PTC's New and Improved Product View Version 6.2

 

By John Lucksiri (Torgon Industries Inc)

 

Visualization tools have become a key element in today’s business. The internet can now be accessed from any where in the world. As we are moving forward into the future, PTC’s Division Visual Collaboration software has integrated the internet technology with visualization tools. This means we are now braking away from a one-way communication to a two-way communication via a website. People around the world accessing your product information via a website have now become a standard in doing business. What if we can take you up to a level where you can collaborate in real-time and share information instantaneously about product development from sales and marketing through engineering, manufacturing, and even shipping. Communication is a major part of any business success. The advantages of real-time collaboration are decreased costs, decreased product development times, saving on travel costs, and improved project management. By having engineers, suppliers, and project managers online, this will greatly reduce errors and promote effortless design product developments. Visualization tools offer a virtual prototype which helps to minimize physical prototypes and therefore reduce design development costs and cycle times.

 

Division Visual Collaboration, also known as Product View, allows all of the people involved in the production of a design to view the product information in a way that can be easily understood even by those who are not designers or engineers.  Product View is more than a viewer, it is a data management portal, a design collaboration tool, and a communication tool used by everyone involved in the design production process from engineers, management, sales, marketing, manufacturing, assembly, and of course the customer. Some examples of how Product View can make the production process easier are:

 

·       Enable non engineers to view and print drawings easily without having to ask the designer for prints or learn the CAD software.

·       Streamlines the approval process. Managers can markup the drawings and return them to the designers so changes can be made. Markups are saved as a bitmap file so anyone can view them outside of ProductView.

·       The ability to group multiple objects, parts, assemblies or documents into “binders” to make sharing between different teams easier.

·       Lets companies collaborate with suppliers, customers, and anyone who has access to the internet, all through a secure portal.

 

There are two major components that make up ProductView: 1. Graphics Server which is used to view and share files and 2. The ProductView Client which allows you to manipulate the files you are viewing.

 

The heart of ProductView is Graphics Server which uses internet technology. The Graphics Server is an important component of ProductView because it manages your data the same way Pro/Intralink manages Pro/Engineer files. It is highly recommend having the Pro/Intralink database implemented before hosting the Graphics Server. Pro/Intralink data is the main database that gets changed and update constantly. The Graphics Server database is a copy of Pro/Intralink data which has been converted to a very small file size viewable format. Since the viewable file size is approximately 1:10 of Pro/Engineer files, faster downloading and viewing time can be achieved. There is no lost of precision during data conversion. Pro/Engineer feature dimensions, notes, datum features, bill of materials, and parameters are accessible with ProductView. Information can be shared with the outside world or within local groups. This enables users to share design information with anyone, anywhere in the world through the internet, not just within your company’s local intranet.  The Graphics Server allows you to view the changes that were made to the files on the ProductView Client. A nice functionality that makes ProductView very easy to deploy is the ability of the ProductView Client software to be downloaded directly from your Graphics Server website. Suppliers or customers can then access the files by using your license and logging on to your Graphics Server. This means they can view your files without having to purchase the software.

 

 

Above is a sample of the Graphics Server Home Page. On the top left is the search engine. Multiple databases and projects can be browsed or searching for objects can be performed using Pro/Locate. The bottom left is the search results area, with or without thumbnails. In the main display area, embedded ProductView client will be displayed. If ProductView client is set to “separate window” then ProductView client will open in a new window, see below. The Home Page can also be customized with your company logo and/or additional hyperlinks.

 

The ProductView client is the actual software which allows you to manipulate any viewable file. This includes Microsoft Office documents, files created on most major CAD software packages,  like Pro/Engineer, Catia, Unigraphics, Solidworks, AutoCAD, etc. and image files. Markups, Sectioning, Measuring, Interference checking, and Animation are all done through the Productview Client. ProductView 6.2 is the latest release and includes improvements in user friendliness, ease of use, and other functionality. The user interface is icon based; commands can be access at a click of the mouse via icons, pull-down menus or pop-up menus, a true Windows feel. This eliminates the long learning curve for new software. Some new elements to version 6.2 include a drastically improved sectioning tool. Quarter sectioning (section in two directions), sections can easily manipulated by drag and drop section planes. Measuring tools are now easier to use, no extra construction geometries are necessary. Construction geometries can be very useful while measuring complex geometry. What good is a visualization tool without animation? Simple animation can be created quickly. An assembly instruction for example, can be animated by creating an exploded view. You can do all of these without knowing Pro/Engineer. A new feature added to Product View allows you to export three dimensional files into stl or iges format.  Product development cycle time is a major problem among manufacturers. Markups provide communication between designers and project managers or outside vendors. Designers can therefore respond to markups in less time than paperwork by using email and images. Markups are saved using bitmap format which can easily be attached to an email. Email function is integrated on the Graphics Server Home Pages using standard SMTP host. Designers can now spend more time concentrating on designing with proper guidelines from their project manager rather than hand scribbled notes, crumpled drawings, and verbal instructions.

 

 

Product View client (above) has four main areas; top left – product structure area, middle left – metadata area, bottom left – results window, and the main display area where you navigate  models, drawings and documents. In the example window, one component is set to transparent; enable user to see hidden components in an assembly. Users may change component’s color and visibility level for easier identify errors or identify different components without affecting the original part/assembly files. As you can see the user interface is Windows like, it is easy for non-technical persons to learn and use the software effectively. Also note that all parametric data from Pro/Engineer including BOM and parameters are read in directly to Product View.  Imagine, now everyone in a company can see the BOM at any time in the design process given the proper permission and release procedures.

 

By accessing engineering data through ProductView, production workers, assembly line workers, and supervisors are now able to view 3-D models and/or drawings without calling upon engineers or designers. Real-time communication between engineers and production can be accomplished, and problems are solved online. Decreases in lost production time are critical in any manufacturing plant. Data is usually set to update nightly to ensure everyone has the latest information. Since ProductView uses its own database, changes can not be made to the original engineering data (Pro/Engineer files) residing in Pro/Intralink.

 

A typical (5 days) quick start implementation includes install and configure of the Graphics Server, Object adapters, and ProductView clients. I strongly recommend implementing Pro/Intralink before ProductView, but this is not mandatory (Graphics Server will not be linked with Pro/Intralink in this case though). A dedicated server for Graphics Server is also highly recommended as the Graphics Server website is normally hosted outside a company’s firewall, and Pro/Intralink inside the firewall. Due to security concerns, only those who are authenticated will be able to access the data.

 

Communication is integral to the design and product development process.  Improved communication means less time between the marketing, design, and production stages of your product.  ProductView is one of the most powerful software programs that facilitate real-time collaboration.  It maintains the full functionality of the ProductView Client at all times. Co-workers can collaborate as a team or with others in different departments.  Management can view their virtual product on the screen and manipulate them. ProductView also allows for collaboration between the production company and the suppliers or customers. As long as each party has access to the internet they can collaborate in real-time.

 

 

              

Figure 1    : Sectioning Tool                                                                                        Figure 2 : Exploded Assembly with only 1 Component Section

 

                

Figure 3    : Markup Models                                                                  Figure 4 : Taking Measurements

 

            

Figure 5    : View Drawing                                                                       Figure 6 : Birds Eye View Zooming Tool