3D Product Explorer
Visualize and interact with 3D product models from Windchill directly inside PTC Orbit to support remote diagnostics, parts identification, and spatial inspection.
Overview
Service organizations rely on accurate product understanding to diagnose issues, identify replacement parts, and train new technicians. The 3D Product Explorer bridges the gap between engineering design data in PTC Windchill and day-to-day service operations in PTC Orbit. It renders interactive 3D models of products stored in Windchill directly inside PTC Orbit by loading published PVZ files and cross-matching parts against the PTC Orbit Bill of Materials (BOM). This gives field technicians, asset managers, and engineers a visual, interactive way to explore product structures without leaving the platform or opening external CAD tools.
Three areas make up the explorer:
• Canvas area: The 3D viewport where you can rotate, zoom, and pan the model. A footer bar shows the Product Name and Product Code.
• Structure panel: A collapsible tree on the right listing every part. You can filter visibility with checkboxes, search by name, and collapse or expand the hierarchy.
• Chat window: the AI conversation panel. It can be collapsed to give the canvas full width.
Products launch from AI Hub. Ask the AI something like I want to see the Zero-Turn Mower in 3D. The AI resolves the product, shows up to three matching cards, and opens the viewer when you click one.
Use cases
• Remote diagnostics: A field technician asks the AI which product contains a specific part, then opens the 3D model to locate the component before arriving on-site.
• Parts identification: An asset manager right-clicks a part, selects Parts Used in Other Assets, and instantly sees every asset and product that uses the same component; valuable for recall campaigns.
• Spatial inspection: An engineer selects a failing part and uses Spatial Search to identify all neighboring components that may be affected, without switching to an external CAD tool.
• Training and onboarding: New technicians open the interactive Quick Guide to familiarize themselves with viewer controls, such as zoom, pan, rotate, and bounding boxes.
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