Speed Consulting: Where Expertise Meets Service Excellence

Speed Consulting

Andy Speed, Founder and President, Speed Consulting Randy Speed, Founder and President
Since its establishment, Speed Consulting has grown manifold by providing top-notch product development and failure analysis services. As the scope of mechanical engineering and design consulting can cover a broad range of products and industries, like aerospace, automotive, medical, energy, and entertainment, to name a few.

“When your product will be loaded or stressed and must perform a strict function without failing or hurting anyone, then it probably requires engineering and design.” says Randy Speed, Founder, and President, Speed Consulting. “Our services go beyond delivering CAD or drawings. We strive to educate our clients regarding their products. We try to help them understand why and how particular designs fail or how they might save money or material by considering aspects that might not be immediately obvious.”

In an interview with CIOApplications, Speed shares his thoughts on the trends influencing the PTC System Integrators space, and the value his company offers as a reliable service provider.

In your interactions with leading companies, what sense do you get of the challenges they face now, and how is Speed Consulting effectively addressing these issues?

In recent decades, computer design software has become very easy to use, and young engineers adapt to software so much more quickly. It has become easy to create magnificent looking products on the computer screen. This is good in the sense that modern CAD systems encourage creativity and expression, and we are seeing that creativity in all sorts of products now. However, the fundamental engineering required to make products durable, reliable, and safe has almost become an afterthought. The challenge is to ensure a balance of solid engineering analysis standing behind those beautiful designs. Speed Consulting’s strength is that we provide relational engineering services. Relational consulting means that we can customize our service to fit the clients’ needs and take them where they want or need to go. The bottom line is that we want the client to benefit from our experience.

“Speed Consulting provides best-in-class Finite Element Analysis services for many of the world’s leading organizations.” Please walk us through this statement and shed some light on your services.

It’s in our DNA to provide best-in-class services. We began two decades ago after careers at Rasna and PTC where we worked alongside some of the industry’s finest consultants. Finite element analysis (FEA) is only a piece of the bigger picture.

Our clients may have an issue that can be simulated with FEA, but unfortunately, they may not have understood where the applied loading is being generated, causing failure. The critical loads can originate from vibration, hydraulic loading, or moving inertia, for example. Our methodology begins with understanding the big picture. After a thorough discovery session with chief engineers and technicians, we understand the challenges and perceived issues. We target long game successes and offer solutions that may not have been considered. The benefit is that the client gains new information and insights to improve their products. We want to leave them more capable than they were before our engagement.

It’s in our DNA to provide best-in-class services

Could you please cite one or two case studies on how you have enabled clients to overcome hurdles and attain desired outcomes with your innovative array of solutions?

One particular customer in the Midwest had just released a new and “improved” washing machine. They discovered in testing that the machine, however, exceeded vibration levels when subjected to off-balanced loads. We took their Creo model and set it up in our software to simulate high-speed operations. Our initial results matched remarkably well to actual measured cabinet accelerations, thus establishing that our model was calibrated correctly. We then explored changing various aspects of the design and zeroed in on the material density of the gearbox housing. Vibrations were extremely sensitive to the material used to manufacture the housing. When we shared our results, the chief engineer pointed out that he had changed the gearbox material from cast metal to molded plastic in order to save cost. Our work clearly illustrated that the plastic housing had reduced inertial stability and was 100% responsible for the adverse vibrations. We were able to help educate our client as to the cause of the problem. We helped solve a major engineering hurdle in a few days, allowing them to quickly get back to making reliable washing machines.

According to you, what are the distinct features of Speed Consulting/differentiating factors that give it a competitive edge?

We at Speed Consulting make excellence our guiding principle. We employ the best and brightest engineers who bring their industry expertise to our team. Our goal is not to grow to be the biggest. We prefer to build trusting long-term relationships such that our clients know they can come back to us. We have had managers leave to go work for a different company and bring us in to the new company. That demonstrates success for us.

What does the future hold for your organization?

A few years ago, we recognized a need for experienced engineers in the aerospace vertical market. Aerospace is where many of us got started. After witnessing a respectable aerospace company’s attempt to outsource design and analysis work to an inexperienced design shop, an indelible mark was impressed upon me. I realized that the industry needed experienced and reliable temporary talent. Something that I knew we could deliver on. The result was the creation of a sister company, Speed Aerospace. This has allowed us to offer skilled talent to an industry that has been quickly losing a gifted older generation of engineers. It also expands job opportunities to younger talented engineers who want to move into consulting.

To conclude, engineering has evolved dramatically in recent years. Company leaders should consider the entire product life cycle and be invested with an equal balance of hardware, software, and consulting. It is no longer just about purchasing a CAD system. Product descriptions have evolved digitally into a virtual existence. Designs exist now as Model-Based Design (MBD) or Reduced Dimensional Modeling (RDM) - meaning that there are no longer traditional 2D “drawings”. The economic advantages of products defined this way are remarkable. Engineering data management now requires a holistic view for the product development life cycle. System integrator consultants such as Speed Consulting are a vital resource and play a critical role in preparing executives to shape their organizations’ future.

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