During the COVID-19 pandemic many companies, including design and engineering firms, scrambled to figure out how to work remotely. Many used disconnected cloud platforms like Google Drive and Dropbox or had to set up VPN servers to access their data on product data management (PDM) systems.
Today many are still working remotely, at least part of the time, and cloud platforms are still essential.
With Cloud Services and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform your data is securely stored in one place, so it’s easily accessible, from any device, keeping everyone up to date, and providing a single source of truth. And you don’t have to invest time and money in an external server.
“Traditional PDM [product data management] systems have their limits, but with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, we now have a central, scalable portal in the cloud, where all parts and assemblies, including data sheets, are stored securely and accessible to all project participants at any time and from any device. And the security of our data is assured by two-factor authentication and data encryption.”
– Fabian Stutz, Co-founder and CEO, Pharmabotix.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of Cloud Services is it enables what we call hassle-free design. What makes the 3DEXPERIENCE platform stand out from other cloud platforms and document management systems is it is a CAD-aware environment, meaning it’s purpose-built for designers.
As you know, in the CAD world everything is related and linked together. When you rename a part, it’s all tracked on the platform so you don’t have to relink a newly named part to an assembly, and you don’t have to update assemblies and file path links individually.
Network drives aren’t ideal either for CAD design. You know the scenario all too well, if one of your folders has one character change in its file name or folder name, then the whole assembly structure can break.
With the 3DEXPERIENCE platform revisions are also easier to track so you don’t end up with duplicate files and complex file names. You don’t have to worry about managing data. You can focus on design.
For firms that need to collaborate on designs, we’ve got you covered, with apps such as 3D Markup, Collaborative Tasks, Product Explorer, and Compare, all part of the Collaborative Industry Innovator role that comes with Cloud Services.
3D Markup is a fully cloud-based viewing and markup tool that allows you to collaborate with other platform users and mark up the actual model that’s stored on the platform, so you are not creating a duplicate and all the markups and comments stay with that data as well, so there’s a full paper trail.
The Collaborative Tasks app provides an online to-do list and is an exceptional collaboration tool, you can access it directly in SOLIDWORKS which helps you and your team stay organized and track tasks.
With the Collaborative Tasks app, you can assign tasks to team members, assign due dates, and everyone will get notifications and reminders. The best thing about it is that you can attach the actual CAD model to the task by dragging and dropping it onto the task so there’s a clear explanation of what needs to be done, by who, to what, and by when.
When the task is complete you can simply drag and drop it into the “completed” column. Even for individual users it’s a fantastic way to meet deadlines by mapping out your day or week.
During design reviews managers can use the Compare App to verify if assigned changes were made. Or when a manager gets a notification that a task is done, they can easily drag and drop it into the Compare app to check the overlying geometry to see that a change was done correctly.
The Product Explorer app allows you to visualize products and their structures. The app opens two widgets: Product Structure Explore, which displays the tree, and 3D Navigate, which displays the object in 3D. It is beneficial for both CAD users and non-CAD users as you can check the status of a design assembly, see who created what, what materials were used, who it came from, if there is a material shortage or anything that could cause a delay in meeting your deadline.
Explore our Tutorial Videos to get started with Store and Revise.
Originally posted in the SOLIDWORKS Blog.