Removing Blockers to Revenue: The Value of a 3D Parts Catalog

The world is rapidly changing for those centered in After Sales. 

Whether you’re an After Sales manager, the head of the department, or in engineering, best practices will look decidedly different in the not-too-distant future. 

The introduction of the ‘Right to Repair’ - alongside the need for clearer data management - has changed the game. 

We’re here to assure you this is no bad thing. 

This is an opportunity to embrace the future and add value to your company at the same time. 

The trick to upping your game is creating and successfully utilizing a 3D interactive parts catalog. 

Want to find out how?

The true path to efficient data management

So first, what do you need for a 3D interactive parts catalog?

Data. Lots of data. 

To make a truly efficient catalog, you’ll need to make sure the company you’re dealing with can collect all the right information. 

Ultimately, their goal should be to make a catalog that services your needs.  

For Partful, that means you send over your CAD data and bill of materials (BOM) data to our team when you’re ready to go. 

One thing we never get tired of championing is that your 3D catalog needs to be designed for the product’s life cycle, ideally with After Sales in mind, not engineering or manufacturing. 

It’s likely that your current set-up has your CAD and BOM data just for the latter. A great 3D parts catalog can fix that. 

Data management best practice

We’ve previously covered the challenges After Sales Teams face over here.

To quickly recap, the problem facing OEM After Sales Teams often lies in the wealth of data you’re asked to sort through.

The explosion of information needed to fully service After Sales Teams today has meant the old ways of doing things are now practically redundant. 

Without a decent system in place, that data confuses rather than helps.

The key is great organization and classification for your parts to make life simpler for everyone. 

Once we have the part name and number, we move onto the description and price. Adding in the sellable assemblies and parts.

To cover all bases, a good 3D parts catalog will also ask for data on both part history and sets of parts that can often be sold together, but may not be near each other on the model. This is commonly referred to as the ‘kits’.

We believe it’s crucial for clarity that we standardize naming conventions and taxonomy. 

Naming discrepancies between departments can lead to a host of problems further down the road. 

We urge that when it comes to choosing a 3D Parts Catalog, you make it a priority that part names and numbers have a clearly thought through and standardized part-naming scheme. 

Collaborate. Integrate.

One of the things we find time and time again - when bringing companies kicking and screaming into the 21st Century - is just how siloed they’ve become. 

Sometimes, rectifying communication issues between After Sales Teams and Engineering Teams feels like part of our job. And while we freely admit a large part of our process is designing for aftersales, we can’t stress enough how critical cross-functional collaboration is during the process of putting together your catalog. 

It’s this teamwork that ensures not only great version control, but also the correct methodology to track changes in parts and data. 

At this point in the process, loaded with the data you’ve given us, it’s time to integrate. 

At Partful, we use the most simple, modern, and effective technological solutions to streamline data management processes. 

Next, we’ll help you create and onboard your models. Whoever you choose to take you through the process - and we strongly encourage you to make it us(!) - do keep in mind the importance of collaboration. 

We know from experience a siloed company produces poorer results. We love what we do, and we hate to see companies picking those that close the shutters and work in isolation.