Akribis Systems Pte. Ltd.
Growing a Precision Motion-Control Technology Company with SOLIDWORKS
Akribis Systems Pte. Ltd. is a leading
manufacturer of direct-drive precision positioning systems for
industrial manufacturing, inspection, and testing that specializes in
developing systems to support electronics manufacturing by using
SOLIDWORKS Standard design and SOLIDWORKS Simulation analysis software
solutions.
Akribis Systems Pte. Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of direct-drive
precision positioning systems for industrial manufacturing,
inspection, and testing. The company specializes in developing
systems to support electronics manufacturing—serving
customers in the semiconductor, mobile phone, flat panel, and
data storage industries—but also designs and manufactures
linear servo motors, rotary motors, air bearing stages, xyz stages,
voice coil motors, and other types of motion control products
for photonics, biomedical, and machine tool applications.
Since its founding in 2004 in Singapore, Akribis Systems has
grown both in terms of the number of customers that it serves
and the types of complex systems that it produces. In addition
to its Singapore headquarters, the company now has offices in
China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and the United States.
Co-founder Yong Peng Leow, who now serves as managing
director and engineering director, says that choosing the right
3D development platform was important for the company’s
successful launch and business growth. “Before founding
Akribis Systems, I had personally used several different 3D
CAD systems, including Unigraphics®, Solid Edge®, and Pro/
ENGINEER®,” Leow recalls. “When we founded the company,
we performed a thorough evaluation of available 3D design
solutions—rather than select a system with which I had
experience—because it was important to choose a design
platform that would help us grow.
“We decided to standardize on SOLIDWORKS® design software,
even though I had not previously used it,” Leow recounts.
“We chose SOLIDWORKS because it is easy to use, provides
the best price/performance ratio, and gives us the integrated
capabilities that we need to be successful.”
Akribis Systems standardized on SOLIDWORKS solutions,
implementing SOLIDWORKS Standard design and SOLIDWORKS
Simulation analysis software. “Of the reasons why we chose
SOLIDWORKS, ease of use was the most important because
we are able to train people very easily to support growth,”
Leow notes. “Our customers want our systems to be developed
better, faster, and cheaper, and the SOLIDWORKS platform has
allowed us to consistently satisfy customer expectations.”
Fast, Accurate Development
Using SOLIDWORKS solutions, Akribis Systems has delivered
its complex systems faster, at lower cost, and at higher
quality than its competition. The company has reduced design
cycles by 30 to 50 percent, cut development costs by 15 to
20 percent, and shortened product time-to-market by 15 to
20 percent. “With SOLIDWORKS, we are faster and more
accurate, providing high-quality systems on time and on
budget,” Leow stresses.
“Our customers typically send us their requirements, and we
respond by sending them a model and specifications for our
proposed system,” Leow says. “The ability to bring my design
to the customer’s factory and show them the proposed solution
by viewing SOLIDWORKS eDrawings® files on my iPad enables
me to demonstrate the precision of our technology without
showing too much detail.”
Validating System Design
Akribis Systems maintains high-quality standards by leveraging
SOLIDWORKS Simulation finite element analysis (FEA) tools to
validate system designs while avoiding costly, time-consuming
rounds of prototyping. The company conducts kinematics,
linear static stress and strain, and frequency analyses of parts
and assemblies to confirm that they will perform as intended in
the customer’s specific application.
“The FEA studies that we conduct with SOLIDWORKS
Simulation software are vitally important for ensuring top
system performance without spending time and money on
prototypes,” Leow points out.
“Our systems involve high-speed motion, so we need to verify
the vibration characteristics of our designs and optimize the
stiffness-to-mass ratio as much as possible,” Leow continues.
“In today’s fast-paced world, we simply don’t have the time to
do something a second time. With SOLIDWORKS Simulation,
we have an integrated tool that helps us get it right the first
time and improve the quality of our products.”
Supporting Business Expansion and Growth
Since implementing SOLIDWORKS solutions, Akribis Systems
has grown dramatically, increasing its number of employees
from 10 to 250, expanding from one office in Singapore
to six offices in six countries, and building an impressive
customer list. “Although we are very much focused on precision
motion-control technology for electronics manufacturing, we are
diversifying and expanding into new markets, such as biomedical
testing applications in the United States,” Leow says.
“SOLIDWORKS solutions have allowed us to support and
sustain this growth path,” Leow adds. “For example, with
SOLIDWORKS Subscription Services, we are assured of keeping
up-to-date with the latest version of SOLIDWORKS, which
enables us to remain compatible with existing
