"Six hours of meetings wasted on a 3D model that refuses to open." This is how a lead engineer at a major automotive supplier summed up his disastrous week at an industry conference in 2023. While three teams across Germany, France, and India eagerly waited to review critical assembly changes, the native visualization system was running out of steam when faced with the model's 12,000 components. This story, far from isolated, perfectly illustrates the daily life of many manufacturing companies using Siemens Teamcenter.
Like a traffic jam that paralyzes an entire city, a bottleneck in 3D visualization can bring the entire product development chain to a standstill. CAD models are becoming increasingly complex, yet teams are expected to collaborate in real time, make informed decisions, and accelerate development cycles. Faced with this reality, the integration of a high-performance visualization solution like 3DViewStation into the Siemens PLM environment no longer represents a simple technical advantage - it becomes the keystone of an effective industrial strategy.
This article provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges and solutions for integrating CAD visualization in the Siemens PLM environment, with a particular focus on the 3DViewStation WebViewer architecture for modern industrial challenges.
Table of Contents
- Challenges of CAD visualization in modern PLM environments
- Overview of the Siemens PLM ecosystem
- 3DViewStation: a high-performance multi-CAD visualization solution
- Technical integration with Teamcenter Engineering
- 3DViewStation WebViewer in ActiveWorkspace
- Focus on 3DViewStation WebViewer: architecture and advantages
- Applications in business processes
- Advanced analysis and collaboration features
- Security considerations and know-how protection
- Case study: application in the automotive industry
- Future perspectives with virtual reality
- Conclusion: a strategic solution for the manufacturing industry
Challenges of CAD visualization in modern PLM environments
Modern manufacturing industry is facing a profound digital transformation. Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data has become increasingly complex, with assemblies reaching several gigabytes and millions of components. These developments pose considerable challenges for traditional Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems.
The effective visualization of this massive data represents a major technological challenge. Companies must solve several essential issues to maintain their competitiveness in a globalized market.
The main technical challenges include:
- Managing large and complex assemblies requiring exceptional processing performance
- Supporting multiple native CAD formats without complex conversion (CATIA, NX, Creo, SolidWorks)
- Accessing data from different platforms and devices (PC, tablets, phones)
- Optimizing performance with limited network bandwidth
- Protecting know-how and sensitive data when sharing with partners
- Seamless integration with existing PLM systems
Traditional CAD visualization solutions often present significant limitations: insufficient performance with large assemblies, dependence on complex software installations, or incompatibility with certain proprietary formats.
Faced with these challenges, companies must consider modern solutions capable of integrating high-performance 3D visualization and consistent PLM management. It is in this context that the Siemens PLM ecosystem and web visualization technologies take on their full importance.
Overview of the Siemens PLM ecosystem
Siemens offers a complete suite of PLM solutions that form the digital backbone of many industrial companies. This technological ecosystem includes key components that transform how organizations manage the complete lifecycle of their products.
At the heart of this offering are two complementary platforms: Teamcenter Engineering and ActiveWorkspace.
Teamcenter Engineering: robust PLM foundations
Teamcenter Engineering represents Siemens' historical PLM solution, established as a reference in many industrial sectors. This platform offers extensive capabilities:
- Complete product data and associated metadata management
- Robust bill of materials (BOM) control
- Precise management of technical revisions and versions
- Orchestration of approval and validation workflows
- Native integration with major CAD tools, including NX and Solid Edge
- Management of product configurations and variants
Teamcenter Engineering traditionally operates on a heavy client requiring installation on user workstations. Its functional richness comes with a complexity that can be a barrier for certain occasional user profiles.
ActiveWorkspace: the modern and accessible evolution
ActiveWorkspace represents the natural evolution of the Teamcenter interface toward a fully web-based environment. Designed to meet the expectations of modern users, it offers:
- An intuitive interface based on contemporary web standards
- Access from any HTML5-compatible web browser
- A user experience optimized for occasional users
- Compatibility with mobile devices (responsive design)
- Improved performance for searching and navigation
- A lightweight architecture with no client-side installation
ActiveWorkspace operates in parallel with Teamcenter Engineering, with both platforms sharing the same data repository. This complementarity allows companies to offer the most appropriate interface according to user profiles and needs.
