“The amount of information we now generate in two days, equals the amount of information generated from the dawn of humankind to 2003. People need help managing this information so that they can make smarter business decisions quickly.” - Thomas Ohnemus, VP of Solution Marketing, SAP
As the pace of business gets faster and the amount of information continues to increase, making sure the right data is available and accessible when executives need it is a tough challenge. Furthermore, the desired information must be presented in a format that is easy to understand and remember. For today’s generation of workers, that format is interactive, 3D visual communications.
Visualization technology originated from the growing need to make it easier to handle massive amounts of information. By transforming data into 3D models, users can access, analyze and act on the information in a completely new and very familiar way. While initially conceived to help with an enterprise’s product life cycle data, the benefits of 3D visual communications has stimulated adoption throughout entire organizations.
Top 5 Benefits of 3D Visual Communication
Below are the top five benefits of 3D visual communication proven to help companies improve operational efficiencies and bottom-line profits:
- Faster, Better Communications: Imagine the difference between finding a location using written directions or following a colored, graphical map with the route boldly marked. Visuals are clearly easier to understand, which makes them ideal for business communications. By translating complex company data, such as the new design of an airplane, into a 3D model, users throughout an organization can literally see the information come to life. When engineering or other product development divisions make revisions, those changes are instantly incorporated and shared with all interested parties. Another communication benefit to 3D visuals is the fact that they can be understood regardless of a person’s native verbal language. Visual communications eliminates high language translation costs and inconsistencies due to human error.
- Improved Data Access for Greater Collaboration: “A typical global manufacturing value chain could have as many as 1,000 potential users who could benefit from their company’s product data, but simply can’t access it or lack the tools or expertise to use it.” (The Advent of Visual Manufacturing, Longview Advisors.)
One of the biggest benefits of 3D visuals is that users don’t need to be IT experts to create, open or understand the information presented. In fact,
translating difficult data into a user-friendly format ensures everyone can access the same data and use it to make decisions within their areas of
expertise. The more input provided on the project at hand, the better the results. This is a tremendous improvement over traditional business processes, which inadvertently confine information in regional or divisional “silos." - Data Interoperability: The visualization technology used to create 3D models leverages an organization’s existing tools and systems. It takes what are normally incompatible formats and standardizes the data so all relevant pieces of information can then be synthesized together. Data interoperability is a tremendous benefit to organizations that lose billions of dollars a year due to systems that do not work together.
- Sreamlined Operations: Presenting data in visual form results in less duplication of work. This is because drawings, documents and models are all generated from a single source. When information is updated in one document, it is automatically updated everywhere else. By giving people the right data at the right time, work gets done faster and more accurately. For example, repairs and product maintenance take less time and customer service representatives provide better first call resolution.
- Shorter Product Development Cycles: By improving communication and collaboration, the entire company can move in the same direction with the same goals. Visual 3D communications allows multi-departmental activities to be performed concurrently, such as creating marketing materials while making product revisions. Also, product manuals are easier to produce, update and follow when they are in a visual format, ensuring they are always
consistent with latest product releases. All of this, plus better utilization of existing resources leads to shortened time-to-market product timelines.
3D visual communication technology helps people work together in order to make faster, smarter business decisions. It lowers costs and improves productivity by eliminating duplicate work and focusing all resources on the same outcome. Best of all, converting complicated data into easy to understand visuals invites everyone to contribute their unique perspectives. The result is innovation unlike anything seen before – faster, more creative and higher quality ideas. It’s a sustainable, competitive advantage that will absolutely be critical to success in the ever-changing business environment of the future.
