DISCUS Desktop is the foundation module of the DISCUS tools that run on a Windows workstation. This is the only required component and you can consider all of the other modules as optional add-ons.

DISCUS Desktop enables you to manage the Technical Data Package (TDP) and identify characteristics and requirements from 2D drawings and specification documents. Other DISCUS modules can be added to provide the ability to capture results (DISCUS Results), to open and interrogate 3D CAD models (DISCUS 3D), and to create detailed in-process inspection plans (DISCUS Planner).

The simple concept behind DISCUS Desktop is that you have multiple documents in a TDP that contain the specific part characteristics that need to be identified and verified. Rather than wasting hours manually ballooning drawings & documents, and typing the requirements into various forms, DISCUS gives you a tool (DISCUS IDA™) that enables you to easily identify and tag these requirements, and generate a consolidated master list of requirements known as the “Bill of Characteristics”.

You start DISCUS Desktop by opening the 2D part drawing and any associated requirement documents (e.g., material and process specifications), and establishing some overview information.

DISCUS IDA™ will drop balloons and capture the annotations that represent the requirements. DISCUS automatically generates the associated Bill of Characteristics.

When you’re done ballooning, simply export the ballooned drawing to a PDF file and the characteristic data (You can use the requirement images, or convert it to structured format) to the Customers’ Excel or Net-Inspect format.

If you have DISCUS Connect, it’s even easier because all of the information maintained in a TDP is automatically saved to the iTDP Server. Since it is seamless, there is no importing and exporting required.