The evolution towards web technologies brings considerable benefits, particularly in terms of accessibility and deployment, but also poses new challenges for integrating advanced features such as high-performance CAD visualization.
3DViewStation: a high-performance multi-CAD visualization solution
Faced with the limitations of natively integrated viewers in PLM solutions, 3DViewStation positions itself as a powerful alternative for the visualization and analysis of CAD data. This solution stands out for its performance and versatility in processing multiple formats.
Differentiating technical characteristics
3DViewStation offers a set of technical features that directly address the challenges identified earlier:
- Native support for major proprietary CAD formats:
- CATIA V5 and 3DEXPERIENCE
- Siemens NX
- PTC Creo
- SolidWorks
- Solid Edge
- Complete support for neutral exchange formats:
- JT (Siemens format)
- STEP
- IGES
- STL
- 3D PDF
- Optimized processing of complex assemblies reaching several gigabytes
- Exceptional performance, even on modest hardware configurations
- Over 180 analysis and visualization features
- Intuitive and customizable user interface
Deployment models adapted to needs
3DViewStation comes in several editions, each adapted to specific use cases:
| Edition | Characteristics | Main use cases |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop | - Native Windows application - Maximum performance - Complete functionality | - Engineering workstations - In-depth technical analysis - Manufacturing preparation |
| WebViewer | - HTML5 client-server architecture - No client installation (zero-footprint) - Universal accessibility | - ActiveWorkspace integration - Multi-site collaboration - Access from various devices |
| VR Edition | - Virtual reality support - Immersive navigation - Natural interactions | - Immersive design reviews - Technical training - Commercial presentations |
This diversity of options allows companies to deploy the solution most adapted to their specific processes, while maintaining a consistent user experience and optimal performance.
Technical integration with Teamcenter Engineering
The integration of 3DViewStation with Teamcenter Engineering can be implemented using several approaches, depending on the specific needs of the company and its business processes. This implementation flexibility is a major advantage, allowing progressive adoption adapted to the technical context.
Progressive integration methods
Three levels of integration can be considered, each offering a different balance between implementation simplicity and functional richness:
Level 1: Simple integration via context menu
This approach represents the fastest integration method, requiring no complex development:
- Customization of the context menu in the Teamcenter interface
- Automatic export of data in JT or other neutral format
- Launching 3DViewStation via command line with parameter passing
- Configuration possible in a few hours without programming
This method is perfectly suited for an initial adoption phase, allowing users to discover 3DViewStation's features while maintaining the link with the Teamcenter environment.
Level 2: Advanced integration with product structures
This intermediate approach offers richer integration with Teamcenter product structures:
- Generation of PLMXML or VSXML files from virtual product structures
- Transfer of Teamcenter metadata to 3DViewStation
- Automatic application of contextual information as 3D annotations
- Enrichment with status and validation information
- Use of metadata for color coding components according to their status
This method requires a moderate development effort but offers a significantly improved user experience, with enriched business context.
Level 3: Bidirectional integration with event management
This advanced approach establishes bidirectional communication between Teamcenter and 3DViewStation:
- Two-way communication via APIs and web services
- Synchronization of selections between both environments
- Triggering events in Teamcenter during actions in 3DViewStation
- Establishment of complete digital business processes
- Real-time querying of connected systems (ERP, documentation)
This method requires more substantial development but allows for perfectly transparent integration, where both systems function as a unified platform.
Technical integration architecture
The integration relies on the following standard technologies:
- REST web services for system-to-system communications
- Teamcenter workflows for process orchestration
- Java or C# APIs for specific developments
- JT or PLMXML exchange formats for geometric and structure data
- JavaScript for interface customizations
This open and documented architecture guarantees the maintainability of specific developments and the sustainability of integration as both platforms evolve.
