Emily Suzuki
Elevate your design and manufacturing processes with Autodesk Fusion
Discover how Native Instruments leverages Autodesk Fusion and Fusion Manage to revolutionize music production equipment.
Over the past two decades, the music production experience has been digitalized with incredible capabilities. From electronic keyboards to mixers, musicians now have more options than ever for bringing their creativity to life.
For more than 25 years, Native Instruments has been at the forefront of this sonic innovation, developing integrated audio, hardware, and software solutions to inspire and enable DJs, musicians, producers, and engineers to express themselves. Today, the Berlin-based company provides a vast array of music equipment through its extensive list of software products (libraries, instruments, etc.) and hardware products (controllers, keyboards, etc.).
Traktor Kontrol, for example, is a controller that seamlessly integrates with Traktor, the company’s flagship professional DJ software for hundreds of thousands of DJs at every level. And Kontakt is the industry-standard sampling platform and instrument-building tool with thousands of virtual instruments. For the past 20 years, it has also powered blockbuster film scores and chart-topping hits.
Komplete Kontrol is its next-generation MIDI keyboard controller—available in 49, 61-semi-weighted, or 88 fully-weighted hammer action options—with a high-resolution screen to browse and tweak music options directly on the keyboard. With Autodesk Fusion, the Native Instruments team could “create this fantastic, rewarding experience,” says Johannes Schroth, lead industrial designer. “When you turn it on the first time, the lights come on and the interface comes alive.”
“Rather than just creating boxes with buttons, we’re manufacturing musical instruments that help people to become creative,” adds Igor Vargotsky, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Native Instruments.
Collaboration takes the lead
By switching to Fusion from SolidWorks and Creo and leveraging Autodesk Fusion Manage, Native Instruments has completely transformed its design and engineering workflows, manufacturing, and product lifecycle management for the better.
Fusion now brings industrial designers and mechanical engineers together to work seamlessly in one shared platform, reducing the complexities of using different design tools and increasing efficiency when working in other locations. These new collaboration opportunities were especially apparent with the design of Komplete Kontrol.
“We had very tight space constraints, especially in the center console where we’re really packing [things in] tight,” Schroth says. “It’s important for us to come together because there’s a negotiation that happens. It’s really cool to be on the same platform with Autodesk Fusion to move things around and discuss the specifics of how to solve problems in these tight spaces.”
“We come from a world where industrial designers work with their tools and mechanical engineers work with different tools. For us, the next transformative step was to go to the same platform. Autodesk Fusion really helped us come together.”
—Johannes Schroth, Lead Industrial Designer, Native Instruments
Unlocking eficiencies unlocked with connected, centralized data
A crucial part of Native Instruments’ workflow improvements was ensuring that all teams had access to the most up-to-date information. As a cloud-based PLM system, Fusion Manage serves as a central platform for specifications, data sheets, and other critical documents.
Michal Dudzik, senior purchase and supply chain specialist at Native Instruments, works with engineers, product managers, and suppliers to determine the right components to go inside the products—and make sure they arrive on time and at a competitive price. Moving to Fusion Manage has transformed his job.
“I’ve been with Native Instruments for almost four years. Before we used Fusion Manage, we had a home-written command line-based tool that was very difficult to use,” Dudzik says. “It was also very error-prone with duplicate components and wrong prices, and it was difficult to keep accurate revisions.”
“With Fusion Manage, we found a tool that helped us have one centralized database of components,” he continues. “We can always release the correct revision of our design to external partners and collaborate internally, so our products get manufactured at the right quality and cost.”
With direct integration of supplier information, data is more accessible than ever before and speeds up the process of selecting components for new projects.
“Fusion Manage is an ecosystem that helps me to integrate the engineering world and the engineering databases with parameters that are critical to me and my role,” Dudzik says. “I can insert these parameters and modify them. Data—such as supplier name, prices, or delivery—can be immediately accessed by our engineers to quickly and efficiently identify the right components.”
“A real advantage of Fusion Manage is that we have a central source of truth. We no longer need to worry about revision errors.”
—Matthias Ströhlein, Director of Supply Chain Management, Native Instruments
New designs manufactured in record time
Recently, Native Instruments celebrated its 25th anniversary. To commemorate this huge milestone, they decided to create a special, limited edition of almost every product line. But they only had three months to get the designs done and manufactured.
“We had more than 500 customized parts, and it was only possible to do this with Fusion Manage,” Schroth says. “We created branches of the products with new artwork and color, material, and finish (CMF) files that were pushed to manufacturing partners in China to send us samples.
“A complex system like this manually would have been a huge cause of errors and difficult to mitigate within the limited time we had,” he continues. “It was really cool to have a centralized platform and repeatable workflows for everything.”
Ensuring the accuracy of final tested products
As a senior QA engineer at Native Instruments, Hannah Borland is focused on testing to see how a product comes together, as well as its intent, compliance, and more. “We start testing early, even at raw component levels,” she says. “We either create our own specifications or, if we’re buying parts, start testing against specifications. Then we upload to Fusion Manage.”
Durability tests alone can run into thousands and even millions of test repetitions. Fusion Manage helps her ensure all the final tested products are universally communicated and used.
“[We use our factory test tool] in the development process [to test all of our final products as] a pilot run for mass production,” says Borland. “This is an endline test that is used in 100% of all units and really determines what will go into the box.”
“[We monitor this test] closely and then put it into Fusion Manage to make sure the latest one is used in all of our factories and repair centers,” she continues. “Regardless of location or time zone, this is something that really gives us peace of mind that the right version is being used in all places.”
Prioritizing instrument longevity and sustainability
One of Native Instrument’s core tenets is to build products that last. But, just like restringing a guitar or reskinning a drum kit, repairs may be needed over time. Customers also often have their own emotional connection with their instruments. They don’t want to just throw it away. By focusing on access to easy repairs or replacement parts, Native Instruments can be more sustainable and keep customers sampling, composing, and mixing for years to come.
“Our customers are mainly musicians, and they are always very forward-thinking,” says Matthias Geserick, senior customer care agent, Native Instruments. “They requested we have a solution to repair things with a focus on sustainability.”
Customers often reach out for help when something breaks after extended use, such as frequently touched parts. Geserick assists by either guiding customers to local technicians or sending spare parts directly.
“Usually, customers ask us to ship a spare part that they need to repair their own instruments,” he says. “Fusion Manage enables me to just find it directly in the database and send it to the customer with all the specs they need.”
Creativity—and the music—comes first
From the beginning of initial or updated designs to engineering, testing, procurement, manufacturing, and finally helping ensure a long lifecycle, Native Instruments continues to take the use of Fusion and Fusion Manage to the next level. But, at the end of the day, it’s all about the music.
“Shaping musical instruments is not always about technology,” Vargotsky says. “It’s about creating instruments and setting the rules of the game that make people creative.”
Check out another version of this story on Design & Make with Autodesk.