As you'd expect, EXALEAD indexes the content of all your documents, enabling better search results than just filename or embedded metadata, but what really sets it apart from other search technologies is that it indexes and returns results based on 3D shapes.
OnePart's faceted searching is based on the 6Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why, hoW). These "tags" are automatically calculated and applied to data as it is indexed.
Faceted searching goes beyond identifying last saved by, creation date, modification date, or other metadata. It can identify, for example, a component's holes, or extrudes, or numerous other mechanical features.
Search results are fast, since the system is not running live queries against each data source every time a search is run; OnePart is pulling results from previously indexed data, much the same way an Internet search engine functions.
Design Re-use is the Holy Grail of Search Solutions
For product development teams, the use case for EXALEAD OnePart goes beyond simply making it easier to find files.
One of the biggest roadblocks to enabling design reuse is that only one person has the knowledge to reuse previous designs—the person who created them. There's a lot of tribal knowledge in knowing who created something similar in the past. If you designed a part, you may know that you made a similar one in the past, but you may not know if someone else also did.
OnePart also returns results with similar shape, thus revealing more possibilities and alternates for design reuse more quickly than traditional search technologies.
Because OnePart can identify files for design reuse, it can potentially reduce the number of part numbers needed for similar geometry. Companies that use search and discover tools like EXALEAD report that their engineers now spend more time designing new products rather than redesigning similar products or components.
Acquisitions lead to challenges for sharing product data
Another use case arises when companies acquire or sell divisions. IT managers incur time and expense to move data from disparate systems into a single environment; it can take months or longer. With OnePart users report that they can index both PDM vaults, from the acquired company and the predecessor, to get results from both data sources through one search box.
Downtime is reduced, because you can index the new PDM vault and return search results from both systems in the interim, while planning a longer-term data migration.
Teams that already have PDM / PLM can benefit from Search Solutions
For teams that have a PDM or PLM system, their search capabilities are typically limited to using embedded search tools for the data in that particular technology silo.
Solutions like OnePart allow users to search data across multiple sources with a common interface. For example, if you have multiple PDM systems, data on network share, and other locations on your network where CAD data is stored, OnePart can search them all through a single, simple interface.
Plus, you can identify duplicate files across your data sets—a key tool in data cleanup, even when files are in different data sources.
The underlying search technology of OnePart has been around for a very long time and is widely used as the back end, powering many other search platforms.
Nobody taught you how to use your favorite search engine. You saw a search box and started typing in it and then figured out how to click on search results that mattered to you based on the suggestions provided.
EXALEAD OnePart is striving to bring that same experience to the end user: an on premise, browser-based, single-search box that is easy and intuitive to use.
More information on EXALEAD can be found here.
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