutions together with your continued support.”

Dennis Vollmar, Voll Marintek

Crossland Tankers Case Study

Introduction

Crossland Tankers Ltd is a specialist engineering and manufacturing company based in the UK and Ireland, known for designing and producing high‑quality tankers and bespoke liquid handling vehicles for industrial, commercial, and agricultural clients.

As a business with complex engineering needs and a multi‑site production footprint, Crossland needed a robust product data management strategy that could support engineering innovation, supplier collaboration, and consistent delivery of quality products across its operations.

Before engaging PLM Central, Crossland Tankers faced challenges with fragmented engineering data and processes that limited consistency and slowed product development cycles. As the company expanded its operations across multiple locations, ensuring smooth information flow between design, manufacturing, and supply partners became increasingly important. Crossland needed a solution that could standardise data management, improve collaboration, and reduce inefficiencies such as design rework and data ambiguity, all while supporting growing complexity in product variations.

We worked closely with Crossland Tankers to implement an enterprise‑wide Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution based on PTC Windchill Technology, a platform designed to centralise engineering data and streamline lifecycle processes. Over a multi‑year digital transformation roadmap, Windchill became the cornerstone of Crossland’s PLM strategy, providing a single source of truth for product data, improved change control, and enhanced design transparency.</p

In addition to core PLM functionality, Crossland has planned next‑phase initiatives that include the use of Manufacturing Bill of Materials (M‑BOM) tools, ERP integration, and enriched manufacturing information for downstream processes, all part of building a scalable digital thread across engineering, production, and operational teams.
The training emphasised practical, real‑world methods that participants could immediately apply to their ongoing work, while coaching on how to use Creo’s advanced tools more effectively.

With the Windchill PLM solution in place, Crossland has been able to get designs out faster and implement more effective supplier collaboration across sites. The unified data environment has reduced design rework and scrap while enabling teams to work from consistent, up‑to‑date information. Real‑time visibility of engineering data has improved decision‑making and coordination between departments, resulting in more efficient product development processes overall. In embracing Windchill as a central platform, Crossland has strengthened its engineering capabilities and laid the groundwork for future integrations that will further enhance manufacturing traceability and performance.

“Since our migration from DDM, the PLM Central team has worked extremely closely with Crossland Tankers, working towards the implementation of our enterprise‑wide PLM solutions, in both our Burnley and Ireland sites. We’ve been extremely impressed by the level of knowledge from the team, and in accordance to this, have made the executive decision to sign a long-term agreement with them, for support, consultancy, and much more. By implementing PLM Central’s industry solutions, we’ve been able to get our designs out faster, implement better supplier collaborations & reduce scrap.”

Design Manager, Crossland Tankers Ltd.

Lockheed Case Study

Introduction

Lockheed Martin is a globally recognised aerospace, defence, and security company responsible for some of the most complex engineering programmes in the world, from advanced aircraft to space systems and mission‑critical technologies.

With multi‑disciplinary design teams spread across locations, the company seeks continual improvement in engineering workflows to maintain world‑leading innovation and high standards of technical excellence.

To help bridge the skills gap and improve productivity, we delivered focused PTC Creo CAD training tailored to the needs of Lockheed Martin’s engineers. The curriculum was designed to go beyond basic usage, introducing smarter modelling techniques and demonstrating workflow optimisations that help users solve design problems faster.

The training emphasised practical, real‑world methods that participants could immediately apply to their ongoing work, while coaching on how to use Creo’s advanced tools more effectively.

The training session equipped Lockheed Martin engineers with enhanced skills in Creo, enabling them to approach modelling tasks in more efficient ways and reduce time spent on repetitive workflows. The hands‑on nature of the instruction helped participants discover methods they had not previously used, for example, more efficient ways to create complex geometry without manual construction, improving both speed and quality in design execution. By developing these capabilities internally, Lockheed Martin strengthened its engineering proficiency and positioned its teams to deliver design solutions more effectively across complex aerospace programmes.

“The trainer was well-experienced with the software and was able to show me new ways of doing things that are so much faster and easier. For example, I’ve always drawn 30‑degree artwork freehand, but his method of drawing on a simple plane and then projecting to a 30‑degree ellipse is so much simpler and easier. I will definitely use these newly learned techniques to make it faster and easier to create more accurate and realistic work.”

John Barber, Lockheed Martin

Carnot Case Study

Introduction

The training emphasised practical, real‑world methods that participants could immediately apply to their ongoing work, while coaching on how to use Creo’s advanced tools more effectively.

“The trainer was well-experienced with the software and was able to show me new ways of doing things that are so much faster and easier. For example, I’ve always drawn 30‑degree artwork freehand, but his method of drawing on a simple plane and then projecting to a 30‑degree ellipse is so much simpler and easier. I will definitely use these newly learned techniques to make it faster and easier to create more accurate and realistic work.”

John Barber, Lockheed Martin

Edale Case Study

Introduction

Edale Ltd is a UK-based engineering company specialising in flexographic printing and converting solutions for the packaging industry, with a rich heritage of designing robust and high-quality press equipment used around the world. As technology and customer expectations evolved, Edale recognised the importance of modern digital tools to support design, product development, and long-term growth.

Despite years of experience with PTC software, the company was not fully leveraging its capabilities, resulting in diminishing returns on investment and inefficiencies that made existing processes less effective over time. This prompted Edale to seek a renewed approach to digital transformation and software adoption.

Although Edale had used PTC solutions for almost 15 years, the company had not fully unlocked the software’s potential, leading to lower perceived value and challenges in justifying continued use. With changing market demands and ambitions to innovate more quickly and cost-effectively, Edale faced stagnating workflows and missed opportunities to streamline design and engineering processes. There was a clear need to re-evaluate tools and practices, improve design efficiency, and ensure the company’s digital foundation could support its Vision 2025 and beyond.

