Cloud Project Collaboration Portal Supports Exporting Data to Excel

By Anthony J. Lockwood

The TeamPlatform cloud-based 3D CAD project collaboration and management portal from VisPower Technologies (Sunnyvale,  CA) now supports export of workspace data or product assembly trees in Excel spreadsheets. The company also recently announced the opening of 3Dfile.io, a free, online 3D model sharing and visualization service.

TeamPlatform is intended for engineering and manufacturing companies requiring an efficient and cost-effective project and collaboration management application. The service combines project management tools with data management capabilities in an online platform.

A TeamPlatform task management screen. Image courtesy of VisPower Technologies.

The service’s CAD tools for viewing and manipulating 3D models support major CAD file types, and offer native support for formats such as Autodesk Inventor,  CATIA, Creo (Pro/E), NX, and SolidWorks. Users view, explode, spin, and zoom CAD parts and assemblies through their web browser. Additionally, tools to control rendering, save views, and make measurements are provided. Files can also be exported to STL format and downloaded for such downstream applications as 3D printing or CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis. TeamPlatform automatically extracts meta-data associated with CAD parts, assemblies, and other files, making this data searchable immediately.

TeamPlatform also provides SVG (scalable vector graphic) previews of common 2D drawing formats such as DWG and DXF. Capabilities include zoom and annotation tools,  including highlighter, circles, and callouts.

This image depicts a TeamPlatform write-board with embedded video streaming and notes. Image courtesy of VisPower Technologies.

Other features and tools include assembly-component lookup, automatic versioning, and video streaming and raw-resolution image previews. A Sync features enables engineers with enterprise-level access to use their local workstation to work on files while synching the files to their online workspace.

Collaboration tools include annotations and discussions in context to files and projects. Enterprise users can create private, password-protected web pages for ad-hoc data exchanges. These pages can be embellished with company logos and comments as well as files to be shared. File-sharing capabilities include zip assemblies, the ability to set access expirations, and tracking of visits and downloads by user or location.

Project collaboration features include the ability to organize workspaces by projects, tasks, and workgroups. Individuals and groups can be assigned tasks, and files both shared and visualized among groups. Comment strings can be linked with most workspace elements, such as files, and users automatically receive specific-to-them updates when accessing their workspace. TeamPlatform offers reusable workspace templates, which are said to allow users to develop new or standardized workflows with minimal overhead. TeamPlatform also provides APIs (application programming interfaces) that enable users and organizations to integrate their desktop or cloud applications with TeamPlatform’s online workspaces.

The new support for exporting workspace data or product assembly trees in Excel spreadsheets includes workspace summary and custom fields; thumbnails and properties extracted from files like SolidWorks custom properties; and unit,  volume, surface, and bounding dimensions details from 3D native CAD files. The company adds that users able to work with Excel formulas and macros can integrate TeamPlatform data and Excel templates easily. This is said to provide the tools for creating workflow automation features such as instant BOM (bill of materials) generation from product data, creation service quotes, and reporting and analytics.

An example of online DWG viewing and markup tools. Image courtesy of VisPower Technologies.

VisPower Technologies says that setting up a TeamPlatform collaboration portal can be achieved in as little as 10 minutes. Pricing for TeamPlatform starts at $25 per month per user for up to 25 users. Personal and enterprise versions are offered, with most advanced features available as part of the enterprise edition. A personal program for single users is available without charge.

The 3Dfile.io online 3D model sharing and visualization service announced by VisPower Technologies is free. Supported 3D formats include Autodesk Inventor, CATIA, Creo (Pro/Engineer), NX, PLY, and SolidWorks,  as well as 3DS (binary), IGES, STEP, JT, STL, and OBJ. For visualization,  3Dfile.io creates a sharable URL that displays the 3D model in WebGL or 2D DWG and DXF drawings in SVG. No plug-ins are required.

For complete details on TeamPlatform, visit VisPower Technologies. Click here to go to 3Dfile.io.

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Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.