Introduction

One of the important classes of information that HOOPS Exchange allows you to access from a CAD file is the Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) which is attached to the 3D model. PMI details the tolerances that a model should be manufactured to. In the past, this information was referred to as Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) and it was typically maintained in separate drawings that were associated with the model.

The separation of the manufacturing information from the model meant that manufacturing information had to be generally read by a person who was a barrier to automation. Having the manufacturing tolerances associated with the model rather than a separate drawing meant a broad range of manufacturing processes could be more easily automated. These include the generation of cost estimates for manufacturing to the validation of parts being machined to required tolerances by CMM machines.

For more information, check out our forum post.