We've been asking for drawing features to be improved for 15 years. PTC has been convinced that drawings have no future for that long too, yet here we are, still fumbling to create drawings.
What if they had invested half of the money they've invested in MBD into streamlining drawing creation?
... a 3D model, if annotated correctly, can provide all that information and more; it’s also easier to distribute and share within your organization.
The key phrase there is "within your organization". If you've got PTC products from top to bottom, a properly notated 3D file can be shared from design to engineering to management to manufacturing. How many organizations are that vertically integrated? Most have to share data outside with any number of small or large vendors who have everything from Creo to SW to Inventor to AutoCAD to no in house CAD at all. A drawing, converted to PDF, can be shared with anyone with a PC.
I'd also contend that "a 3D model, if annotated correctly" takes a similar amount of additional effort as a decent drawing should, assuming we get decent drawing tools.
A 3D annotated files require additional training and additional software to view. Plus, all the info is going to be on various annotation planes, meaning I need to rotate the model to see everything. With a drawing, it's all in one plane.
I can also print a drawing and take it out to the shop floor, right next to the machine and review a trouble spot. With a 3D model, I need a PC at the machine with the right software or a portable tablet in order to do so.
I get that drawing-less manufacturing is sexy and easier drawings isn't. But drawings are still much more universal and much, much easier to use and distribute.
We started using Parametric when Creo 1.0 first came out. At that time we were told that the 2D portion of Parametric would become its own app at a future release. Haven't heard anymore about that since.
That's the future through the past. The original Pro/E had a separate module called Pro/Detail.
The thing about saving time by not making drawings is interesting. There is still effort required to put all the relevant information into the CAD system, no matter the details about the storage and retrieval method. It seems like the main limitation for MBE is getting the equipment, software, and training in place to use it.
The biggest limitation to using MBE is that there has been no good place for downstream users to make easy annotations. By the way, for those who think otherwise, an annotation is something added to a completed work. So adding notes and symbols to a CAD model is not annotation; it is necessary to complete the description.
Annotation is adding a note to a finished/standalone work and not putting it in to begin with. Dimensions? Not annotation. Model notes? Not annotation. Redline change - that is annotation.
In either case, whether a PDF or a printed page, the tools required for annotation are cheap and effective. And distribution of the annotated drawings is cheap and well defined. Screen-grab + e-mail, for example.
In highly vertical industries MBE may work fine, but it can't replace all 2D distribution of documentation in the remaining 95% of industry. Also of note - computer monitors are all 2D, even if they are used to display a '3D' model. Still waiting on Hololens, Oculus Rift, and related 3D interactivity in the CAD applications.
Im afraid that trying to make drawings obsolete is like trying to make books obsolete...wont work.
There is practicality tied with using drawings. There are wonderfull things/inventions out there that will never take off in real life because they are simply not practical. They should have just fixed drawings in Creo but I guess removing what makes problems makes sense-kinda. My cars motor is broken...oh well ill just throw it out of car and walk problem solved.
I understand your comment: responding to Ideas has not been our best quality.
I am in the Community every day: reading & responding - I am your advocate. I cannot promise an immediate change to our procedures; PTC is a very big ship, but I am here to listen and work on your behalf.
