The complex technologies, chemistry, and regulations involved in manufacturing medical products have always made it one of the most challenging businesses. Yet, despite the expensive and lengthy product development cycles, companies were able to sell products at a premium price to maintain margins and profitability. Recently, however, the market has shifted and medical manufacturers are facing increased downward price pressures. Further government regulations and deeper patient controls have created a more competitive landscape. Consequently many medical manufacturers are reevaluating their internal processes and procedures, looking for ways to operate more efficiently and reduce costs, while still providing excellent customer service. Fortunately, 3D visualization technology is offering these companies a new way to design, create, and support medical products. Companies implementing 3D visuals are experiencing significant cost savings in research and development, manufacturing, marketing, training, and maintenance.

Transforming Data into 3D Graphics

Fig. 1 – 3D model of air valve with sidebar conversation.
3D visualization technology software gathers data from in-house programs, such as CAD, PLM, manufacturing execution systems (MES), or ERP systems, and combines it with 3D imagery for a complete view of information across departments. The visual representation of information can then be analyzed, shared, and manipulated at the point of work in a way that is easy and familiar to all users.

Some of the benefits within the product development lifecycle that medical manufacturers are seeing when data is translated into 3D graphics include:

Elimination of data “silos”: Whether intentional or not, in many medical organizations, useful product data is held within the confines of the research and development department. After marchs of revisions, when a new product design is finally released to the rest of the organization, those who manufacture, launch, and support it must react quickly to get it to market. Yet, imagine if the product information could be accessed throughout the development phase by all participants in the project? Using 3D visual technology, interactive product models can be created and utilized in parallel to the R&D process. Marketing and sales would be able to virtually show prospective buyers the new product; manufacturing could start developing work instructions, and training could even start preparing manuals.

Improved Communication: Visual graphics are easier to understand, easier to remember, and help communicate complex information in a simpler way. A study by the U.S. Federal Government, www.osha.gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/traintec.html , found that 83 percent of human learning occurs visually. Graphics are also the interface preferred by today’s younger generation of workers. Therefore, when business data is captured and presented in a format that all users are comfortable operating in, they can more easily find and use the correct information for smarter decision making.

Information Accessible at the Point of Work: Industry forecasts predict that sales of handheld tablets will surpass sales of personal computers in the next five years. Tablet sales are exploding because they are ideal for people needing to utilize digital information while standing or moving from place to place. 3D visual graphics can easily be read and manipulated by mobile devices, in realtime, at the point of work.

Accelerated Decision Making Across All Lines of Business: By seamlessly integrating 3D visualization technology with business data across the value chain, companies can remove obstacles that inhibit communication between lines of business and throughout the supply chain. Additionally, all 3D visual information can be created and stored in a single location, ensuring that the entire company is accessing and utilizing the most up-todate information.

Reducing Costs While Delivering Excellent Service

Providing exceptional service is a key corporate objective at Waters Corporation, Milford, MA, a world leader in high performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis technologies. However, like most successful companies in the medical industry, the complexity and quantity of products produced made it difficult to provide adequate, knowledgeable support to its worldwide clients. “The addition of chemistry involved in our products makes the development cycle, testing cycle, and product support very challenging,” said Tom Saunders, Vice President of Systems Development for Waters.

To operate more efficiently without affecting the high level of service clients had come to expect, Waters implemented 3D visual technology software from SAP. Although the initial focus was on adding more visual content to its training materials, 3D graphics were quickly adopted by other departments involved in the product lifecycle. Some of the results from integrating 3D renderings and animation into their processes included faster availability of service materials, reduced need for translation services, increased employee collaboration, and improved effectiveness of training programs.

Research and Development: 3D visual graphics are created from the most current data. Should a developer make a change, the models are instantly updated, which ensures all departments are working from the most current information. Having “one source of truth” also makes it much easier for R&D engineers to manage the creation of new products. For example, Waters employees will soon be able to make comments directly onto the graphical model to be viewed by others, who then add their own comments, all of which will be captured in the form of online conversations. “3D visual models make collaborating easier and we are looking forward to seeing the benefits in our R&D organization and our new product introduction process,” said Saunders. (See Figure 1)

Fig. 2 – Waters Corporation manufactures medical instrumentation.

Manufacturing: Spurred by shop floor personnel demands for more graphics to improve clarity, Waters replaced traditional photographs with 3D graphics in its manufacturing instructions. This not only made the documents easier to follow, but significantly sped up the availability of the information, and eliminated the need for costly high resolution photography. Visual work instructions are also now used to show the sequence in which products are assembled or disassembled. Should a user need more details on a specific part, he or she simply selects and clicks it for more information. (See Figure 2)

Training: Ensuring field engineers were thoroughly trained on Water’s complex products usually required expensive onsite training, or multiple customer visits. With global distribution, the high travel costs associated with supporting products in more than 50 different countries was one of the main reasons Waters implemented a 3D visual software solution. Another reason was the time and effort it took to translate their service materials for use in 27 different countries.

By replacing video and photographs in the training documentation with realistic 3D renderings generated directly from the CAD system, Waters was able to create easier-to-understand, graphic-rich materials that did not require translation and were developed in a shorter time frame. “Using the 3D graphics has drastically sped up the availability of service materials” said Saunders. “As soon as the CAD model is available, we can create 3D images or animations. This can take weeks or even marchs out of the total cycle time.”

A Visual Technology Solution for a Visual World

Today’s medical design engineering companies need to do more than simply bring a product to market in a timely manner. New products must meet rigid regulatory and customer requirements, and even small design errors can have devastating results. Add to the equation a need for detailed, easy-to-understand manufacturing and training materials, and it is not hard to understand why medical manufacturers are implementing new solutions to help streamline their operational processes.

3D visualization is changing the way medical design, manufacturing and service is done. Translating data into interactive graphics helps people share ideas in a way that is comfortable and natural. It also puts the most accurate information in the hands of the people that need it—when they need it and where they need it. As Waters Corporation has demonstrated, the most successful companies will be those that embrace new ways to capture, share, and analyze information to achieve improved operation efficiencies without sacrificing quality.

This article was written by Robert Merlo, Visual Enterprise Solutions Global Marketing, SAP, Dallas, TX. For more information, Click Here " target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://info.hotims.com/49743-164.