Transforming “Searching” into “Solving” with Sumitomo Drive Technologies

Founded in 1966, Sumitomo Machinery Corporation of America (SMA) operates under the brand Sumitomo Drive Technologies (SDT), delivering power transmission and control solutions across a broad range of industries. Over decades of growth, expanded engineering scope, and strategic investment, SMA has built a deep library of institutional knowledge—including prior designs, revision notes, documentation, and application expertise. In total, the organization works with more than 26,000 drawings and 32,000 engineering documents, representing decades of engineering experience and problem-solving insight.

This information had been organized into a multitude of specialized systems, such as PLM, CAD, ERP, shared drives, and other data tools. Each of these systems was organized for their own purposes and did their jobs well, but there was no easy way to connect the dots between systems. Answering everyday questions required spending time searching multiple systems and manually correlating data between them. This was a process that would take hours, time that could be better spent on execution and other high value work.

Making your past data into a true digital asset

SDT discovered CADDi while searching for ways to reduce this search time. After loading up their historical data into CADDi’s system, our manufacturing-specific AI was able to centralize them into one searchable, organized database. 

The benefits were dramatic and immediate. What used to be a tedious, many-stage search process across many systems has become a speedy singular search in CADDi. SDT estimates that the new searching process is 90% faster than before.

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Shortening lead time with smart design reuse

When new orders come in to SDT, they’re often complex, requiring a lot of time spent to parse requirements and develop a production plan. The design pre-planning can be a significant contributor to lead time. However, if a similar project was produced in the past, many decisions can be carried over, resulting in huge time savings. The problem is that tracking down the similar project often took longer than the time it saved: searching through multiple systems, correlating different pieces of data, and manually checking if the previous designs overlapped enough.

With CADDi, things are different. Similarity searching on designs can instantly surface past designs that closely match new orders. This allows for a huge head start in fulfilling the new order, saving weeks of design work, shorting lead times for customers, and increasing the capacity of the shop.

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When time is saved in these areas, it can be spent on high value problem solving instead. Engineers can work more strategically, innovating and iterating on past lessons, rather than having to constantly reinvent the wheel. SDT has increased productivity on big challenges, such as product innovation, global standardization, and design revision.

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SDT plans on expanding their usage of CADDi to assist in their design review process, allowing for continuous improvement without sacrificing rigor or efficiency.

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Building for success with high-touch onboarding

As SDT got up to speed with CADDi, they realized that this wasn’t just a tool to add to their process, or even just the basis of a new process. It was an entirely new way to think about their data. Things were possible now that hadn’t been imaginable before.

In order to ensure that SMA was able to get the most out of CADDi, our customer success team worked with them to discover opportunities for deeper utilization and change.

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Want to see how CADDi can unlock valuable time for your organization? Sign up for a free demo today.