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Case Study Deuce Snowboards Page 1 of 3

Deuce Snowboards Creates Extreme Product


Designs with CoCreate from PTC ®

Explicit Modeling Software Proves Ideal for One-off Designs

Deuce Snowboards, Sunnyvale, California


Deuce Snowboards’ mission is to become the world leader in snow-
sport innovation. Founded by Robert Todd Belt in 2004, the company
is using its flagship X-2 produc t– the modern Dual Edge Snowboard
(DES)– to build a broader product line, which will include hard goods,
outerwear and accessories, all aimed at today’s snowboarders.

The Challenge: To Support Innovative and Extreme Design –


Yet Keep Upfront Costs Low
Like many start-up companies on the cutting edge of their industry,
Deuce Snowboards had a product idea with a new twist: a Dual-Edge
Snowboard. However, the company needed to break into an estab-
lished market quickly, while facing intense time-to-market pressure.
To support the detailed development and launch of the first generation
of this product, a 3D CAD (computer-aided design) system would be
essential. The system had to support their innovative approach to
design, while keeping upfront costs as low as possible. Using CoCreate – the Explicit Modeling solution from PTC – Deuce Snowboards’
designers are able to make quick iterations and revisions to designs.
The company evaluated traditional 3D CAD systems and found them
too complicated, cumbersome, and costly to meet their needs. The
company was looking for an easy-to-learn, easy-to-use 3D CAD The Solution: CoCreate – Flexible, Lightweight Explicit Modeling
solution that would make it simple for engineers and designers to The company evaluated CoCreate Modeling from PTC. This 3D CAD
make fast iterations and revisions to designs, with real-time speed, software provided speed, flexibility, and responsiveness-to-change–
enabling the company to rapidly explore and learn about the new ideal for companies like Deuce Snowboards who face short design
technology of dual-edge snowboards. cycles and one-off product designs, and who need a highly flexible,
lightweight product design process.

“CoCreate Modeling, and its explicit approach Cost-wise, PTC’s subscription licensing allowed Deuce to rent the
software, rather than purchase a traditional license, thus providing a
to 3D design, is faster and easier to learn and low start-up cost, while making this powerful product development
use than other 3D CAD systems. It’s proved a software extremely affordable– important both for new businesses
and those looking to minimize upfront investment.
natural fit with our innovation process– one of
The Result: Fast Delivery of the First- and
exploring and learning, leading to continuous
Second-Generation Deuce Snowboard
and unpredictable design changes. Explicit CoCreate Modeling, with its explicit approach to 3D design, proved
a natural fit with the company’s innovation process, that is, one of
modeling provides the flexibility for us to
exploring and learning. This process started with a first-generation
freely evolve the design without needing to product that the company prototyped virtually within the world of
3D CAD, thus cutting the time and expense of unneeded physical
anticipate downstream design changes or
prototypes. Today, the company has already delivered its second
maintain embedded design logic.” generation of its flagship product, the X-2.
– Todd Belt, Executive Manager and Founder, Deuce Snowboards, LLC
Case Study Deuce Snowboards Page 2 of 3

“It is very important to keep costs low and retain Belt invented an entirely new category of snowboard, termed dual-
edge snowboard (DES) because the snowboard is actually made of
financial flexibility under short-term planning two smaller boards connected by a riding platform that fits standard
horizons. I have a two-year planning window snowboard equipment.

when making financial decisions. PTC’s With his unique product idea now taking shape, Belt formed a new
company: Deuce Snowboards.
subscription licensing fits my company’s
CoCreate Modeling – the Perfect Companion
timelines, where other alternatives just didn’t
To support the detailed development and launch of the dual-edge
make sense.” snowboard, Belt knew that 3D CAD software would be essential. In eval-
– Todd Belt, Deuce Snowboards uating a wide range of CAD systems, he considered three key criteria:

1. U
 ser-friendliness– How quickly could engineers and designers
learn and use the 3D CAD tool?

2. A
 ffordability– How could his company get the most powerful
CAD software with the lowest up-front cost?

3. S oftware vendor– How viable was the company that created the
CAD software and what was their future direction?

Belt evaluated both traditional 3D CAD software along with CoCreate


Modeling from PTC.

