Component manufacturers are keenly aware of the fact that design engineers must first specify their components or parts before purchasing can place an order. These manufacturers have relied on their printed catalogs in the past to get their parts “designed in.”
However, there is an inherent drawback to these static printed catalogs. An engineer must first leaf through the pages, find the right part number and then call the components manufacturer for details, CAD drawings and pricing information. This manual process can lead to delays, errors and lost opportunities.
CADENAS PARTsolutions, a leading provider of PLM solutions for next generation 3D part catalog management and hosting, has come up with an innovative solution that marries today’s mobile technology with yesterday’s printed catalog. They call it their “Smart Catalog.”
Component manufacturers can now link their catalog pages with live product details and CAD models utilizing QR codes thereby reducing an engineer’s specifying time from hours to seconds. This diagram from their blog illustrates the whole process very nicely.
Their USP is pretty cool too – Print catalog + Smartphone = Smart Catalog
You can read more about Smart Catalogs here.
NOTE: I’m not affiliated with this company in anyway. I just happen to be familiar with their digital solutions for manufacturers.
CAD drawings, 3D models, Online Configurators and Part Number Finder/Builder are powerful content assets for manufacturers to use in their industrial marketing. Some companies have reported that cost per lead from CAD downloads are significantly lower and close to 60% of them turn into RFQs and orders. You may also want to check out my earlier post, “How Manufacturers Use 3D CAD Models and 2D CAD Drawings as Sales Enablers.”
Do you use eCatalogs and/or online configurators in your industrial websites?
Let’s chat to determine if this will be a good fit for both of us. It will be a friendly conversation to get to know each other better, not a high-pressure sales pitch.