SmartEquip and ITEDO last week joined together to automate the publishing and management of illustrations for interactive parts catalogs, maintenance and repair manuals.

Using ITEDO’s IsoDraw CADprocess technical illustration software, original equipment manufacturers can now self-publish their product support material directly from CAD data files into SmartEquip’s electronic commerce and product support applications. This speeds catalog production and can gain tremendous cost and time savings in locating and identifying aftermarket parts as well as in the accuracy of purchasing transactions, the companies said.

ITEDO software products enable the conversion of 3D data from popular CAD applications like Pro/E, Unigraphics, CATIA and I-Deas, and others into high-quality illustrations that can be automatically converted into technical illustrations containing embedded transactional logic for electronic delivery on CD-ROM or on the Internet.

Using SmartEquip technology, users can transform their technical illustrations into intelligent interactive parts catalogs that show real-time parts pricing and availability from which they can seamlessly create and submit electronic purchase orders directly into dealers’ and manufacturers’ business systems.

Equipment dealers and rental companies increase profitability through improvements in the quality of after-sales support from the manufacturer, making their equipment more valuable to own and more economical to maintain. Fleet owners increase profitability by lowering their total cost of equipment ownership and increasing utilization.

“SmartEquip technology is designed to increase equipment uptime through time savings and accuracy improvements for OEMs, dealers and their customers,” said Alex Schuessler, SmartEquip’s chairman and CEO. “Our alliance with ITEDO drives these improvements significantly further by streamlining the production and distribution of this information, so that customers can realize a higher return on investment on their equipment.”

“ITEDO has long been recognized for our advanced technology for the creation of illustrations and parts catalogs,” said Sigrid Weidenbrueck, vice president of sales, ITEDO Software. “The seamless integration with SmartEquip’s applications provides our customers now with a platform to organize and optimize their aftermarket sales process.”

ITEDO Software, based in Hennef, Germany, and Burlingame, Calif., is a leader in the field of technical illustration, serving installations at companies such as John Deere, BMW, Siemens and Liebherr.

Norwalk, Conn.-based SmartEquip provides gateway solutions for the equipment industry including equipment lifecycle management applications delivering parts, service, warranty, telematics and other essential real-time transactions across an electronic network that connects manufacturers, distributors and fleet owners.