Edale partnered with PLM Central to take a fresh look at its digital product development stack and align technology usage with its business strategy. PLM Central conducted a detailed review of Edale’s existing PTC implementations, identifying cost-effective gains and areas where deeper adoption of software capabilities could yield significant operational improvements.

PLM Central then guided Edale through a structured planning and implementation approach, helping the team fully utilise their PTC tools, not only for core design activities but also for broader product lifecycle workflows. This included enhanced configuration of existing systems, optimisation of design processes, and targeted training to ensure teams could confidently use the full range of features available to them.

Following the engagement with PLM Central, Edale saw an immediate uptick in team efficiency and clarity of direction for its digital transformation strategy. By re-engaging with its existing software investments and applying best-practice configurations, Edale was able to eliminate inefficiencies, increase design productivity, and lay the foundations for a phased Vision 2025 rollout. The work helped renew confidence in the technology stack, ensuring future projects will benefit from the deeper capabilities of the tools Edale already owns. The long-term support agreement with PLM Central also positioned the company to pursue broader digital goals with certainty and structured progression.

“Speaking to PLM Central was a breath of fresh air. They quickly and efficiently identified cost-effective gains and brought back efficiency to my whole team. We have signed a long-term deal with them, so they can guide us through our new ‘Digital Transformations Vision 2025’ initiative over a three-staged period.”

Glen Whittington, Design Office Manager, Edale Ltd

Snap‑on UK Case Study

Introduction

Snap‑on UK, part of the globally recognised Snap‑on tooling brand founded in 1920, is renowned for supplying high‑quality professional tools and equipment to industry specialists across the United Kingdom.

With a long tradition of innovation and excellence, Snap‑on UK sought to modernise its engineering practices to better support advanced tooling design and product development moving into the 2020s. This strategic shift was driven by a desire to adopt more powerful design and product lifecycle tools that support long‑term competitiveness and operational efficiency.

Before engaging PLM Central, Snap‑on UK was phasing out legacy CAD systems such as SolidWorks in favour of more capable design tools. However, the transition presented challenges in ensuring continuity of design work, providing engineers with advanced modelling capabilities, and managing product data consistently across teams. Snap‑on needed a solution that could not only elevate its design capabilities but also bring greater structure to product data management and collaboration, reducing bottlenecks in the development process and enabling more efficient decision‑making.

We partnered with Snap‑on UK to implement PTC Creo and PTC Windchill as the core technology platforms supporting product design and lifecycle management. Creo was introduced as the primary design and modelling software, providing Snap‑on’s engineering teams with industry‑leading tools for advanced geometry creation, simulation, and optimisation.

At the same time, Windchill was deployed as a centralised PLM platform to manage product data throughout design, change management, and release processes. PLM Central supported the deployment with consultancy, best‑practice configuration, and integration planning to ensure the platforms would align with Snap‑on’s engineering processes and future objectives.

The adoption of Creo and Windchill marked a significant step forward in Snap‑on UK’s digital transformation journey. With Creo, designers gained access to sophisticated modelling and analysis features that enable the creation of more complex and performant tooling solutions. Windchill brought structure to product data, giving teams real‑time visibility into design revisions and change workflows, improving collaboration and reducing time spent reconciling disparate datasets.

These improvements are expected to help Snap‑on accelerate its product development cycles, reduce time‑to‑market, and support higher levels of innovation and quality across its portfolio. By centralising CAD and PLM systems, Snap‑on UK is now better positioned to make informed engineering decisions and scale its processes as customer needs evolve.

“The shift to Creo and Windchill with support from PLM Central marks a transformative step in how we approach design and product data management. These platforms empower our teams with the tools and structure we need to innovate with confidence”

Technical Snap-on UK Engineering

Flexicare Case Study

Introduction

Flexicare Medical Ltd is a global leader in respiratory care and medical devices, delivering innovative products across multiple sites worldwide. Operating in a highly regulated industry, the company must maintain stringent quality standards while managing complex product designs and documentation.

As Flexicare expanded internationally, it faced increasing challenges in coordinating design workflows, managing approvals, and ensuring compliance across its product portfolio. To support continued growth and maintain operational excellence, Flexicare partnered with PLM Central to optimise its product lifecycle management processes and unify engineering data.

Prior to the transformation, Flexicare relied on multiple, disconnected systems for design, documentation, and approvals. This fragmented setup slowed design iterations, created potential for errors, and made it difficult to maintain consistent regulatory compliance. Engineers, quality teams, and project managers lacked real-time visibility of critical product data, which limited collaboration and efficiency. With ambitious growth targets and an ongoing commitment to ISO‑13485 standards, Flexicare needed a solution that would consolidate product information, accelerate workflows, and provide a single source of truth for all teams.

We have implemented a comprehensive PLM transformation, leveraging Windchill and Creo as the foundation. The solution involved migrating legacy data from Teamcenter and Solid Edge, integrating engineering documentation and BOMs, and automating approval and change management workflows.

We guided the team through hands-on training and best-practice adoption, ensuring a smooth transition and long-term usability. By consolidating all product data into a single, authoritative system, Flexicare gained full visibility into design changes, enhanced collaboration across departments, and streamlined regulatory documentation processes.

The implementation delivered measurable benefits across the organisation. Engineering and quality teams could access consistent, up-to-date product information in real time, reducing errors and accelerating design cycles. Administrative overhead decreased significantly as approvals, documentation, and change management became automated and centralised. Compliance with ISO‑13485 standards was strengthened, providing both regulatory assurance and confidence in product quality.

Overall, the PLM transformation enabled Flexicare to operate more efficiently, respond more quickly to market demands, and position itself for continued innovation and growth.