Visually depicting relationships between parts of a concept design

A non-transitory computer readable media having one or more instructions thereon for collaboration using a visualization application, the instructions when executed by one or more processors performing the acts of:

• storing, performed by a computer system, mappings of one or more Computer Aided Design (CAD) files to parts of a product;
• rendering, in a user interface on a display screen, an image of a concept design of the product that depicts the parts assembled with respect to each other, wherein the rendering is performed by the computer system and based directly on the one or more CAD files;
• associating, performed by the computer system, visual indicators with the concept design of the product, wherein there is a one to one correspondence between the visual indicators and the parts and wherein each of the visual indicators pertains to a relationship between the part associated with that visual indicator and other parts of the concept design of the product;
• for each of the parts, overlaying, in the user interface on the display screen, the visual indicator associated with a respective part, wherein the overlaying is performed by the computer system;
• comparing, performed by the computer system, actual object data for a particular part of the concept design with target data for the product, wherein the particular part represents an assembled part of the product and is a subset of the concept design;
• storing, performed by the computer system, a difference between the actual object data and the target data as business intelligence data associated with the particular part, wherein the difference pertains to distribution of weight across the product;
• displaying, performed by the computer system, the difference in the user interface on the display screen;
• receiving a request to change a specified part of the product;
• automatically determining alternative part options;
• and
• collaborating on changing the distribution of weight across the product, at least in part, by sending the alternative part options to other users of the computer system, wherein the distribution of weight across the product is changed by replacing the specified part with one of the alternative part options.

An apparatus for overlaying business intelligence data on a product design visualization, the apparatus comprising:

• a computer readable memory;
• one or more processors of a computer system;
• and
• logic encoded in one or more tangible media for execution by the one or more processors for:
• storing, performed by the computer system, mappings of one or more Computer Aided Design (CAD) files to parts of a product;
• rendering, in a user interface on a display screen, an image of a concept design of the product that depicts the parts assembled with respect to each other, wherein the rendering is performed by the computer system and based directly on the one or more CAD files;
• associating, performed by the computer system, visual indicators with the concept design of the product, wherein there is a one to one correspondence between the visual indicators and the parts and wherein each of the visual indicators pertains to a relationship between the part associated with that visual indicator and other parts of the concept design of the product;
• for each of the parts, overlaying, in the user interface on the display screen, the visual indicator associated with a respective part, wherein the overlaying is performed by the computer system;
• comparing, performed by the computer system, actual object data for a particular part of the concept design with target data for the product, wherein the particular part represents an assembled part of the product and is a subset of the concept design;
• storing, performed by the computer system, a difference between the actual object data and the target data as business intelligence data associated with the particular part, wherein the difference pertains to distribution of weight across the product;
• displaying, performed by the computer system, the difference in the user interface on the display screen;
• receiving a request to change a specified part of the product;
• automatically determining alternative part options;
• and
• collaborating on changing the distribution of weight across the product, at least in part, by sending the alternative part options to other users of the computer system, wherein the distribution of weight across the product is changed by replacing the specified part with one of the alternative part options.