Technology designed to improve safety and reduce training costs is set to revolutionise technical publications for companies in the manufacturing and assembly industries.

Companies using CAD and CAM systems in the manufacturing, engineering, oil rig, and automotive, assembly sectors can reap significant benefits from revolutionary technology designed by Terotek.

The brand new technology, which can be produced quickly and cost effectively, allows businesses to reduce costs, enhance maintenance processes for machinery and products, and improve health & safety standards.

Terotek has developed a simple PDF document that combines traditional instructions with animated 3D models. The product, eManuals 3D, enables users to interact with the 3D animation to learn and practice tasks. Animation can also be employed as a user guide for manufacturing and maintenance operations.

Peter Stuttard, Managing Director, at Terotek, said: "Augmented reality has gained a lot of press coverage in recent weeks. Terotek's eManuals 3D is the first step towards augmented reality and is fully functional right now."

"The uses of the eManuals 3D are endless. They are designed to be affordable as well as cost effective for every organisation, whether you are a large multi-national or an SME," added Mr Stuttard.

eManuals 3D also allow users to highlight warnings to ensure safety or particular precision at critical stages in the manufacturing or maintenance task.

In addition it is also possible to integrate both text and data with the 3D animation to create both an animated user guide and an illustrated parts catalogue. Until now, this type of advanced document has required computer-based training and these are often time-consuming and costly.

"On top of this, expensive software has been required to develop and run the programs," said Peter Stuttard. "Our technology has changed all that. Terotek's eManuals 3D is a single PDF file that can play on any computer or smartphone using Adobe's Reader software which can be downloaded for free."

Terotek can create eManuals 3D either by using existing CAD models and task instructions, using a laser scanner to capture the physical shapes, or by building up the model from scratch using digital photographs.

Peter Stuttard added: "The whole process can be completed quickly and at a fraction of the cost of traditional technical publications. There is also the potential to develop mini-training applets for specific tasks quickly to meet immediate needs."