// CUSTOMER
SIMAG Machine Tools
SIMAG is a Turin-based company specializing in the construction, assembly, and overhaul of machine tools, with a history in the sector dating back to 1991. Its core business is internal and external grinding machines and gear-cutting machines, alongside milling machines and other equipment, both conventional and CNC-controlled.
Historically, SIMAG has built its reputation on the overhaul of machine tools and the production of special-purpose machines designed on request for specific requirements. With the IG 400 CNC grinding machine, the company is taking a new step: presenting a standardized catalog machine that can be offered to a broader market, fully entering the world of machine-tool manufacturers.
CLIENT: SIMAG Machine Tools
INDUSTRY: Machinery
// BRIEF
Project Overview
Project
The transition from a manufacturer of dedicated machines to a manufacturer with a catalog product changes the way the company communicates with the market. The IG 400 CNC is a cylindrical grinding machine for internal and external machining, designed to combine precision, robustness, and reliability with low maintenance costs and a reasonable purchase price, as summarized by SIMAG’s chosen claim: “the heart of precision at a reasonable price.” To present it to customers, however, the company needed a suitable tool capable of conveying the value of the machine without having it physically available.
SIMAG therefore began a collaboration with Shin Software to create the 3D Digital Twin of the IG 400 CNC. Working directly from the machine’s CAD files, Shin Software used the SHOWin3D platform to create a faithful, interactive digital replica accessible from an everyday consumer device such as an iPad. The result is a tool that the sales team can take to customer meetings to explain the machine in detail, months before it is actually available.
// DIGITAL TWIN 3D
Project Objectives
The project arose from the need to support the launch of SIMAG’s first catalog product with a sales tool capable of meeting the challenge:
Present the machine in advance:
start discussions with customers months before completion of the IG 400 CNC, bringing the time to market forward compared with the availability of the physical product.
Avoid the burden of CAD during customer visits:
have a flexible and fast tool to use at the customer’s premises, without having to carry CAD models that are cumbersome to manage and poorly suited to a sales presentation.
Guarantee maximum fidelity:
match the digital twin as closely as possible to the real machine, starting from SIMAG’s original CAD files.
Show all operating possibilities:
present the grinding machine across multiple machining cycles and with all available accessories, so that customers have a complete picture of what the machine can do.
Position SIMAG among machine manufacturers:
support the transition from a company focused on overhauls and special-purpose machines to a manufacturer with its own catalog, with a technological image comparable to the sector’s more established players.
// SOLUTION
Shin Software for
SIMAG
Shin Software developed the 3D Digital Twin of the IG 400 CNC grinding machine using its SHOWin3D platform, transforming the machine’s technical knowledge into an interactive, navigable experience that can also be understood by people who have never seen the product in person. The solution differs from a simple static 3D model or CAD file through the following features:
Fidelity guaranteed by CAD files:
the starting point is SIMAG’s design models, optimized for real-time navigation. The digital twin therefore accurately reproduces the geometry and structure of the real machine.
Detailed exploration:
customers can rotate, zoom in, and observe the grinding machine from every angle, examining details to understand exactly what their machine, or potential machine, will be like.
Machining cycles and accessories:
the IG 400 CNC can be shown across multiple machining cycles and with all available accessories, presenting the full range of the grinding machine’s operating possibilities.
iPad application:
the tool can be used on a consumer device such as an iPad: easy, intuitive, and fast to use, making it ideal for sales activities at the customer’s premises.
A reusable asset:
the same digital model can be enriched over time with new content, without starting from scratch for every new use.
// 3D EXPERIENCE
Results and benefits
Adopting the 3D Digital Twin produced concrete benefits from the very first presentations. The most immediate advantage is the correspondence between the digital twin and the real machine, made possible by working from SIMAG’s CAD files: customers see what they will find on the shop floor, not an approximation.
In addition, the solution makes it possible to show the full range of available accessories and the various machining cycles, offering a complete view of the IG 400 CNC’s capabilities that a brochure or 2D drawing could not convey. As Luca Addondi, SIMAG’s Sales Director, emphasizes, the tool is easy, intuitive, and fast, and makes it possible to go into enough detail for customers to understand exactly what their machine will be like.
The most tangible benefit concerns commercial results. In relation to the investment, SIMAG has already secured several orders, providing concrete evidence of a short-term return on investment. For those who use it every day, the 3D Digital Twin is perceived as an essential tool for presenting the machine. It is also a strategic asset from an image perspective: this digital adoption brings SIMAG into line with the sector’s most prestigious manufacturers and communicates a technologically advanced company to the market, precisely as it makes its debut as a manufacturer with a catalog product.
“In relation to the investment, we have already secured several orders, providing concrete evidence of a short-term return on investment.”
Luca Addondi, Sales Director, SIMAG
// NEXT STEPS
Future Developments
SIMAG considers the 3D Digital Twin of the IG 400 CNC only the beginning of a digitalization journey. The positive experience with the first project paves the way for the tool to evolve toward technical support: the stated goal is to create an interactive exploded view of the machine capable of guiding a technician at the customer’s premises during service and maintenance activities. A navigable 3D manual built on the same digital twin already created would make it possible to identify components, understand the machine’s structure, and support interventions more quickly and accurately.
This vision reflects the logic of the 3D Digital Twin as an asset that grows together with the product: the same model created for sales can be reused and enriched for training and after-sales service, avoiding the need to start from scratch. For SIMAG, this means consolidating its image as a technologically advanced manufacturer while also improving the customer experience throughout the machine’s entire life cycle.
