500+ Companies Confirm 3D Product Catalogs Mission Critical

Milford, OH – August 25, 2009 – PARTsolutions, LLC, a global provider of 3D part catalogs for manufacturers and enterprises, today released a new industry survey that provides a clear view into the importance of CAD-native 3D product catalogs to design engineers for product selection. Compiled by polling more than 500 companies – including 3M, Lockheed Martin, Ford Motor Company, Goodrich, Cessna Aircraft Company and Bose Corporation – the data reveals that supplying catalogs in paper, PDF
or neutral file formats is no longer adequate, with 85% of design engineers preferring part downloads in their CAD-native format.

CAD-native 3D product catalogs are rapidly becoming a critical business component for manufacturers and necessary to get their products selected, designed in and purchased, with 80% of design engineers indicating that multiple units will be purchased for production once downloaded.

• 85% of design engineers prefer part downloads in their native CAD format.
• 87% of design engineers want to configure the exact part they are specifying.
• 85% of downloaded parts get purchased.
• 80% of downloaded parts are purchased for prototypes and for multiple units in production.
• 73% of design engineers will choose one vendor over another because they provide CAD data.

These findings are consistent with feedback gathered by PHD Inc. over a period of more than ten years. PHD was one of the first companies to web enable its product line of premium automation products including cylinders, clamps, escapements, grippers, slides, rotary actuators, proximity sensors and switches. Eliminating the time-intensive process of creating, migrating and translating catalog content has saved the company enormous resources. As a build-to-order business that offers more than 450 million
product combinations, 3D product catalogs have been instrumental in establishing quick delivery as PHD’s primary competitive advantage. The technology has also resulted in 35 times more sales leads by allowing PHD to track who is accessing designs and proactively deliver sales and support information to its customers. Click here to see PHD’s PARTsolutions 3D product catalog in action.

Reid Supply Company has had a similar response from its customers. Earlier this month, the global industrial distribution company launched ReidSupply.com, an updated e-commerce website designed as a result of direct response to feedback from its customers. The feedback indicated a need for more web images and an improved data search experience. As a result, the Reid web services team utilized all of their print catalog’s images as well as their CAD drawings, which includes over 90% of every part in their
catalog. They also employed a new search engine that shows customers their products faster and much more accurately. Reid has one of the largest FREE CAD databases in the industrial supply industry, the Reid digital library is already receiving more than 22,000 CAD downloads per month and is helping Reid Supply to further customer service and satisfaction.

“In today’s competitive business environment, customers are demanding an endless array of configurable and custom products,” said Jay Hopper, president of PARTsolutions. “Supplying catalogs in paper, PDF or neutral file formats is no longer sufficient to get on the preferred supplier list. Rather, enabling customers to download the 3D CAD-native parts directly into their designs has become mission critical.”

PARTsolutions’ PARTcatalog product enables companies to host their configurable product catalog online, making it easier for customers and prospects to “Design In” products to their designs, while business intelligence tools generate valuable sales leads and marketing.