World champion ING Renault F1 says that using Seemage CAD visualisation and integration software as part of its larger product lifecycle management is helping the team to realise its most competitive designs more quickly and accurately.
It’s using the software to deliver 3D information not only to its engine developers, working on sophisticated V8 and V10 engines working in Catia V4 and V5 3D CAD, but to the rest of the team who need access for design reviews and service procedures.
ING Renault F1 says it recognises that the 3D CAD model is the ideal source information, but points out that it must be available in formats and applications that non-designers can use. So following comparison of various solutions it chose Seemage.
“We were looking for a solution that could operate in a global environment, across all our teams,” explains Jean-François Plusquellec, IS/IT team project manager at ING Renault F1 Team. “The people who use Seemage do not have the same requirements as 3D CAD users.
“We selected Seemage over the competition because of its excellent end-user productivity, its graphic and 3D animation performance and its highly accurate results even when using large assemblies or large sets of equipment.”
“Seemage Player is another important part of our deployment,” adds Jean-François Plusquellec. “More than just a free CAD file viewer, Seemage Player offers comprehensive navigation, sizing and annotation functions, which are needed in our project to permit the high levels of coordination we require among our different departments.”
ING Renault F1 is implementing Seemage in phases with the help of UK master reseller Xype. The first consists of combining validated 3D designs online with 2D plans and supplier documents. In this phase Seemage’s visualisation is being applied to associatively link all the information so that users always have the most accurate and up-to-date view of the project.
In the latter phases, Seemage will be the glue that permits new levels of interaction among engine designers and developers and manufacturing, for example, by allowing both to view and interact with engine parts in their assembly contexts.
The team can do this by using Seemage ability to be implemented first as a desktop productivity application and then, using XML, to be integrated into ERP, CRM (customer relationship management) and PLM (product lifecycle management) systems.