I had the privilege of being invited to SolidWorks World 2014 in San Diego, CA and while there met with several vendors with interesting technology. One of those meetings was with Chris Garcia of Anark.
I've crossed paths with Chris before and kept on eye on the product offerings from Anark. The reason I wanted to meet with Chris was to not only talk about the release of Anark Core™ 4.2 and MBEWorks™ for SolidWorks 2014, but to also discuss model-based enterprise (MBE - a greater scope than model-based design) in general and how Anark's technology fits within the grand scheme.
The Technology Adoption Chasm (illustration created by Anark) describes where in the cycle MBE is located and why Anark is poised to lead 3D MBE across the chasm.
Military Origins
The big push, believe it or not, is not from the commercial side where cost savings and speed to market would make the biggest impact. As a matter of fact, commercialism slowed down adoption of MBE for fear of vendors losing their proprietary secrets. Instead, the US Government, specifically the Department of Defense, has been pushing MBE into the mainstream and has done so through the release of MIL-STD-31000A.
When the DoD approached software vendors to help create a model-based standard, most said no. Even though ASME Y14.41 had been out for a while and draft copies of MIL-STD-31000A have floated through review channels, no one wanted to buy into the development of the tools that could make 31000 a reality, except for Anark. With millions in government funding, the dream of a paperless workflow is finally being realized.
Native APIs Result In Pixel-perfect Copies
The key to Anark's ability to create pixel perfect 3D pdf files of native solid models is by using the native APIs of the authoring software. What does Anark mean by pixel-perfect?
Notice, no embedded fonts to translate or display incorrectly. It literally is a pixel-for-pixel copy. The 3D pdf file looks exactly like the original file. And it goes both ways.
Have API, Will Travel
Anark Core brings in all geometry, annotations, manufacturing information, and metadata (file properties) to create a functional electronic drawing (3D PDF) that meets all DoD and ASME requirements including LOTAR. As long as Anark can get the native API for the software, they can develop the plugin to pull all that information into the 3D pdf. Solidworks, via MBEWorks, is just the latest addition to the CAD packages that easily translate from native to 3D pdf. More packages will be coming as quickly as the CAD developers open up their API.
Finally, the utopia of of the paperless environment may be within reach.
(Note: All images from Anark's presentation on 3D PDF and Anark Core with MBEWorks. Used by permission.)