Renowned German Chocolate Company Uses Digital Prototyping to Design
Bars 30 Percent Faster
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Autodesk,
Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) has named Germany's Ritter Sport -- producer of
the square chocolate bar of the same name -- as Autodesk Inventor
of the Month for November. The renowned company uses Autodesk
software to more quickly change its candy bar designs.
While the company's famous 100-gram chocolate square remains an
unchanging staple of its product lineup, Ritter Sport consistently
responds to consumer demand for new shapes and sizes. Autodesk
Inventor software helps the company create new designs 30 percent
faster than previously to more quickly respond to market trends.
"Because it's so much faster to make changes with Inventor, we have more
time to play around with new design ideas," said Werner Glasser, a plant
engineering designer at Ritter Sport. "By turning around new ideas
faster, we are always ready for market shifts."
With more than 30 varieties and many different chocolate bar sizes
currently available on the market -- from the 250-gram super format to
the 8-gram cube -- Ritter Sport has effectively anticipated a wide
variety of consumer preferences.
Visualizing with 3D Digital Prototyping
Ritter Sport adopted Autodesk Inventor software to achieve realistic 3D
visualization of the chocolate bars, as well as accelerate revisions
during the design process.
Beginning with the shell of the candy bar, designers go straight to
Inventor to build 3D
digital prototypes. The radius of the chocolate shells must be small
enough to retain the desired shape, yet large enough to keep air pockets
from forming in the corners of the mold. The mold must also make it
possible for the bars to be removed easily after they have cooled.
Most Ritter Sport bars have fillings, such as nougat or marzipan, inside
the chocolate shell, as well as nuts. That space must be included in the
digital model. As a final area of visualization and simulation,
designers must understand how the Ritter Sport logo will scale on each
bar when the size of the bar changes.
"Every successful manufacturer relies on the ingenuity of its research,
development and engineering teams to create the next great product with
the utmost speed and cost-effectiveness," said Robert
"Buzz" Kross, senior vice president, Manufacturing Industry Group at
Autodesk. "Digital Prototyping helps Ritter Sport designers spend more
time iterating to find the best designs and, ultimately, have the
confidence that they are creating the best chocolate."
About the Autodesk Inventor of the Month Program
Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the users of
Autodesk Inventor software, which takes manufacturers beyond 3D to
Digital Prototyping. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and
groundbreaking innovation. For more information about Autodesk Inventor
of the Month, contact us at IOM@autodesk.com.
About Ritter Sport
Headquartered in Waldenbuch, Germany, Ritter Sport is the producer of
the iconic Ritter Sport chocolate bar. Founded in 1912, the family owned
business now produces 2.5 million chocolate bars daily, employs 800
people and exports products to 90 countries. For additional information,
visit www.ritter-sport.us/#/en_US/home.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in 3D
design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the
manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and
entertainment industries - including the last 15 Academy Award winners
for Best Visual Effects - use Autodesk software to design, visualize and
simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in
1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of
state-of-the-art software for global markets. For additional information
about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.
An interview with Ritter Sport is available on the Autodesk YouTube
Channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qenUaom83Kg.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, and Inventor are registered
trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries
and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a
registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their
respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and
services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without
notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors
that may appear in this document.
© 2010 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6515340&lang=en
SOURCE: Autodesk, Inc.
Autodesk, Inc.
Clay Helm, 415.547.2425
clay.helm@autodesk.com
or
for Ritter Sport
Christian Strebe, +49 (89) 45 22 78 17
c.strebe@fortispr.de
