The advancement of technology has led machines to become more and more intricate, necessitating more and more parts in each. The average coffee machine contains around 45 parts while the things like dryers and cars are composed of 100’s and 1000’s of parts. Unfortunately, this has made repairing machines even harder than ever. Each of these devices, regardless of how complicated, have thousands of hours spent designing. So, with a plethora of parts to choose from, how do engineers decide? This is the importance of a component search engine.
Well, the most straightforward solution can be to create your own custom part. By having the engineer redraw a supplier manufacturer’s part, it can be made on demand and is in the preferred format of the engineer. Unfortunately, this is the most time-consuming method, which moves even slower if revisions are needed. In addition, there is the chance that a user-generated drawing can be inaccurate, proving even more time-consuming.
To combat this issue with accuracy, we can request data from the manufacturer directly. By getting the source component data, we can ensure accuracy. Unfortunately, this has limited formats and the same slow revision time and slow turnaround time as the previous method. Most importantly, having data from one manufacturer severely limits the selection of brands.
To circumvent this, we can download user-generated resources for a wide spectrum of products. However, this is not without detriments as using parts made independently by individuals leads to a lack of standardization. Using parts generated from users is usually generic and unbranded, can be difficult to find and purchase after download, and is not certified by the manufacturing engineers.
To compromise user-generated content and data from the manufacturer is the ‘download on-demand’ method. By using the source design file from the manufacturer itself, you get content that is current and incredibly accurate since it’s directly from the manufacturer in a large selection of formats. Moreover, they can have a quick turnaround time and quick revision time since they are a digital file. Unfortunately, going directly to the manufacturer still has the same constraint as getting data from the manufacturer – there are only a limited number of brands to compare.
Fortunately, new solutions have emerged. Similar to Google, you can search for components on a search engine designed to provide a large selection of both brands and products. In addition, you can ensure the components found are current and maintained and certified from manufacturers – ensuring complete authenticity and accuracy. Additionally, because it’s all digital files, you have instant turnaround time, instant time for revisions, and over 100 different formats allowing for a great amount of accessibility.
This search engine can have tremendous advantages for engineers. On average, 45% of design engineers spend over an hour every day looking for component details. With this instant search engine, this time can be slashed to a fraction of the time. 3DFindIt, for example, lets you look for a specific part by a part number, manufacturer, or keyword. Even more, you can use color, photos, sketches, or geometric comparisons to find parts that are similar.
This engine configures a powerful search engine to peruse PDF datasheets, thousands of manufacturers, hundreds of CAD formats, and trillions of manufacturer-certified products. Most importantly, it translates into real results for users. Discovery of parts is twice as fast and product cost of development and construction is reduced by 70%. This culminates in up to 625 hours saved and $70,000 conserved every year per engineer. Ultimately, whether you want to search for parts for yourself or to get ahead in a large company, taking advantage of 3DFindIt is the best way to help yourself prepare for tomorrow.
Source: 3Dfindit.com
