Communicate in 3D

Author: Josh Mings from Solidsmack.com

Everything you do in engineering a product is part of a workflow. This is the case whether you have a finely tuned system of processes or a desktop and file cabinet spewing forth sheets of documents. They both (eventually) get information from one point to the other. “Eventually” is what we want to work on. One product in particular can save you time and improve how you communicate along the winding road that is the Engineering process.

The Power of a Model
In the world of 3D CAD we have a unique method of communicating our design that is seldom used. Our model. We’ll make views in a drawing and add screenshots to an email when there’s an issue to resolve. Eventually (there’s that word again) our ideas are communicated and our questions are answered.

The methods to get the answers and complete a project are typically set for how change has been communicated in the past. It’s not very smooth and we want to change that with a quickness. Here’s how to do it by adding Acrobat 3D to your workflow.

The Workflow
Typically, an Engineering process may look like the following:

• Review relevant design information
• Outline the proposed entire assembly structure
• Resolve preliminary design issues
• Create assembly, sub-assemblies, and details
• Resolve modeling construction issues
• Create preliminary drawings
• Perform preliminary model review
• Submit to check
• Refine model
• Submit for review

This may be more or less complicated than what you have, but the general idea is there. It’s a process that seems to follow piece-meal approach to engineering with little collaboration. What we want to do is refine the above and get review up front. A 3D PDF makes this easy. Here’s the new workflow.

• Outline the rough assembly structure
• Create preliminary model from design information
• Create 3D PDF and send to design, check and review
• Incorporate feedback from PDF
• Create preliminary drawings
• Submit for review

The Benefits
A lot of the detail and items that slow down progress on design can be eliminated by creating the 3D PDF up front and making it a key component of the review cycle. You don’t have to completely restructure your system either. Try adding it at different places to see what works best. In the end you find a much smoother process. Here are the benefits you’ll see in a nice short list.

1. Allows design review up front
   You’re moving ahead on the modeling and ahead on creating PDFs, instead of waiting till the end and using them to capture document revisions.
2. Allows reviewer to add comments and mark-ups to the design
   The reviewer are getting an electronic document that has mark-up and commenting capabilities. While it takes a little getting use to, it becomes much easier than printing out a bunch of paper you have to scan and email back. Show people how to use it to make it easy for them.
3. Adds a record of the design iterations you may go through
   Since it’s up front in the design, you’re capturing the changes you’re going through. It can be created at any point of the design so you don’t have to wait till drawing view are created or mess with copying and pasting screenshots.
4. It’s a real model
   It can be measured, rotated and exported. You can control what’s allowed, but if you working with a company that needs a concept, you can send a small file they can view and use in their models.
5. Supplies useful data when design is complete
   Instead of going back and forth to create special views for technical publications, brochures etc., you can send this to the right people and they can create the views and sections they need. And of course you will have a nice archive of your model in 3D PDFs right up to the end.

Written by Josh Mings
www.solidsmack.com

This entry was posted on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 3:35 pm and is filed under 3D Industry, CAD, Acrobat 8. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.