3DViewStation WebViewer in ActiveWorkspace
The integration of 3DViewStation WebViewer with ActiveWorkspace represents a particularly powerful synergy. With both technologies based on modern web standards, their combination creates a smooth and coherent user experience while maintaining exceptional performance.
Fundamental principles of integration
The integration of 3DViewStation WebViewer in ActiveWorkspace is based on several key technical principles:
- Use of HTML5 standards for optimal browser compatibility
- Transparent visual integration via iFrames or web components
- Inter-application communication through JavaScript and REST APIs
- Sharing of single sign-on (SSO) authentication context
- Coherence of user interfaces and homogeneous experience
This approach allows for integration where the user perceives both systems as a unified solution, without technical or visual disruptions.
Key integration features
The integration in ActiveWorkspace offers a set of differentiating capabilities:
- Display directly integrated in the ActiveWorkspace user interface
- Visualization of assemblies of several gigabytes in a few seconds
- Access to over 180 features from the familiar ActiveWorkspace interface
- Bidirectional synchronization of selections between the product tree and the 3D model
- Possible customization of the user interface according to specific needs
- Support for multiple CAD formats without prior conversion
Operational benefits of integration
This integration profoundly transforms the ActiveWorkspace user experience:
- Reduction of application context changes for users
- Acceleration of review and validation processes
- Democratization of CAD data access for non-technical users
- Elimination of software installations on client workstations
- Simplified deployment and maintenance
- Consistent user experience between workstations and mobile devices
The 3DViewStation WebViewer integration thus transforms ActiveWorkspace into a complete platform for visualization and analysis of technical data, significantly strengthening its native capabilities.
Focus on 3DViewStation WebViewer: architecture and advantages
3DViewStation WebViewer is a solution particularly suited to modern PLM environments, thanks to its architecture based on web standards and its performance optimized for industrial use cases.
Innovative technical architecture
3DViewStation WebViewer is based on a client-server architecture optimized for CAD visualization:
- Conversion server to transform CAD data into a web-optimized format
- Lightweight client based on HTML5 and WebGL web technologies
- No installation required on the client workstation (zero-footprint)
- Processing of voluminous data on the server side
- Optimized streaming of geometric data to the client
- Integrated protection of sensitive data
This architecture directly addresses the constraints of modern enterprise IT environments, where deployment simplicity and security are priorities.
Advantages of a browser-based solution
| Criterion | Advantage of 3DViewStation WebViewer architecture | Business impact |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | No installation required on the client workstation | 90% reduction in deployment and maintenance time |
| Maintenance | Centralized update on the server only | Elimination of multiple version problems |
| Accessibility | Use from any device with a browser | Collaboration extended to all stakeholders |
| Security | No complete geometry transferred to the client device | Enhanced protection of intellectual property |
| Performance | Fast visualization even with limited connection | Increased productivity for distributed teams |
| Compatibility | Works on Windows, Android, iOS, Linux | Maximum flexibility for users |
Technical optimizations for industrial environments
3DViewStation WebViewer incorporates several specific optimizations for demanding industrial environments:
- Geometric compression algorithms reducing the volume of transferred data by up to 98%
- Progressive loading of models for immediate visualization
- Level-of-Detail (LOD) techniques to maintain fluidity with complex assemblies
- Intelligent client-side caching to improve performance during extended sessions
- Automatic adaptation mechanisms to network connection quality
These optimizations deliver remarkable performance even in limited network infrastructure conditions, such as VPN connections or mobile networks, thus opening new possibilities for distributed teams or users on the move.
Applications in business processes
The integration of 3DViewStation WebViewer in Siemens PLM systems allows optimization of many essential business processes throughout the product lifecycle. This solution transcends traditional boundaries between departments, offering benefits to the entire organization.
Product development processes
In the design and development phases, the solution brings significant improvements:
- Collaborative design reviews: collective visualization of assemblies, addition of annotations and comments in real time
- Assembly verification: early detection of interference and assembly problems
- Technical analyses: precise measurements, draft angle verifications, wall thickness analyses
- Validation of modifications: visual comparison between versions to verify the impact of changes
These applications accelerate development cycles by eliminating bottlenecks related to CAD data access and facilitating multi-disciplinary collaboration.
