Synchronous communication in PLM environments using annotated CAD models

The connection of resources, data, and knowledge through communication technology plays a vital role in current collaborative design methodologies and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems, as these elements act as channels for information and meaning. Despite significant advances in the area of PLM, most communication tools are used as separate services that are disconnected from existing development environments. Consequently, during a communication session, the specific elements being discussed are usually not linked to the context of the discussion, which may result in important information getting lost or becoming difficult to access. In this paper, we present a method to add synchronous communication functionality to a PLM system based on annotated information embedded in the CAD model. This approach provides users a communication channel that is built directly into the CAD interface and is valuable when individuals need to be contacted regarding the annotated aspects of a CAD model. We present the architecture of a new system and its integration with existing PLM systems, and describe the implementation details of an annotation-based video conferencing module for a commercial CAD application.