Solution Model Player
Challenges
USE CASE OVERVIEW
Siemens offers its customers a wide range of different solutions that cover the entire spectrum from conception and design to implementation, testing and operation. In order to maintain an overview of all the topics and to organise them sensibly into subject areas, Siemens has implemented the so-called Solution Model. This allows Siemens’ solutions to be summarised and built upon one another using a thread, the digital thread.
The Solution Model Player was created to bring this wealth of solutions to life at trade fairs, in real or virtual showrooms, as well as on the customer’s own initiative, using the Digital Thread. What makes it special: the data and structures were already available as part of the automation for the web and sales player and had to be generically mapped by the Solution Model Player as a thread. In contrast to the sober information visualisation of the web and sales player, the focus here was also on a certain emotionality: customers should be able to experience the solutions and visually integrate them into the various areas.
OUR PROCEDURE
After much positive feedback on the use of WebGL in the Booth Navigator, the use of this technology for the development of the Solution Model Player was a given from the outset. An application concept was developed that allows both 2D and 3D visualisation of the content. In addition, the concept allows for a clear presentation of the subject areas using the digital thread, but also makes it possible to immerse oneself in the topics and explore them by zooming in and out.
When designing the underlying data and structures, the focus was on reusing existing automation concepts for trade fairs and showrooms. The result is impressive: as Siemens structures its trade fairs using the Solution Model, for example, the Solution Model content automatically converted into web and sales player structures can be reused 1-to-1 for the Solution Model Player. What it displays is determined solely by the data. These specify how many elements the digital thread contains and also determine the scope of the display on the levels below. The Solution Model Player is therefore a genuine add-on for trade fairs and showrooms, for which there is no additional work involved in maintaining the data.
RESULTS
The Solution Model Player was used for the first time at the Hannover Messe 2024 and made available to individual divisions there, with resounding success: above all, the data-oriented approach paired with 3D elements met with great approval. The Solution Model Player provides Siemens with a tool that visualises the data already available in the systems in an appealing way at no additional cost and thus provides ideal support for customer discussions. It is therefore the perfect complement to the pure information tool Web- and Salesplayer, as it tells a story through the arrangement and visualisation and makes the connections between the various Siemens solutions comprehensible.
Status quo
The Solution Model Player is currently being prepared for widespread use at trade fairs and in showrooms. As the application is easy to scale, there are many ideas for further developments and the expansion of areas of application: from remote control of the player using a guide tablet for seamless use in showrooms, to reloading your own 3D models within the digital thread and all underlying levels, to a fully responsive 2D version for the mobile sector, the task packages have already been put together for the long term.
