{"id":5506,"date":"2018-05-02T12:07:12","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T19:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Solid-Edge-Blog\/Communicate-Your-Product-Designs-with-Technical-Publications\/ba-p\/488582"},"modified":"2026-03-26T07:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:16:08","slug":"communicate-your-product-designs-with-technical-publications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/communicate-your-product-designs-with-technical-publications\/","title":{"rendered":"Communicate Your Product Designs with Technical Publications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><P><span class=\"lia-inline-image-display-wrapper lia-image-align-right\" style=\"width: 267px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/09\/DaveChadwicklr-1.jpg\" alt=\"DaveChadwicklr.jpg\" title=\"DaveChadwicklr.jpg\" \/><\/span><\/P><br \/>\n<P>Dave Chadwick has been with Solid Edge from the very beginning, and many of you may recognize him from the numerous excellent resources he provides both live and right here on the community. (Check out some&nbsp;of his&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/community.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/forums\/searchpage\/tab\/message?filter=authorId,includeBlogs&amp;q=solid%20edge&amp;sort_by=-topicPostDate&amp;author_id=188&amp;collapse_discussion=true&amp;include_blogs=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">past blog posts here<\/A>!) I got a chance to speak with him recently about his upcoming session at Solid Edge University in Phoenix on June 5<SUP>th<\/SUP>. Dave will be covering \u201cFast Creation of Interactive Technical Documentation using Solid Edge Technical Publications\u201d complete with demonstrations and tips. We\u2019ll learn more about Dave and what to expect from his presentation in today\u2019s post.<\/P><\/p>\n<p><P>Dave started at Intergraph in 1988 (predating Solid Edge), and has worked with SE throughout its whole history. He began as an application engineer specializing in data management, and in the 30 years since, he has had the pleasure of working on a number of exciting projects such as the third-party program Voyager, which many of you longtime Edgers will recognize. He was a member of product marketing for a number of years before recently moving to a role in business development, where his focus is now on communicating the strengths of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.plm.automation.siemens.com\/country\/en-us\/topic\/solid-edge-webinar-series\/10983\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Solid Edge portfolio<\/A>. \u201cIt\u2019s not just 3D CAD,\u201d Dave points out, \u201cbut these other applications like <a href=\"https:\/\/community.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Solid-Edge-Blog\/bg-p\/solid-edge-news\/label-name\/simulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">simulation<\/A>, manufacturing, technical publications and <a href=\"https:\/\/community.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Solid-Edge-Blog\/bg-p\/solid-edge-news\/label-name\/data%20management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">data management<\/A> which provide value across the product lifecycle.\u201d<\/P><\/p>\n<p><P>As mentioned earlier, Dave will be presenting interactive technical documentation during a Knowledge Theater session at <a href=\"https:\/\/community.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Solid-Edge-Blog\/bg-p\/solid-edge-news\/label-name\/solid%20edge%20university\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">SEU<\/A> Phoenix this year. The difference between a traditional presentation and a Knowledge Theater is that the latter is shorter, about 25 minutes long, and features a more informal setting that lends itself to fun dialogue and discussions afterward.<\/P><\/p>\n<p><P>Dave plans to address the trend where increasingly the 3D model is used as the basis for creating technical publications today. \u201cIn the past, you might cut and paste an image of a part or an assembly into a document, or insert 2D drawings of a product into a document. Today, the trend is all about using your 3D model,\u201d Dave explains. \u201cYou embed the 3D model into the document, which allows for rendering and the ability to provide more information. You can create animations of how the product works, see the parts moving. That is going to be a big theme of my talk, using the 3D model.\u201d Connected to this idea is the MBD or model-based definition concept, which Dave will also delve into. \u201cI\u2019ll be talking about some recent industry research on the benefits of using the model-based definition approach.\u201d<\/P><\/p>\n<p><P><span class=\"lia-inline-image-display-wrapper lia-image-align-inline\" style=\"width: 999px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/09\/3D-Publishing-03-2.png\" alt=\"3D Publishing-03.png\" title=\"3D Publishing-03.png\" \/><\/span>&nbsp;<\/P><br \/>\n<P>If, like me, you are not that familiar with <a href=\"https:\/\/community.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Solid-Edge-Blog\/bg-p\/solid-edge-news\/label-name\/technical%20publications\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">technical publications<\/A> in Solid Edge, you will appreciate Dave\u2019s explanation of them. \u201cTechnical publications are all about how you communicate your product designs,\u201d he says. \u201cFrom an internal point of view, that could mean the best way to assemble your product on the shop floor; we call those manufacturing instructions. That is one example. The other main area where we see technical publications used is when the product gets in the hands of customers, whether that be creating installation guides that show how to install the machine, if the product in question is a machine, or a maintenance guide to ensure that customers know how to maintain it. That\u2019s really important, because if [the machine] is maintained correctly, it will perform as designed, whereas if it is not, you will run into problems.\u201d<\/P><\/p>\n<p><P>Another area where technical publications are used is for spare parts catalogues. For manufacturing companies, the aftermarket business is an important source of income. \u201cSay a customer has been running a machine for some time, they may need to buy spare parts for repair,\u201d Dave says. \u201cIf you as a manufacturer can provide easy ways for them to find what they need, such as an online catalogue where they can search easily and buy spare parts, they are more likely to come back to you. That is an important business for manufacturing companies.\u201d<\/P><\/p>\n<p><P><span class=\"lia-inline-image-display-wrapper lia-image-align-inline\" style=\"width: 885px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/09\/soleras-3d-parts-catalog-3.jpg\" alt=\"soleras 3d parts catalog.jpg\" title=\"soleras 3d parts catalog.jpg\" \/><\/span><\/P><\/p>\n<p><P>Don\u2019t miss Dave\u2019s session at Solid Edge University in Phoenix, Arizona this year. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.siemensplmconnectionamericas.org\/Portals\/0\/SEU-Agenda-at-a-Glance.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><STRONG>View the full agenda<\/STRONG><\/A>&nbsp;on the Siemens PLM Connection website, and&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.siemensplmconnectionamericas.org\/Registration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><STRONG>sign up to attend today<\/STRONG><\/A>!<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dave Chadwick has been with Solid Edge from the very beginning, and many of you may recognize him from the numerous excellent resources he provides both live and right here on the community. (Check o&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53799,"featured_media":5516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30,31],"industry":[],"product":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-solid-edge-university","tag-technical-publications"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/09\/soleras-3d-parts-catalog-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53799"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5506"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5517,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5506\/revisions\/5517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5506"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=5506"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=5506"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/solidedge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}