Abstract
Keywords: High-end Visualisation, Virtual Reality, PDM Backbone, Continuous Processes, User Acceptance.
Advanced visualisation technologies are nowadays applied in many processes of product development, production and distribution. Examples therefor are the use of Highend Visualisation (HV) methods to validate the diversity of variants in design and the use of Virtual Reality (VR) methods for functional validation of pressing tools.
By means of such technologies and suitably adapted methods, many technical processes have succeeded to accomplish an important contribution to control the diversity of variants and functions efficiently with a higher maturity at the same time, and thusly reducing the costs of expensive hardware models.
The most important enabler for the deployment of advanced visualisation technologies are on the one hand the availability of a Product Data Management (PDM) Backbone, through which all data relevant for the development will be allocated in a central product structure, and on the other hand the allocation of a demand-oriented IT infrastructure - i.e. apt authoring tools, computer and display hardware.
In spite of these achievements many challenges are still to be mastered. The key aspects are the establishment of continuous processes and the further development of technologies as to experience the virtual models to a greater degree. Exceptionally important is the orientation of technologies and methods to the human beings, which have to fill the technologies in new processes with life.