A Glimpse Into the Future of Design & Manufacturing

Ping Fu, president and CEO of Raindrop Geomagic, answers questions about how technology will change the way we design and manufacture products.

How are manufacturers using existing technologies in new ways?

Many CAD-related technologies have undergone major changes over the last few years that have not been fully recognized by the media nor taken advantage of by manufacturers. One of the key areas is what has traditionally been called "reverse engineering." It has been transformed so radically that the term no longer fits. At Raindrop Geomagic, we use the term "3D photography." This is the process of automatic data capture (shape, color and texture) of an existing object or part, quick and accurate processing of the data, and production, which can be manufacturing or creating a product "avatar" - a realistic 3D representation of the part - for web commerce. The technologies and knowledge required to implement 3D photography already exist. It has the potential to fuel dozens of new billion-dollar companies and to transform many other moribund manufacturing industries.

What are the major concerns facing the design/OEM sector in the next few years?

The demand for items customized to individual tastes will continue to accelerate. Depending on how quickly this is embraced, it will have the capacity to make or break design-oriented businesses. Consumers are beginning to demand an unprecedented freedom of choice - products that are made just for them. Making these individualized products available to the masses requires transitioning to new processes and technologies. Product manufacturers need to be prepared to ramp up their design, manufacturing and marketing processes to accommodate this kind of mass customization.

What innovations are in store for users?

Users of design software and hardware will continue to have tools that can produce higher-quality designs faster than ever before. In the area of design software, for example, there is now the ability to quickly capture all the attributes of existing products, which takes away much of the tedious, time-consuming task of 3D modeling from scratch. Time can be spent in tweaking the designs to ensure the best aesthetics, performance and quality of the finished product. The products that are leading this movement include the 3D color camera from Arius 3D (www.arius3D.com) and Geomagic software (www.geomagic.com) that uses a photography-like process to automatically create 3D models for accurate manufacturing and streaming over the web.

How are software, equipment and materials being integrated in today's design world?

Standards are playing a key role in allowing all parts of design, engineering and manufacturing to flow together. There are also strategic relationships among key vendors that enable different products to work together without much user intervention. At Raindrop Geomagic, for example, we have forged vendor relationships that help ensure a smooth and accurate transition from 3D data capture, to automatic processing, to final production, whether it's a real or virtual product.

Are we entering a new era of e-manufacturing?

That's been talked about for more than a decade under different names and acronyms. But to have e-manufacturing, you must have digital data, and that brings up a sobering reality: 99 percent of all products have no associated CAD data. What is the solution for that 99 percent? I would suggest that it's a seamless, automated process that transforms existing objects or parts into digital models that can be produced in any form that the user wants. These digital models can also be tweaked in many different ways to meet the individual needs of consumers. That process is what we call 3D photography, and it's what will enable mass customization in the 21st century.