The founders of a young German company were considering the question of what the mobility concepts of the future would look like. Their insight is that the most desirable form of mobility is to not travel but to find other ways to get in touch with people in different locations. Numerous interaction possibilities offered by virtual reality can be the solution. This solution is an interesting instrument in the times of COVID-19.
The German company has developed a virtual reality conference room for companies in which it is possible to work together in real time. Decentralized team members can work together on digital prototypes and other product development processes. It is possible to import e.g. 3D CAD data into the VR conference room, to take e.g. measurements or photos and to discuss changes of the virtual prototype.
People come together in a virtual space and feel as if they are really there. In this solution, they can work with interactive whiteboards, virtual stickers, and 3D drawings. The functions for viewing and editing three-dimensional CAD objects are particularly interesting for product development teams. In many cases, the production of physical prototypes can be unnecessary, which saves a great deal of time and money. This thinking is how the idea of the virtual reality conference system crystallized.
Hence the focus of the software is to enable CAD engineers to engage their stakeholders in the development process by providing a simple and intuitive real-time collaboration platform. This is specifically designed to meet the stakeholders needs so that especially engineering companies can face the challenges of an ever-increasing demand for innovative technology designs from a growing international client-base.
While international expansion promises great upside potential for companies, at the same time it puts the product development and design teams in a difficult position, as collaborating on new designs across multiple locations and a diverse group of stakeholders is challenging with the current set of tools at their disposal. Accordingly, there is a need in the market for a collaboration solution that addresses the niche needs of these engineering teams, which are not properly addressed through traditional virtual business meeting tools currently available in the market.
To address this issue the company has developed a virtual reality collaboration suite, which specifically caters to needs of engineering teams and enables them to collaborate on designs in real-time in an intuitive, immersive and interactive fashion.
The company is looking for partners for commercial agency agreements. Potential partners can be product lifecycle management providers, advanced visualisation providers or technology consultants who can either act as lead brokers or full service providers.
Advantages & innovations
-> Reduced lead times in product development.
Easy access to various prototype designs during the product development process on a digital basis, leading to a reduced need to create physical prototypes for face-to-face discussions.
An intuitive and simple user experience allows for more frequent touch points throughout the development process with both customers and management, leading to less required iterations due to shorter and more precise feedback loops.
Higher customer engagement through ad-hoc updates.
An intuitive and simple design and virtual meeting environment allow for customers and key stakeholders to be engaged and updated quickly and frequently.
-> Reduction of travel and opportunity costs.
As existing conference software does not provide an adequate environment to discuss and work on new designs across a team of multiple engineers and also non-technical stakeholders, teams still frequently come together from different locations for face-to-face workshops and meetings.
The need for travel and face-to-face meetings can be significantly reduced by giving product development teams a tool which allows them to collaborate directly in their 3D design process.
-> Less operational and organizational hassle due to international expansion.
While an international presence is becoming increasingly important to acquire new markets and be close to customers, expanding to a new location is tied to significant operational and organizational challenges.
This hassle can be reduced, by giving teams intuitive and accessible design tools, designed specifically to aid in collaborating across multiple distant locations.
Through increased customer engagement and involvement during the development and design process, a higher degree of customer satisfaction can be guaranteed.
Stage of development
Already on the market
Partner sought
The German company is looking for partners for commercial agency agreements in the CAD and engineering industries to drive the growth of the cutting-edge VR CAD collaboration platform. The partner should have deep knowledge and expertise in the CAD software landscape, specifically with regard to product lifecycle management (PLM), design and visualisation solutions.
Types of partners sought:
The partners should be interested in expanding their existing portfolio by reselling the German company’s platform.
The German company’s partners generally have diverse backgrounds. However, the profile of a new partner typically falls into one of three categories - PLM providers, advanced visualisation providers, or technology consultants.
Product lifecycle management (PLM) providers already offer a wide range of CAD Software products. By partnering with the German company, they can provide customers with an out-of-the-box integrated CAD VR platform, which can be used in several different departments and application scenarios.
Advanced visualisation providers (AVP) are typically focused on delivering hardware-based solutions in the form of Powerwall, CAVE or HMD Solutions. Through this cooperation they would expand from their hardware-based service model to a full-stack service model, which allows them to provide both the enabling hardware, as well as the software solutions that run on it.
Technology consultants advise companies from the engineering industry on how to implement digital innovations in their existing workflows. Through this cooperation they would extend their service from simply advising on where to look for new innovations, to also providing and guiding their implementation directly.
Role of partners:
The partner could either act as lead broker or full service provider:
Lead brokers look for and refer new leads from their existing network or customer portfolio to the German company. They serve as the face of the transaction while the product demo, contractual agreements, onboarding, service, and fulfillment are entirely provided by the German company. For each successful transaction referred by the partner, the partner receive a share of the revenues.
Full-service providers (FSP) own the entire customer journey. The partners acquire their own leads, pitch the product and sign the customer directly in their own name. Additionally, the partners provide the first-level support for new customers. The German company continues to provide second and third-level support for the customers.