“In the end, the explicit modeling approach and the value of PTC’s
subscription licensing tipped the scales,” says Belt. CoCreate
Modeling, with its explicit approach to 3D design, is faster and easier
to learn and use than other 3D CAD systems. Existing designers can
transfer their skills and quickly adopt CoCreate Modeling in a matter
of weeks.

Todd Belt, Executive Manager and Founder, Deuce Snowboards, LLC Second-Generation Dual Edge Snowboard
Achieves Immediate Impact
Deuce Snowboards – Inspiration and Innovation Soon after the release of the first generation DES, the second genera-
Todd Belt found the inspiration for his company–Deuce Snowboards– tion product– the X-2– was launched with much critical acclaim. The
on a chairlift above a black diamond run as he watched an expert X-2 was test marketed on the slopes of Lake Tahoe (Nevada) destina-
snowboarder attempt to avoid a downed fellow snow-sport enthusiast. tion resorts. “Just standing in line to buy a lift ticket drew a crowd of
The snowboarder was unable to stop or change direction and hit the high schoolers anxious to know what we had with us,” says Belt. “I
downed skier. (Luckily, the ski patrol did not need to rush anyone to quickly learned that being ‘sick’ is now a very good thing. And the
the hospital.) Deuce was overwhelming very sick. The response that I have received
on the slopes is much of what keeps me energized day by day.”
Suddenly, Belt’s engineering mind turned on. From his own skiing
experience, Belt knew he would have had no problem avoiding that Once on the slopes, Belt gathered market reaction and design feedback
collision on skis. But on a snowboard, the collision was unavoidable. by having different snowboarders ride the Deuce prototype. While
The simple difference between skiing and snowboarding is that skis the Deuce is a new category of product, experienced snowboarders
have the benefit of two edges for tighter turns and faster stops. were already adjusting to its differences by the end of their first run.

From his snowboarding experience, Bolt knew of the sport’s excite- Impressively, the Deuce produced a smoother ride over ‘crud’ (i.e., snow
ment and popularity. He began to wonder: Could the best of both that’s been cut up, baked in the sun, and frozen again) because the
worlds– the flexibility of skiing and the excitement of snowboarding– two boards move independently, similar to the way an independent
be combined? suspension on a car smooths a bumpy ride. Plus, the mechanism makes
it easier both to go from edge to edge and to control an edge. Overall,
What started as a mental exercise quickly led to something more.
the design makes the board rider technically more proficient.
Belt says, “I originally started out playing with the idea for the multi-
edge snowboard just to see if it could be done. As the design started
to materialize, the concept quickly turned from an engineering
experiment to a viable product.”
Case Study Deuce Snowboards Page 3 of 3

CoCreate: The Power to Quickly Respond to “I would take a copy of an existing part that was close to what I wanted,
Unplanned Design Requirement Changes and change it,” said Belt. “CoCreate Modeling makes changes easy for
As Belt worked through X-2 product development, the snowboard’s complex parts as the design rapidly progresses.”
design progressed organically as new information came in. The design
The most significant improvement to the snowboard is set to appear in
evolved by simply adding or subtracting material in different locations,
the third generation of the product, developed over the past off-season
based on engineering analysis, field testing, and market reaction.
and currently scheduled for early production runs.
The product’s design faced continuous and unpredictable changes
Snowboarders everywhere are looking forward to this patent-pending
throughout the innovation process. CoCreate Modeling provided the
product to hit the slopes in the coming months, as DES steps into
flexibility for product designs to evolve freely without needing to
winter sports.
anticipate downstream design changes or maintain embedded design
logic. This is a key advantage of the Explicit Modeling approach over
other 3D design approaches.

The innovative X-2 dual-edge snowboard, created by Deuce Snowboards, is


designed with two smaller boards connected by a riding platform, which fits
standard snowboard equipment.

© 2009, Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). All rights reserved. Information described herein is fur-
nished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a guar-
antee, commitment, condition or offer by PTC. PTC, the PTC logotype, CoCreate, and all PTC product names
and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and in
other countries. All other product or company names are the property of their respective owners.

4127-Deuce-0109

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