Alright, I'm sitting in on the Vuuch Webinar this morning. Their tag line is "Put the Power of Social to Work" so I am interested to hear what that's all about. The name is pronounced "vooch."
The company is headed up by Chis Williams, who you might know made a mint from selling his previous company Seemage to Dassault Systèmes.
Founded in 2009; want to create a solution to mechanical so compelling that you want to reach for it first. Based in Wayland MA USA near Boston. Boston is turning into quite the CAD hub, with PTC, SolidWorks, Revit, and other firms in that area.
Alex Neihaus is telling us that people are using computers for simple task lists; and then emailing these lists. So, what is different about Vuuch? It is...
1. Social technology that understands products.
2. Understands lists, people, and the connections between people and their work.
It tries to make teamwork using social technology a natural extension to existing CAD and PLM software.
Demo
Vuuch creates a Web page for each part being tracking from design to manufacturing. Two basic concepts in Vuuch are (a) Pages represents the part being delivered; and (b) Activities are things that need to be done.
For example, the project manager might work in Outlook and the Web, and gets a summary of what is happening with the project. Vuuch adds a panel to Outlook, displaying a number of folders that track the project. Drag emails from Outlook into the appropriate category in the Vuuch panel. Right-click an item, and the choose Go To Web to view the parts in a Web page.
The Web page shows the part, as well as the project's progress in a number of categories, such as Activities, Shout Outs, People, Properties and History. The project manager can assign tasks to designers and others, and attach files.
Switching over to the designer...
The designer sees the list of tasks that have been assigned to him, or things he hasn't deal with yet. He can create his own customized pages within Vuuch's Web interface to track his own progress.
The demo has switched to SolidWorks, which also has a Vuuch panel as part of its user interface. The panel is kind of like a feature tree, but also contains the notes and other info made by the designer and others on the design team.
Vuuch panel is at right, running in SolidWorks.
Overlapping dialog box is a note that the designer is adding to the project.
(Click for full-resolution image)
For example, the designer is notes that a mounting hole might develop a crack, and adds a note to the Vuuch folder structure -- which is also seen by those to whom the note is directed.
Vuuch can be added to many programs, such as AutoCAD, Microsoft Office, Pro/E, SolidWorks, Inventor, PDF, and so on.
Q&A
Q: Can the data collected by Vuuch be exported in a neutral format?
A: Yes; data can be exported to a PDF package, including the entire discussion thread. The open API can extract all data into other software.
Q: Can Vuuch work with other software?
A: Yes, the API lets it work with "any" software, if you write the link; the AutoCAD one was written by a developer in Sweden. Takes about a week.
Q: How is Vuuch charged?
A: People who create Pages pay; people who access Pages do not. There is no charge for bandwidth. Since it is a SaaS [software as a service], you have to have access to the Internet.
Q: Can Vuuch be run inside the firewall?
A: You can install a Vuuch server, and are charged on a subscription basis. You can switch back and forth, from SaaS to inside the firewall, and back.
Q: How is access controlled?
A: It is simple: Whether or not you are invited to a page; and whether or not activities are private, team-related, or public -- and public is really public. This is a break from old-style (with complex sets of permissions) to new-style social technology.
Q: Are time-reporting activities available?
A: We are working on it.
Q: Can custom forms be created?
A: Through Pages, you can create your own page types. One customer has the entire assembly process through Vuuch Pages. Another has created product-specific pages. Two different ways of looking at parts and data.
Q: Where does the name Vuuch come from?
A: It is a name that can be used as a verb -- "to vuuch." Also, wanted a non-engineering name; based on "vouch" [personal assurance].
And we're done!
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