Autodesk has announced that it has improved product design collaboration for the manufacturing industry. Now, engineers using a variety of 3D design applications can share compact DWF versions of product models with the extended manufacturing team.

DWF is an open, standards-based file format designed for sharing complex mechanical drawings and 3D models via email or the Internet.  Autodesk Inventor has long supported direct output of DWF files. With the release of the latest version of DWF Writer, Autodesk now makes it easy to publish 3D design data from other 3D design software including Solidworks and Pro/ENGINEER.  The downloadable software permits engineers using other 3D design applications to manage and share accurate digital designs, for greater productivity across the supply chain - without loss of data to paper-based communication.

Manufacturers are continually seeking ways to improve productivity and bring products to market faster, while reducing design errors and rework. Globalisation and off-shoring create new pressures on designers to better integrate information across extended teams, including communication with production team members who do not use 3D design tools. 

According to Gisela Wilson of analyst firm IDC: "Successful product development in the manufacturing industry is dependent on the ability to collaborate on design content with all stakeholders involved in the lifecycle management process including designers, manufacturing, purchasing, suppliers and customers.  Ubiquitous technology that enables easy collaboration, such as DWF, dramatically changes the process and can improve time to market."

New Autodesk DWF Writer functionality lets designers using leading 3D mechanical design software save their models and design data as DWF files and share them securely with product teams. By creating 3D DWF files, engineers are able to provide accurate, data-rich digital designs to non-technical team members at any point in the manufacturing process. As a result, product developers can save designs in an industry-standard format and send these files electronically for bids or for production at manufacturing sites around the world. Off-shore team members can view and understand designs easily, using the Autodesk DWF Viewer software, or using Autodesk DWF Composer or Autodesk data management solutions.