Production and manufacturing processes
For production teams, the solution offers essential capabilities:
- Work preparation: analysis of models for operation planning
- Visual instructions: creation of exploded views and animations for operators
- Quality control: verification of critical dimensions and specifications
- Non-conformity management: visual documentation of identified problems
Direct access to 3D data from workshops eliminates dependence on 2D prints that are often ambiguous and susceptible to becoming obsolete.
Commercial processes and customer support
Beyond engineering, the solution also brings value to commercial and support functions:
- Commercial presentations: interactive product demonstrations without CAD software
- Product configurators: visualization of options and variants in real time
- Technical documentation: creation of precise illustrations for manuals
- Technical support: remote visual diagnosis of customer problems
This democratization of access to 3D data improves communication with customers and strengthens the efficiency of sales and support teams.
Inter-company collaboration
The solution also facilitates collaboration with external partners:
- Secure sharing: controlled distribution of models to suppliers
- Co-development: collaborative work on specific subassemblies
- Supplier reviews: visual validation of technical proposals
- After-sales support: secure access to data for field technicians
The web architecture eliminates traditional technical barriers to external collaboration, while maintaining strict control over shared data.
Advanced analysis and collaboration features
Beyond simple visualization, 3DViewStation WebViewer offers a rich set of advanced analysis and collaboration features. These capabilities transform the visualization tool into a complete platform for technical analysis and collaborative decision-making.
Technical analysis features
Engineers and technicians can perform sophisticated analyses directly in the web environment:
- Dimensional analysis: precise measurements of distances, angles, radii, and diameters
- Geometric analysis: evaluation of flatness, cylindricity, and other characteristics
- Thickness analysis: verification of minimum and maximum wall thicknesses
- Draft angle analysis: identification of draft angles for molded parts
- Collision detection: automatic identification of static interferences
- Clearance analysis: verification of minimum spacings
- Model comparison: visual analysis of differences between versions
These features allow validation of designs without resorting to complex CAD software, thus democratizing access to technical analysis.
Advanced visualization capabilities
To fully understand complex assemblies, 3DViewStation WebViewer offers sophisticated visualization features:
- Exploded views: intelligent separation of components to visualize relationships
- Dynamic sections: creation of multiple section planes to see inside models
- Transparent views: adjustment of transparency to see through components
- Visualization filters: selective display based on attributes (material, supplier, etc.)
- Mechanical animations: simulation of movements and kinematics
These capabilities allow effective communication of complex technical concepts, even to non-technical audiences.
Advanced collaborative features
Collaboration is at the heart of 3DViewStation WebViewer's value proposition, with features specifically designed for teamwork:
- Collaborative sessions: instant sharing of views with real-time synchronization
- Shared annotations: addition of comments and markings visible to all participants
- View sharing: capture and sharing of specific visual configurations
- Session recording: automatic documentation of design reviews
- Integration with workflows: linking comments with Teamcenter tasks
These features significantly reduce the time required for design reviews and collective decision-making, while improving the quality of technical communication.
Feature customization
The open architecture of 3DViewStation WebViewer allows advanced customization of features according to specific needs:
- Creation of macros and scripts to automate action sequences
- Development of JavaScript plugins for specific business features
- Customization of the user interface according to roles and processes
- Integration with third-party systems via REST API
This flexibility allows precise adaptation of the tool to each company's specific processes, thus maximizing its impact on operational efficiency.
Security considerations and know-how protection
In an industrial context where intellectual property protection is crucial, 3DViewStation WebViewer integrates advanced security and know-how protection mechanisms. This dimension is particularly important for companies working with sensitive data or in competitive industries.
