3DMojo

Here we go again, poised for another successful showing of 3DVIA Composer at SolidWorks World 2009. Like last year, we will be within the SolidWorks booth area, with a very large monitor to serve out information to the masses that are certain to be swarming the booth.

Ok, I know it's impossible to compete with Sir Richard Branson, so after you're done with that general session, be sure to stop by and see what we're all about, or just say "hello" if you're already one of the many new Composer customers that have joined us this past year!

I was just reading Patrick Michel's article in Manufacturing Business Technology. It's a pretty good read, as he makes people aware that "being green" in manufacturing doesn't necessarily mean implementing the stereotypical alternative fixes such as solar panels on the plant roof.

While he is mostly talking about plant layout and simulation, using 3D web based digital manufacturing solutions, what really caught my eye was the comment someone gave at the end of the article:

The use of paper is still utilized and graphics and instructions are created for hand off to mechanics. It is in many cases too difficult to provide a laptop with the information, the laptop becomes cumbersome and difficult to maneuver and the opportunity for damage and theft to occur rises.

When you think about digital plant layout, process planning, and simulation in 3D, it is a natural extension to think about how the assembly instruction will be delivered. For those industries where sending interactive 3D work instructions to the shop floor is possible, this further adds to the "green" message: no more paper! Plus, using interactive 3D experiences to communicate instructions on the shop floor has been proven to be more efficient and improves quality (just ask our customers).

For those industries where paper is still a requirement, as the above commenter mentions, incredible time can still be saved if the documents can be automatically generated from the 3D digital manufacturing process plan. And since that digital plan can be easily kept up to date with process changes, geometry changes, configuration changes, effectivity changes, and work instruction changes, the paper documentation can easily be regenerated as needed. Plus the interactive 3D work instructions can still be used as a reference for new employees or for training purposes.

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And what Patrick didn't say in the article, I will say: DELMIA is amazing when it comes to digital manufacturing. And of course, 3DVIA Composer is amazing when it comes to visual and interactive instructions. Imagine what you can get if you combine the two?

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SolidSmack blogger and Desktop Engineering contributor, Josh Mings, took 3DVIA Composer for a test drive and has written about it in the latest issue of Desktop Engineering online. (more...)

Take a look at this article from Industry Week. When discussing about the use of 3D CAD data in downstream departments such as manufacturing, service, training, spare parts, and others, the article states:

People working in those functional areas perform too much non-value-added work having to recreate images because they don't have access to the CAD data. "Until they integrate these downstream processes, they're never going to be lean," Prawel says.

I couldn't have said it better myself! Enabling downstream users to fully leverage 3D CAD data, and add their relevent context and knowledge into the that data, creates true information that not only improves communication, but improves companies' ability to compete. There are substantial savings to be leveraged in these areas -- and in this economy, every opportunity for improvement becomes a necessity.

The new release of 3DVIA Composer V6R2009x is being launched this week as part of the overall V6 portfolio update. As part of the press release, we have updated our website. Let us know what you think!

Information about the new 3DVIA Composer enhancements can be see here, and will be available on Friday for general distribution.