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Lattice Technology Releases Chapters 11 and 12 of its New Lean Manufacturing Book, Available Free of Charge

Case Studies Show How The Japan Space Agency, JAXA, Uses XVL For Operations on the International Space Station and How 3D User Manuals Have Taken Hold at Digital Soken

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct 20, 2009 -- Lattice Technology Inc., developers of digital manufacturing applications using the XVL® format, today released Chapters 11 and 12 of the new book, “Improving Lean Manufacturing Through 3D Data” by Dr. Hiroshi Toriya.

First published in Japan in late 2008, this book is targeted at manufacturing executives and educators trying out new strategies to build greater productivity and efficiencies into existing manufacturing processes. The book covers a wide range of case studies from leading Japanese manufacturers, along with recent survey data, to build understanding of how manufacturing can be enhanced using 3D data in downstream processes. It also explains the evolution of 3D and IT in the industry, and shows how it can be leveraged into other areas of manufacturing that are still using traditional processes.

Chapter 11 shows how Digital Soken, a division of Digital General Printing in Japan, delivers services and consulting to manufacturers who want to cut costs and streamline global operations through 3D technical documentation. Digital Soken delivers services such as creating illustrations directly from customers’ 3D data, delivering 3D assembly instructions to a manufacturer’s global operations long before a product is launched, through to advising manufacturers on how to improve their 3D design data for downstream use. The company believes that this kind of documentation is the media of the very near future for manufacturers.

JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency, is featured in Chapter 12 as a shining example of how XVL delivers critical information, easily, to dispersed groups. Japan’s Kibo experiment platform is now operational on the International Space Station, and will provide the base for zero-gravity experiments over the next 10 years. The experiment platform has more than 2 million parts, all designed in 3D CAD. Having transferred the CAD data to XVL, and implemented the data in a 3D Search database, operations staff and engineers on the ground and at many global locations can quickly identify specific faulty parts, see them in 3D, view operational data, and assist astronauts with repairs, while continuing to add critical maintenance and operations information into the database.

To find out more, view selected pages and to register to download the book, visit Lattice Technology’s Book Resources page.

About Dr. Toriya

Dr. Hiroshi Toriya is the president and CEO of Lattice Technology, which was founded in 1997 with a mission to deliver very lightweight 3D viewing technology. His career started after he graduated from Tokyo University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in science, and began development work at Ricoh building a solid modeling kernel as part of Prof. Chiyokura’s team. Dr. Toriya then built the team at Ricoh that supported, sold and further developed the resulting DESIGNBASE kernel. In 1989 Dr. Toriya gained his PhD on the strength of his thesis “A study of an Interactive Solid Modeler Containing Free-form Surfaces”. He was appointed president and CEO of Lattice Technology in 1999.

Dr. Toriya has previously published 2 books, both in Japanese and English, titled "3D CAD principles and applications", (Springer-Verlag) and "3D Manufacturing Innovation", (Springer-Verlag). This latest book, “Improving Lean Manufacturing Through 3D Data” is also available in hard cover, in Japanese, from JIPM Solutions.

About Lattice Technology, Inc.

Founded in 1997 with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and San Francisco, USA, Lattice Technology provides global companies with proven digital manufacturing solutions for 2D/3D design data across the manufacturing enterprise. With Lattice Technology’s XVL applications, engineers and manufacturers can perform design review, simulate assembly processes, automate creation of 3D parts lists / BOM s and create animations with even the largest 3D assemblies. Lattice's standards based XVL (eXtensible Virtual world description Language) technology provides secure, highly accurate and compressed 3D files that can be used, shared and easily supported by partners, suppliers, and internal departments in a lightweight browser-based solution. XVL is unmatched in performance, compression and accuracy. For more information, visit www.lattice3d.com.

XVL, Lattice Technology are registered trademarks of Lattice Technology. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.