Aberdeen published a research report entitled, “Design for X: 3D as the Collaborative Medium“. For those of you not aware the name ‘Design for X’ is talking about Design for Manufacturing, Design for Testing, Design for Maintainability, etc. While the report was likely underwritten by some of the PLM companies, it really focuses on the notion of collaboration on the 3D model. A few of the key extracts (this will give you an idea what the “analysts” are saying):
“Design for X initiatives also stand to create additional and unnecessary complications for product development. The widening accessibility to the 3D designs can easily devolve into “too many cooks'”
[…]“CAD itself, however, is too hard to use for non-engineering employees… 3D viewing tools provide a ‘total view’ of a design needed by downstream organizations to gain an understanding of the product.”