Intrinsic security architecture
The very architecture of 3DViewStation WebViewer constitutes a robust first line of defense:
- No complete 3D geometry is transferred to the client device
- Only optimized visualization data transit over the network
- Impossibility to extract or reconstruct the original CAD models
- Encryption of communications between server and clients
- Strong authentication and granular rights management
This "security by design" approach naturally protects sensitive data, even when sharing with external partners.
Integration with Teamcenter security mechanisms
3DViewStation WebViewer integrates perfectly with Teamcenter's native security mechanisms:
- Reuse of Teamcenter access rights and authorizations
- Respect for security policies defined in the PLM
- Complete traceability of data access
- Application of export and classification rules
- Support for approval workflows for controlled sharing
This consistency ensures that security policies defined in Teamcenter are respected end-to-end, without creating gaps in the visualization process.
Specific protection of know-how
For situations requiring enhanced protection of intellectual property, specific features are available:
- Selective simplification: ability to automatically simplify certain areas of the model
- Intelligent masking: concealment of specific features without affecting the assembly
- Dynamic watermarks: automatic addition of identification information on views
- Functional limitations: restriction of analysis capabilities according to user profiles
- Screenshot control: protection against unauthorized captures
These mechanisms allow controlled sharing of technical data, where only strictly necessary information is accessible to different stakeholders.
Case study: application in the automotive industry
To concretely illustrate the benefits of integration between 3DViewStation WebViewer and Siemens Teamcenter, let's examine a successful implementation case in the automotive industry, a sector particularly demanding in terms of technical data management.
Context and challenges
A first-tier automotive supplier faced several critical challenges in its quality control processes:
- Need to systematically verify thousands of weld points on complex assemblies
- Inspection teams distributed across several international sites
- Paper documentation source of errors and difficult to keep up to date
- Validation delays too long impacting deliveries
- Communication difficulties between design and production teams
The company was already using Teamcenter and Siemens NX as its main CAD/PLM environment, but the quality inspection teams had no direct access to 3D models.
Implemented solution
The company deployed an integrated inspection solution based on 3DViewStation WebViewer and Teamcenter. Here are the main features of this implementation:
- Creation of a visual inspection flow
- Development of a customized interface in 3DViewStation WebViewer
- Automatic export of geometries from Teamcenter
- Visual marking of weld points to be checked with color coding
- Bidirectional integration with Teamcenter
- Loading inspection lists from Teamcenter to 3DViewStation WebViewer
- Entering inspection results directly in the 3D interface
- Automatic recording of results in Teamcenter
- Multi-site web deployment
- Solution accessible from all production sites
- Possible use on tablets directly in workshops
- Single sign-on (SSO) with other enterprise systems
The complete implementation was accomplished in just three weeks by a team of three people, demonstrating the rapid deployment of the solution.
Results obtained
This integration generated measurable benefits on several key indicators:
- Productivity: 40% reduction in time required for quality inspections
- Accuracy: 65% decrease in inspection errors
- Collaboration: Real-time communication between design and production teams
- Traceability: Complete and time-stamped documentation of each inspection
- Responsiveness: Detection and correction of problems 3x faster than before
Beyond quantitative metrics, the company noted a significant improvement in the satisfaction of quality teams, who now benefit from modern tools adapted to their specific needs.
Key learnings
This case study illustrates several important success factors:
- The importance of seamless integration between PLM systems and visualization tools
- The added value of user interfaces adapted to specific business processes
- The positive impact of access to 3D data for non-CAD teams
- The potential speed of implementation thanks to the 3DViewStation WebViewer architecture
- The tangible benefits in terms of quality and deadlines
This case demonstrates how the integration of advanced visualization technologies can transform critical business processes, well beyond a simple incremental improvement.
Future perspectives with virtual reality
The integration of 3DViewStation with Siemens PLM opens up perspectives for evolution towards immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR). This trend represents the next frontier in technical data visualization and engineering collaboration.
