Tetra 4D Enrich is first application of its kind that allows anyone to create rich, interactive 3D PDFs without knowledge of programming
BEND, OR – December 1, 2015 – Today, Tech Soft 3D, leading provider of software development tools and 3D PDF solutions to the engineering industry, announced Tetra 4D Enrich, a new application that enables anyone to create rich, interactive 3D PDF documents quickly and easily directly inside of Adobe Acrobat [Professional].
“Manufacturers are constantly facing extreme pressures to lower product development costs, manage global supply chains, work with multiple suppliers and customers, and speed time to market all while trying to make sure that critical data is getting into the right people’s hands,” said Dave Opsahl, VP Corporate Development of Tech Soft 3D and former Executive Director of the 3D PDF Consortium. “People often use more than one CAD system and manufacturers need the ability to easily and quickly combine the CAD data with critical metadata and business intelligence, add interactivity between the 3D and 2D data and share that in a lightweight format with ANYONE, even non-CAD users. This enables manufacturers to innovate and compete and win in their markets.”
3D PDF is Essential for a Model Based Enterprise
Model based enterprise (MBE) is a business strategy, a set of practices and technology with the goal to leverage the outcome of a model based design (MBD) activity by delivering all of the information relevant to a workflow or set of workflows in the most efficient way possible. That kind of information can and does exist in multiple forms, including non-graphic or metadata, 3D models, 2D data from CAD as well as other critical business systems like PLM and ERP. As important to what information is provided, is how it is delivered.
3D PDF plays a crucial role in a company’s ability to execute an effective MBE strategy, and this approach is already saving manufacturers significant time and money. Using 3D PDF to get these fully annotated, properly constrained models downstream in an efficient manner is ideal because companies already have strategies for utilizing 2D PDF in their existing processes for managing engineering change and release-to-manufacturing (mark-up, comment, review) and can serve to reduce or even replace 2D drawings. In addition, a 3D PDF can be archived long-term as a technical data package (TDP).
If 3D PDF is So Great, Why isn’t Everyone Using It?
As research has shown, using 3D annotated models is highly beneficial, so why haven’t more companies adopted this process?
The truth is that it’s quite difficult to create compelling 3D PDFs without a costly, customized solution or having programing expertise. The average manufacturer typically can’t afford to do a custom, complex solution. And to build a 3D PDF on the desktop requires someone that has extensive programming expertise – again, something that the average manufacturer typically doesn’t have.
And while there are more solutions coming to market that can generate 3D PDF’s, not all 3D PDF’s are created equal. The functionality of most 3D PDF solutions stops at providing little more than 3D data on a page. There is value there for communication and for workflows such as design review. However, there isn’t the ability to support additional workflows such as maintenance and repair, inspection, work instructions, release to manufacturing or any other workflow.
Tetra 4D Enrich is changing that.
Tetra 4D Enrich is the first and only solution that allows anyone to create data rich, interactive 3D PDFs inside of Adobe Acrobat and without the need for development skills. Tetra 4D Enrich consolidates all required product information in one document (CAD, metadata, external data like ERP or PLM attributes) to make it interactive. Users are able to create their own template, as well as utilize existing templates that are highly customizable. Once one of these templates are created they can be reused to create compelling documents such as work instructions, part catalogs, maintenance or repair documents and technical data packages.
The interactive 3D PDF created with Tetra4D Enrich functions more like an “app” that has all the data needed to support a workflow and allows the user to consume the data using the ubiquitous Acrobat Reader. The Tetra4D Enrich interactive 3D PDF “app” also enables the user and other stakeholders to review multiple steps in a process in one document, as opposed to reviewing dozens or hundreds of static individual pages of each item or step in a process. Data can also be captured in any business process, and forwarded for further processing by other applications.
Tetra4D Enrich works with Tetra4D Converter to convert CAD data from over two dozen formats into 3D PDF files. Tetra4D Converter is used by more than 10,000 customers including manufacturing leaders such as Boeing, Proctor and Gamble, Honeywell, B/E Aerospace, Zodiac Aerospace, and Goodyear Aerospace (now United Technologies).
“Today’s engineering documentation requires specialized interpretation, leading to errors that cost real money,” said Chad Jackson, analyst at Lifecycle Insights. “Confusion over CAD applications and formats and ensuring project stakeholders even have the right version of the engineering deliverable is an issue that persists. Being able to quickly and easily create 3D documentation that contain all the data necessary for anyone, even non-CAD users, to provide feedback and make informed decisions will provide a tremendous savings in time and money, and enable stakeholders to focus on the most important aspects of a task.”
Tetra 4D Enrich will be available in Q1 2016. For more information please visit www.tetra4D.com.
About Tech Soft 3D
Tech Soft 3D is the leading global provider of development tools that help software teams deliver successful applications, as well as the creator of the 3D format that is part of the PDF standard. Established in 1996 and headquartered in Bend, Oregon, Tech Soft 3D also has offices in California, Ohio, France, England and Japan. The company’s toolkit products power nearly 500 unique applications running on hundreds of millions of computers worldwide, while the Tetra4D brand of end-user products are used by many of the top manufacturing and construction firms for converting CAD data into 3D PDF. For more information, visit http://www.techsoft3d.com and https://tetra4d.com.
HOOPS is a registered trademark of Tech Soft 3D. iPhone and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other products or company references are the property of their respective holders.
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Media Contact:
Jennifer Gartz
+1 (541).383.4126
jgartz@techsoft3d.com