# Quantitative Model for the Value of the 3D Product Model Use in Production Processes
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Total Value of Implementing the 3D Product Model in Production and Assembly Processes  
The industry respondents who have implemented the 3D product model in their production and assembly processes indicated five categories in which they were gaining value through that implementation. The total quantitative value gained on a given production line by implementing the 3D product model into a production process can then be shown as:  
\[V_{m}=\text{total value gained for production line }m\text{ by using 3D product models in the production process:}\] \[V_{m}=P_{T_{m}}+P_{U_{m}}+P_{W_{m}}+P_{Q_{m}} \tag{31}\]  
These equations that the research team developed and applied for determining the quantitative value of implementing the 3D product model in the production and assembly processes were then translated into a graphical user interface that allows for industry and academia alike to input the key independent variables and calculates the results that implementing the 3D product model will create. This user interface is shown in Figure 2.  
The research team used the quantitative model equations outlined in the Materials and Methods section of this paper to develop the associated graphical user interface tool (shown in Figure 2) to simplify the translations of the data inputs to the quantitative value outputs. The research team then used the graphical user interface in a series of interviews with industry experts engaged in industrial and systems engineering leadership in for-profit manufacturing enterprises. The cells in the graphical user interface in Figure 2 that are gray are generated based on numerical calculations developed in this paper. The cells that are blank and highlighted in color are where inputs that are gathered through interviews with industry experts are entered. The purpose of the interviews were for the companies to provide the inputs to the model, which would then generate the representative output of the value that deploying the 3D product model in the production process would/did create. These results were then calibrated against the industry experts understanding of the value the 3D product model created or would create when deployed to the production and assembly processes. Note that the nature of the organizations surveyed are such that all other variables were not able to be held constant when deploying the 3D product model to the production and assembly process. The objective was to complete applied research in which the quantitative model was utilized in a production setting. As indicated in the conclusion, further research in this area can be conducted that further isolates variables that impact value generated for an organization so that additional certainty can be gained around the correlation of the implementation of the 3D product model in assembly and production processes and the associated financial benefit the company realizes.  
Prior to analyzing the survey results, the research team's hypothesis was that the quantitative model would show the greatest value generation in each identified area (accuracy of assignment of the right parts, tools, work allocation, and work instructions; faster new product/model roll out to production; less time updating work instructions; quicker operator training; smoother transition for field use) to a similar magnitude as the qualitative results had showed in the prior research. Thus, as an example, accuracy of assignment of the right parts, tools, work allocation, and work instructions would show value that was 50% greater than the quantitative value generated in any of the four other value areas.  
Figure 2: The 3D Product Model Value in Production Process—Quantitative Model Input Sheet.