So summer days away from the office with the family don’t mean losing the ability to monitor projects that are in critical development mode.

One of the roles of product lifecycle management (PLM) is all about the effectiveness of organizing and collaborating information between management, engineering and marketing to bring a product from concept to production in a resourceful manner.

This is really a key aspect of industrial design firms as they aim to stay on top of new technologies in order to aid in collaborating design information as new stages get updated.

Here at IDWS, we want to find the right tools that make it easy for our clients to access data on the move, and two of these technology updates that we’ve acquired are for 3D CAD information. The first is specifically for the iPhone and iPad, and the second is for mobile tablets and netbooks that might not have high end graphics card processors.

The first is from Rhino 3D. Robert McNeel & Associates has just released iRhino3D, a mobile app for the iPhone and iPad that is now available for download on iTunes.

What this offers is an app that opens 3D CAD file data in the 3DM native file format. Models can be spun around with the ease of sliding a finger over what looks like a product image, but then it moves - in all directions including a zoom in and out by pinching or expanding two fingers on the screen.

To create the native 3DM files, Rhino3D offers a free download of its full freeform CAD software for trial use with 20 saves available. Rhino opens most CAD software files with ease, and one can quickly get 3D data into the iPhone app quickly.

While early on in its first few releases some bugs are being worked out, however, for the most part this 3D app brings 3D CAD to our phones via email or web downloads. Now I will admit I’d like to see some of the bugs worked out for ease of access, like having layers or a part menu, or a way to compress large assemblies into very small file sizes - like a zipped file does to vector data. Nevertheless, I’m sure these things will be worked out in future iRhino product offerings.

Now the second piece of software that we’ve just started using is not necessarily new on the market; Acrobat Pro Extended 3D version 9 has now become our method to send out 3D CAD files while holding on to proprietary data even though in development.

There are many other software programs that do this, such as the free solid model viewer eDrawings (www.edrawingsviewer.com). However, eDrawings, popularized by SolidWorks, but by no means limited to use with SolidWorks files, is not generally installed on every laptop in an organization.

What can happen is that managers or marketing might need to call in the IT guy before they can review your designs. Whereas here at IDWS, we are discovering most companies that have mobile laptops and netbooks have the free Acrobat Reader already loaded to view PDF files.

The PDF file has become the most common way to generate web based information from document creation programs like Microsoft Office Word and Excel, but now in its latest versions of the free software it will open 3D CAD files.

Acrobat Pro Extended imports 3D CAD files from a number of application native file formats like Pro/ENGINEER and SolidWorks by dragging and dropping right into Acrobat. But it also will import 3D IGES and STEP file formats, with the better of these being the STEP file for analyzing solid model information such as volume data of parts.

Acrobat then converts and compresses the data size into an email ready PDF file type - while securing proprietary data that can’t be taken and manufactured - great for RFQs.

What you get is a PDF file in 3D, which opens in the free Acrobat Reader download, and gives the person at the other end all the tools needed to review and spin the 3D CAD model. Options of background color, lighting and rendering options from simple line drawings to complex part transparencies can be selected, but also cross sections and measuring tools can be accessed to fully discuss the project in detail.

The 3D PDF retains a part menu to hide or show various assembly components and also gives reference to the bounding box a specific part fits within - giving a quick height width and depth of a part but also the volume cubic data - useful for quoting manufacturing processes like plastic injection molding costs. What that ensures is that everyone involved from in-house development teams to out sourced vendors for manufacturing can be involved in discussions regarding design and the cost to produce.

Even though there are differences with using either iRhino3D or Adobe 3D, on the iPhone, iPad or a netbook - this type of technology is really going to bring our ability to design new products with better efficiency into our clients organizational PLM on a mobile plan. Specifically when management teams might be on the move between meetings and airports, our ability to stay connected with them is critical for time sensitive design projects. A further added benefit of having these 3D apps at our client’s fingertips gives them an internal ability to keep the gears in motion either in management meetings, sales or engineering discussions.

Even on the road from trade shows or during on-the-fly conversations with top customers, key personnel having 3D information in an accessible format gets consumer feedback back to us earlier than later.

So what we hope this means at IDWS is that this software transition to the mobile work space will aid in a quicker turnaround of ideas and discussion. All of which can take place to improve development, even over the summer months when holiday vacations can slow down an organization’s ability to keep things moving forward.

IDWS.ca is an Industrial Design Firm serving companies looking to bring new ideas to their product development process. Contact David Duncan . This is the fourth contribution of his monthly blog for Design Product News. More of his blogs are available at www.idws.ca/blog.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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