We live in a digital age. Sharing of computerised content and data is vital to the success of modern businesses. The construction industry is an area that has been particularly slow to accept this, particularly product manufacturers. But with more architects, engineers and other specifiers working in ever more digital mediums, the pressure on manufacturers to change their processes is increasing.
Sharing Data
There is a growing demand for the digital sharing of data which is vital to design and construction processes. These include specification details, CAD details and symbols, 3D CAD models and BIM components.
Out With The Old
For manufacturers, their old printed catalogues are no longer effective, or wanted, they need to provide this information via the web. And they need to provide formats that are relevant to the design tools that specifiers are using, which are 3D CAD models.
Whilst most manufacturers have a web presence, often this is basic and they have no way of making these materials available without considerable expense, in terms of both money and time.
To get their files online and available for download, they will need to develop a custom platform which allows them to upload the necessary files in a structured manner, add relevant information and then manage this digital inventory. They are will probably going to want some way to track what is being downloaded, and by who, so there is a need for some form of registration and analytics features. And don’t forget that all these extra files will probably mean needing to upgrade the basic hosting package they have in place.
Sound fun? Not at all, but this is the process faced by manufacturers who need to get CAD models of their products out to the new tech savvy specifier. And all the time while they are dealing with this, they are being distracted from their core business of creating great products and attracting customers.
How Can CAD Libraries Help?
So how do CAD libraries help with this problem? Quite simply, almost all of the above tasks are automated. The manufacturer can simply create their account and not have to worry about web designers or hosting, collecting data or tracking analytics, it’s all taken care of.
All the manufacturer needs to do is spend a bit of time entering the details for their company profile, uploading their CAD models and some other relevant information, and that’s it. They can just sit back and watch the downloads clock up. They should also be able to get reports providing details of the users who are downloading their CAD models, providing them with qualified sales leads.
They then also benefit from the fact that the CAD library is somewhere that specifiers go to when they are looking for products for their design projects. This removes the need to try to get them to come to the manufacturers website and exposes them to a wider audience who normally would never come across their products.
Derek Burrows is a manufacturer who relies heavily on CAD libraries to help do his job to the best of his ability. His favourite online resource is the CADcube where he can free 3D models.