Geometric product representations are of gaining importance in product manufacturing industries. Several case studies yield that the utilization of three-dimensional digital product data in the product development chain has given many manufacturing companies a big advantage in business competition.
The field of application for 3D technology is versatile and its further implementation still proceeds along product delivery processes. Leveraging 3D graphics in service information creation processes like the creation of manual illustrations or service instruction imagery is currently a big topic at many companies. E. g. the utilization of animated 3D product representations for explanation of service tasks becomes possible due to the recent advances in computer hardware more and more popular.
The successful integration of 3D-based applications in business processes depends on many factors and this paper will give an overview over several aspects like:
Basic differences in 3D object representation types
Software for creation of 3D-based visualizations for service Information
3D data Exchange formats
3D model structure Requirements
Efficient leverage of 3D-graphics in service Information requires access to already existing engineering CAD data. Disparities between the requirements for 3D models for engineering tasks and service illustration/ animation creation can impede the utilization of 3D graphics down the product development process.
Differences in requirements for 3D models and several pros and contras of 3D-CAD-derived computer graphics for several Customer support-related use-cases are discussed:
Technical illustrations for operator and service manuals
line art drawings for parts catalogs and service manuals
animated sequences for training courses