One of the recurring problems of collaborative design is to ensure that the changes made by different team members do not get lost and that each team member can exploit his or her strengths with ease. With 3DEXPERIENCE in the cloud and CATIAthere is a cost-effective and efficient solution to this problem.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform itself includes many components, all designed to foster collaboration within an enterprise:

• 3DPassport guarantees the identity of each project member and secures their access to the platform. In other words, no passport = no access.
• 3DSwym is an enterprise social platform helping to foster deeper collaboration via common Web 3.0 tools such as blogs, wikis and iQuestions where members inside and outside the enterprise (with a 3D passport as mentioned above) can collaborate based on common interests or goals. It also includes an ideation platform that promotes the organic development of new innovative ideas.
• 3DDashboard is a powerful user experience where heterogeneous widget content can be displayed in the web browser (including 3D data) for greater insight into design intent. Members can share common dashboards or create their own for intuitive access to a variety of data (engineering, design, manufacturing, project management, etc.) on a single screen.
• 3DPlay is a 3D browser that allows team members to explore each other’s designs in 3D, including making measurements, creating annotations, and running sections. This ensures a comprehensive understanding of the design, even for non-technical people in departments such as marketing or sales.
• 3D Space is the foundation for design, engineering, simulation and manufacturing data management on the platform. Depending on the members of the collaborative spaces and the roles they are granted, they can access and/or manipulate data in any technical domain in real time by focusing on the latest and greatest versions. It is the world’s most powerful technical collaboration platform with immersive 3D capabilities and consistent, comprehensive views of tabular data (changes, work items, etc.)

These are just a few examples of the key elements of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform that facilitate collaborative design.

But what about CATIA ?

Well, CATIA is a design software alongside engineering applications of ENOVIAsimulation applications for SIMULIA and manufacturing applications for DELMIA which are all perfectly integrated into the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and can leverage all of the above components for more powerful collaboration.

Using CATIA specifically as an example, the initial ideation in 3DSwym can be sketched in CATIA, then converted to a 3D model and inserted into a larger assembly. Because everything is in the cloud, teams contributing knowledge can be anywhere on the planet and collaborate securely. Coming back to the multidisciplinary aspect of the platform, the design data generated and manipulated by CATIA are intimately linked to all the engineering data of ENOVIA. The same geometry can also be used to drive simulations on fluid dynamics, heat analysis etc. by leveraging the power of SIMULIA.

And finally, product manufacturability, including production planning, additive manufacturing, robotics, and CNC machining, can all be simulated and tested without having to create a physical factory. Designing in the cloud using CATIA and 3DEXPERIENCE opens new doors to unleash the creative potential of your employees and your supply chain. There is an absolute treasure chest of value lurking beneath the surface; there has never been a more powerful platform so easily accessible and collaborative.