File exchange of computer-aided design (CAD) can hinder or help productivity depending on what software collaborative team members use. With global collaboration becoming increasingly important, knowing the best programs to overcome file sharing issues assures faster conversions.

We previously addressed at least two problems with having multiple CAD systems: converting native design data for disparate CAD systems is costly and time consuming; and many CAD translations, such as those using the Standard for the Exchange of Product (STEP) model data, only exchange product geometry, while other design data are lost.

Today manufacturers receive and deliver design data in many formats, requiring time, effort and, sometimes, staff knowledgeable in special applications to translate and re-create designs, Aberdeen Group noted a little over a year ago, in a study entitled The Multi-CAD Design Chain Benchmark Report.

Some engineers, by virtue of the field they're in and the funding they've received for advanced CAD and PLM software, face different situations and thus different challenges. An Adobe-sponsored Harris Interactive study (via Manufacturing Business Technology) of 407 design and manufacturing professionals has shown two "failings" of current collaboration programs:

• The amount of time it takes for colleagues to respond when sent information; and
• A lack of clarity in the feedback received from colleagues.

Because almost all designers collaborate with others, these obstacles to productivity affect gaining market share and profitability. Specifically, 90 percent of designers collaborate with others in their company, and about 33 percent collaborate with customers or supply chain partners, Manufacturing Business Technology notes of the Adobe study.

A lack of standard tools, such as software, also was cited as a major impediment to successful collaboration by 45 percent of the design engineers and 35 percent of the production professionals surveyed.

With the need for bridging programs firmly proven, a look at some software follows. Here are some tips from Mike Hudspeth, of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), written at Cadalyst magazine:

• STEP has surpassed Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) and Drawing Exchange Format (DXF) to translate 3D files.
• Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) permits a faceted model representation but does not permit accurate measurements.
• JT, a common data format for enabling product visualization and information distribution and enhancing data sharing between PLM software applications, is more accurate.
• SolidWorks' eDrawings lets you see a very accurate depiction of a model.
• Acrobat 3D permits models a user can rotate and it carries metadata such as materials and tolerances. Users can even attach a common text and spreadsheet file. Also, this program allows for password protection.

As helpful as all this sounds, Hudspeth cautions that we still have to wait for programs that don't leave something behind in the transfer.

Another warning comes from a young architect and founder of StressFree Solutions Ltd., a small software development and consultancy business. David Harrison notes that "computing capacity raises the perception that a digital model is very precise when in fact it often has the same tolerances as a conventional drawing."

Large file size along with low bandwidth poses another limit to collaboration. "There is a high level of frustration among CAD users about being restricted in what they can share due to size of CAD files," Rak Bhalla, senior marketing manager in Adobe's Business Productivity Unit, said in an announcement of the survey's findings. "They can't always send 10 megabyte to 20 megabyte files across their networks," he added.

The use of JT, though, helps companies minimize CAD file size. "JT files can be 75 percent to 90 percent smaller than the source file for CAD geometry" says Automotive Design & Production Magazine.

In practical terms, this means engineers, or the IT folks who support them, must match the CAD, and PLM programs if any, to the bandwidth available in the enterprise or in the supply chain.

When packaging information to send to colleagues, both design and production professionals said they are heavy users of Microsoft Office and PDF files, with 84 percent of all Adobe's respondents saying they rely heavily on MS Office and 83 percent saying they make heavy use of PDF files.

There also remains concern about protecting sensitive information as it travels across e-mail networks. In the Adobe survey, this was particular worrisome among design engineers, who are involved in the creation of intellectual property. When asked how they would like to be able to control information, 51 percent of respondents said they would like to place restrictions on the ability to mark up documents; 41 percent said they want to prevent recipients from saving documents to their local networks or desktops; and 39 percent said they wanted to control who has the ability to view documents.

On top of all these constraints and concerns, design engineers often require the ability to convert from 3D to 2D: 71 percent of companies currently using 2D are planning on using 3D modeling. Yet 77 percent of companies that use 3D modeling also use 2D.

When companies that have invested in the latest highly sophisticated CAD and PLM programs interface with other departments or companies that have invested less in this software, then backward compatibility is needed to support collaboration.

Smaller companies, though, put themselves at risk of falling behind by not buying and installing new CAD and conversion programs.

"By nature of their size, job shops have limited financial resources," Kubotek USA, makers of KeyCreator (formerly CADKEY), reported in a May 2005 survey of more than 1,200 CAD users and managers. "Yet their livelihood depends on being able to compete in today's complex multi-CAD environment."

Earlier:

Design Collaboration and the Mad Dash to Product Launch

An Imperfect CAD Compatibility Compromise

Complexities in the 3D Space

Resources

Straight Talk: The Truth about Collaboration in Product Development
by Sidney Hill, Jr.
Manufacturing Business Technology, Jan. 23, 2008

CAD Collaboration
by David Harrison
StressFree, Feb. 28, 2007

Survey Says: CAD File Exchange Is Problematic
Machine Design, Jan. 10, 2008

Sharing and Collaborating with Your Team (MCAD Modeling Column)
by Mike Hudspeth
Cadalyst, Nov.1, 2007

Heavy Weight Collaboration through Lightweight JT
by Lawrence Gould
Automotive Design & Production