User Case Study:
Using MapleSim to Improve Automation Development

An Interview with John Welty, Owner of Welty Automation
John Welty, Owner of Welty Automation and Product System Support of Mestek Machinery Inc., discusses his experience with MapleSim, including a recent experience with training provided by Maplesoft Engineering Solutions. He has been using MapleSim models as a test platform for his automation software, in order to reduce his reliance on costly physical prototypes.
Q: Why did you choose to explore MapleSim for your projects?
John:
I write automation software for machinery. The machinery that we build is quite expensive and the manufacturers don't like to keep it on the factory floor for very long. The machinery is also large, so I'm trying to be able to do more and more testing without dependency on the physical machine.
Q: How did you find the MapleSim training provided by Maplesoft Engineering Solutions?
John:
The training was very specifically tailored to my needs and the trainers were very familiar with my project - you couldn't ask for a better environment that way. During the training, I was able to see the additional features that MapleSim provides, which exposed an awful lot of areas that I can explore further. The training definitely convinced me that this is a product that we want to invest our time and effort into.
Q: How do you see MapleSim improving your development process?
John:
Initially I've been using MapleSim to help in my daily development process. I’ve been removing my dependency from the machinery so that I could do faster iterations with the confidence that I haven't broken things, and to explore ideas faster. In the past, I would work on a change and then I would have to wait for the manufacturers to build the machine. It takes a month to build a machine, and when I get the machine, they want to do as little testing as possible before they could ship. So, they want me to make as few changes as possible, and you end up with a situation where it takes a year to get a new full feature out - I'd rather do that in weeks. I need to be able to run the machine eight hours a day at my leisure when it's the right time for me, as opposed to when it's the right time for a factory. Overall, I'm very excited about what MapleSim is going to do my development process.
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