As CAD models continue to become more critical information sources in the product's lifecycle, it is necessary to develop efficient mechanisms to store, retrieve, and manage larger volumes of increasingly complex data. Because of their unique characteristics, 3D annotations can be used to embed design and manufacturing information directly into a CAD model, which makes models effective vehicles to describe aspects of the geometry or provide additional information that can be connected to a particular geometric element. However, access to this information is often limited, difficult, and even unavailable to external applications. As model complexity and volume of information continue to increase, new and more powerful methods to interrogate these annotations are needed.In this paper, we demonstrate how 3D annotations can be effectively structured and integrated into a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system to provide a cohesive view of product-related information in a design environment. We present a strategy to organize and manage annotation information which is stored internally in a CAD model, and make it fully available through the PLM. Our method involves a dual representation of 3D annotations with enhanced data structures that provides shared and easy access to the information. We describe the architecture of a system which includes a software component for the CAD environment and a module that integrates with the PLM server. We validate our approach through a software prototype that uses a parametric modeling application and two commercial PLM packages with distinct data models.

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One of the most novel concepts that has been applied to companies in recent years is “Sensing Enterprises”. This concept implies a drastic change in the way companies operate. Within the framework of this concept, another necessary and complementary concept arises, the so-called “Internet of Things” concept. It seems evident that the Internet of Things can generally help improve the function- ing of the processes undertaken in companies, particularly one of the key proc- esses; the production planning process. Despite being able to find abundant infor- mation on both themes, and the apparent relevance that using the Internet of Things could have for the production planning process, no works that have jointly studied these matters were found. To bridge this gap, the present work intends to reflect on how the characteristics and advantages of the Internet of Things can be put to good use in the production planning process.

Conversations are an everyday element of health and social care practice, and improving them could lead to widespread positive impacts on care provision. We present three initiatives to improve difficult conversation through three case studies, each using co-design to produce tools for later use by practitioners. The approach taken is knowingly risky, as tools can be difficult to co-design and difficult to encourage others to use, leading to failures as well as successes. Alongside specific empirical insights from the case studies we discuss the benefits of co-designing flexible tools for ongoing use and adaptation by practitioners, and the implications of this approach for the sustainability and impact of co-design initiatives.

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