Web-Based Design Technology Targets Smaller Manufacturers

Compiled ByDave Schafer After a five-month pilot, Autodesk Inc. is releasing in the U.S. and Canada its Autodesk Streamline, a Web-based service for small and midsized manufacturers for sharing personalized design data across the extended manufacturing team. Autodesk says this release contains new functionality for personalizing digital design data, establishing project sites, managing access and security, viewing and marking up design data, and publishing directly from CAD systems. Because it is Web-based and hosted by Autodesk, the Streamline service requires no installation and users can access it from any Internet connection, says Autodesk, San Rafael, Calif. By setting up an Autodesk Streamline project site, users have a single location for all shared data with the ability for e-mail notification and alerts that provide team members with links to current information, the company says. Autodesk Streamline's new functionality includes the following:

Publishing Wizard, which allows customers to publish their design data directly to the site so team members always have access to the latest data

3-D View and Markup

2-D View and Markup

3-D Graphics Streaming, which allows users to interact with a large assembly while it's streaming to them

Enhanced Security