Potential of virtual reality for PLM processes
VR offers unique capabilities that fundamentally transform interaction with technical data:
- Total immersion in 3D models at 1:1 scale
- Intuitive spatial perception of relationships between components
- Realistic simulation of assembly and maintenance operations
- Remote collaboration with virtual presence of participants
- Early ergonomic evaluation of designs
These capabilities allow detection of problems impossible to identify on a conventional screen, thus reducing the costs of late modifications.
3DViewStation VR Edition: integration with Teamcenter
The VR edition of 3DViewStation offers native integration with the Siemens PLM ecosystem:
- Direct access to Teamcenter models and structures from the VR environment
- Ergonomic control via voice and gesture commands
- Complete CAD analyses feasible in immersion
- Three-dimensional annotations synchronized with Teamcenter
- Collaborative sessions with multiple users in virtual environment
This integration allows full exploitation of virtual reality's potential without breaking digital continuity with the central PLM system.
Validated industrial use cases
Several VR use cases in a PLM context have already been validated in industry:
- Immersive design reviews
- Collaborative inspection of new designs
- Early detection of accessibility and maintenance problems
- Reduction of design iteration cycles
- Advanced technical training
- Simulation of complex assembly operations
- Training in maintenance procedures
- Reduction of training risks and costs
- Interactive Digital Twin
- Interaction with digital twins in an immersive environment
- Real-time visualization of contextualized IoT data
- Advanced diagnosis of operational problems
These applications demonstrate the tangible added value of VR in a PLM context, beyond the initial "wow" effect.
Practical considerations for adoption
For organizations considering integrating VR into their PLM ecosystem, several practical aspects should be considered:
- Hardware infrastructure: professional VR headsets and adapted workstations
- Physical spaces: dedicated areas for immersion sessions
- User training: adaptation to interactions in virtual environment
- Data integration: preparation of models to optimize VR experience
- Business processes: adaptation of workflows to integrate VR sessions
A progressive approach, starting with high-value use cases, allows building internal expertise and maximizing return on investment.
Conclusion: a strategic solution for the manufacturing industry
The integration of 3DViewStation WebViewer in Siemens PLM systems represents much more than a simple technical improvement: it is a strategic investment that fundamentally transforms how manufacturing companies interact with their technical data.
Summary of key benefits
This solution directly addresses current industry challenges by offering:
- Exceptional performance, even with assemblies of several gigabytes, accelerating decision processes
- Universal accessibility via web browser, democratizing access to CAD data beyond experts
- Enhanced security for sensitive data, protecting the company's intellectual property
- Advanced features for analysis and collaboration, supporting complete business processes
- Flexible integration with Teamcenter Engineering and ActiveWorkspace, adapting to existing environments
These benefits translate into measurable business impacts: reduced development times, improved product quality, optimized correction costs, and enhanced collaboration between teams and partners.
Impact on digital transformation
Beyond direct benefits, this integration plays a catalytic role in the company's global digital transformation:
- Creation of a single repository of technical data accessible to all actors
- Elimination of silos between engineering, production, quality, and customer service
- Digitalization of processes formerly based on paper documents
- Technical foundation for evolution towards Industry 4.0 and digital twin
- Preparation for future integration of emerging technologies (AR/VR, AI)
This approach centered on the accessibility of technical data constitutes a sustainable competitive advantage in a market where agility and speed of execution have become critical.
Recommendations for successful implementation
To maximize the return on investment of such integration, several key success factors should be considered:
- Progressive approach: start with high-value use cases
- User involvement: integrate future users from the design phases
- Adapted training: train teams in new working methods
- Impact measurement: define clear KPIs to evaluate benefits
- Internal communication: promote successes to facilitate adoption
Particular attention to organizational and human aspects, beyond purely technical considerations, maximizes the chances of success.
Future perspective
The integration of advanced visualization technologies into the PLM ecosystem constitutes a fundamental step towards fully digitalized and collaborative product development environments. This evolution aligns perfectly with the vision of the factory of the future, where technical data, business processes, and human collaboration converge in a coherent digital ecosystem.
By investing today in this type of integration, manufacturing companies are not just optimizing their current processes - they are actively preparing for the working methods that will define tomorrow's industry.
