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RealityWave offers its bag of goodies, too, says Salmon. "We are lucky because we were out of the gate extremely fast in this arena. RealityWave was founded in 1996, and soon after we received the patent for the dynamic, hierarchical streaming technology we call VizStreamÔ. This really is the first step in true 3D collaboration. If you can't work with any size model fast and efficiently over any network, collaboration is already a bust. It is our technology that powers other companies' collaboration products, including Autodesk Streamline, Bentley®'s VieconÔ Network, and Centric's Innovation Web solution. Our technology moves us toward our goal of becoming the technology standard for 3D collaboration. Our latest product, ConceptStationÔ, works with any CAD file and allows for the latest in viewing and mark-up features. We are now going beyond design and manufacturing collaboration to ensure that our technology and products can be used throughout the enterprise. Since designers have used our products and technologies for a few years already, we have been able to learn a tremendous amount about what is needed to succeed in the collaborative arena. It is now critical to take what we know and apply it throughout the collaborative enterprise." Bodnar says that SDRC is addressing the needs of the collaborative product management (CPM) market with its solutions for enabling virtual enterprises to collaborate in bringing new products to market and supporting them. "SDRC is providing Best Practices Web-based P2P collaborative solutions that enterprises can integrate into their virtual product development environments." Unlike its competitors, Alventive claims it provides solely Web-based solutions, so all that its customers need are Web browsers. Tiley adds, "This enables our customer to install and run programs quickly and efficiently, eliminating the need to purchase large proprietary software packages. Customers have told us that they appreciate the adaptability of our software as it allows for easy integration with various enterprise applications." We asked everyone what approach they think will be the driving force for universal collaboration-high-end, full enterprise-wide or scaled down NetMeeting type strategies. There were a plethora of responses. McClure says that with a rapid, innovative six-month development cycle, Solid Edge has focused on increasing design productivity. "Our Web strategy reflects that commitment, offering Solid Edge users practical, realistic tools and services for design collaboration. These tools allow our users to increase the value of the design data they create by sharing and communicating it with their enterprise and beyond. Whether it is a tier one, two, or three automotive part manufacturer wanting to boost its relationship within an OEM's expanding enterprise or a designer of complex, custom machinery wishing to seek customer input during the design process, Solid Edge provides the Web-based structure required to further boost mechanical CAD productivity. "The Internet's impact on design in manufacturing is obviously going to benefit Solid Edge users, but it is not the only technology that will greatly reduce design time for new products. That's why we develop the most productive design tools available. The big bang for the buck from the Internet will be rewarded to manufacturers who leverage their 3D design data with faster, more efficient communications and collaboration tools and processes." Harrison says that PTC's Windchill product provides extensive support to allow the largest organizations to collaborate within their own walls, and also with their trading partners. Meanwhile, PTC recently launched the first of a series of prepackaged Windchill Solutions called Windchill ProjectLink. "While taking advantage of the Internet-based infrastructure of the more flexible and customizable Windchill enterprise product," notes Harrison, "the Windchill Solutions are packaged and configured in such a way as to make them very appropriate for smaller installations, or for companies looking for specific point solutions to particular collaborative problems." Grayson says that Alibre's offerings are neither high-end or low-end but fit right in the middle. "Our Alibre Design is based on a Web-native architecture that fundamentally integrates and leverages real-time communications throughout. The technology architecture consists of three tiers: a Web browser-based client, a design server that handles solid modeling and constraint management applications logic, and a repository server that provides P2P data storage. These three tiers are decoupled and inherently location independent. This is fundamentally different than taking a traditional desktop-centric application that bolts on NetMeeting to enable others to look at their system. The Alibre architecture enables true real-time collaboration on parts and assemblies with data accessible anytime, anywhere throughout the P2P repositories. "Moreover, Alibre is not attempting to replace the extremely broad full-enterprise approach that some vendors now offer. Instead, Alibre offers a complementary tool to existing enterprise solutions that extends to all tiers of the supply chain where there is no standard design platform, and especially no standard or even common data management tool. In this way, Alibre connects the supply chain to the enterprise and through robust interoperability enables suppliers and OEMs alike to supplement existing tools with a common platform for collaborative design. In addition, Alibre provides APIs that enable it to be smoothly integrated with existing enterprise PDM and ERP systems to ensure a seamless flow of data to participants in the supply chain regardless of their size or location." On the other hand, Salmon at RealityWave says that he's sure that companies are looking for the full enterprise-wide, high-end solution to their collaboration needs. "Their 3D data is too important," notes Salmon. "The time and money they have been wasting on other collaboration approaches has made them a bit cyical. With collaboration I think you can have your cake and eat it too-a high-end robust collaborative environment that is inexpensive and leads to a faster return on investment." Tiley says that Alventive is providing design collaboration capabilities that can be accessed by manufacturers and their supply chain. He notes, "Quick Collaboration enables ad hoc collaboration sessions to take place and contains a feature called Quick Conferencing that provides real-time collaboration capabilities. In addition, Alventive partnered with WebEx to deliver this specific capability." Gallello says that RedSpark's approach definitely focuses on the enterprise. "In fact, we label our solutions inter-enterprise applications," says Gallello. "Because our focus is on enabling collaboration between enterprises." With its focus on the enterprise, RedSpark looks to solve tough (high-end) problems within enterprises, such as managing supply integration, cross-functional team collaboration, and communication during the engineering and pre production processes. "Our functionality spans supplier management, sourcing, collaboration, and process tracking. We are aggressively developing solutions for managing costs, schedules, workflow, and so on. In a nutshell, what we develop is the ability for a product team to manage every item on its bill of materials through all of the steps necessary to release the product to volume manufacturing or the end customer. The end benefit of our application is faster time to market and better product quality. While we're creating huge value in terms of the solutions, the difference is that our business model is customer friendly. So, I'd classify us as high-end technology with an affordable price tag," explains Gallello. Kross says Autodesk's key strategy for Web-based collaboration is Autodesk Streamline, a hosted service that lets everyone use the information with minimal to no training. As a hosted solution, customers avoid the very high cost of server and network acquisition, set up and maintenance. Lastly, we wanted to know how all this collaboration talk and technology will benefit users. Are collaboration tools truly going to enhance an engineer's or designer's chance of getting his or her job done more efficiently, or is it just another piece of software slapped onto the already heightening pile that hinders the task of getting products out the door in a timely fashion? Salmon says, "Users, whether they want to collaborate or not, definitely want a solution that is easy, fast, and powerful enough to handle their work. With the right technology foundation and a feature-rich application set, users will get this. In the end, this simply means that they can design faster, with more people, and get a better ROI on their designs. For businesses, it means leveraging data that beforehand was simply sitting on computers post manufacturing, and maximizing the data into enterprise knowledge, creating a better marketing machine, a faster sales cycle, and improved customer service." "Autodesk delivers both a high-end capability service with Streamline or our very simple in the box NetMeeting based solution," explains Kross. "Both deliver huge advantages in improving time to market and better design." Tiley adds, "Our customers will continue to benefit from the shift from sequential to simultaneous product development. As we develop new and improved features for our technology, our customers will create more relevant products, more quickly, and for less cost. Because seventy to eighty percent of the costs of direct goods are assigned before the product definition is fixed, earlier participation of the entire supply chain creates tremendous opportunity for cost and time savings. For example, engineers often will create a product design, pass it on to manufacturing and purchasing, receive their input on design-for-manufacturability (DFM) or design-for-volume (DFV), and then go back and make changes to the product. But with Alventive's solution, engineering and manufacturing teams can go online and work simultaneously on des