Deutsche GROVE GmbH is a member of the Manitowoc Group, which has 5,600 employees worldwide in the ship repair, cooling technology and construction machinery sectors. In the crane sector, the range of products comprises approximately 175 models  (e.g. caterpillar, revolving tower, truck, all-terrain and mobile cranes).

Deutsche GROVE, with a production site in Wilhelmshaven, produces mobile cranes and is the world's leading manufacturer of all-terrain cranes, i.e. mobile cranes that can be used on both paved and unpaved surfaces. A wide range of additional equipment that guarantees maximum versatility for the customer (e.g. boom extensions, heavy load extensions, boom bracing, etc.) tops off the product line.

Continuous developments and innovations in the area of high-tech mobile cranes necessitate documentation with high standards. Customers around the world should be provided with extensive information and instructions, i.e. they receive not only manuals for the operation, maintenance and care of the machines, but also detailed catalogs for the purchase of spare parts. The documentation is CE-compliant and is prepared in accordance with the requirements of EC directives. Deutsche GROVE GmbH places special emphasis on a user-friendly layout, which reflects a high degree of customer satisfaction. This user-friendly layout is the result of a structure that is adapted to practical use. The actions to be taken are represented clearly with a combination of text and illustrations, and the user is aided by cross-references, tables of contents and indexes. These individual elements of the documentation are completely interlinked at the time of creation, so that they can be used directly not only in the printed manual, but also in the electronic version. Electronic versions range from PDF files to an electronic spare parts catalog on CD-ROM and access on the Intranet/Internet. The preparation of this complex, high-quality documentation requires not only qualified personnel, but also the use of powerful software for DTP and the creation of illustrations. For this reason, Deutsche GROVE GmbH has been using IsoDraw from ITEDO for its illustrations since 1991. In addition, IsoDraw CADprocess has been in use since the year 2000, so that it is now possible to use the 3-D design data from IDEAS in the documentation department.

How important the software capabilities can be for a company like Deutsche GROVE GmbH becomes clear when one takes a closer look at the process of creating the documentation. In addition to the time saved in creating graphics, the quality of the presentation is a significant factor. The entire documentation for a crane like the GMK has an average size of about 5,500 pages, including 500 images in isometric representation for the spare parts catalog and approximately 650 images of various representations for other instructions. These representations comprise pictograms, 2-D schemas, individual isometric components, exploded drawings and also highly complex general plans. In order to efficiently meet the high demand for graphics, Deutsche GROVE recognized the importance of reusing 2-D construction data for the documentation with the help of IsoDraw early on. In this way, the time-consuming and cost-intensive process of drawing isometric representations from scratch could be reduced significantly. After the introduction of IDEAS 3D, they looked for a way to use the available complete 3-D models from the construction phase for the documentation. After all, why create new drawings of nearly everything, if the data is already completely available in 3-D? The purchase of IsoDraw CADprocess from ITEDO opened entirely new capabilities for Deutsche GROVE in the area of Technical Illustration. The 3-D data is not only imported to IsoDraw; it is also possible to create the illustrations in the required parts position, automatically generate the line weights (thick/thin) and automatically delete hidden lines. This makes the process significantly more economical than the manual creation of a new 3-D drawing, even if some revision is occasionally necessary. Therefore, a larger number of required illustrations can be created in the same amount of time and in a variety of views, e.g. the crane in working position (see illustration).

The various filters integrated in the software make it possible to directly import the illustrations, without loss of data, into the DTP programs used by Deutsche GROVE (e.g. to CGM, JPG or other formats), or into other drawing programs (e.g. in AI format) and edit them, if necessary. All required replacements parts catalogs, operating manuals, maintenance manuals, load classification tables etc. can be created using diverse applications, such as Freehand, FrameMaker, Acrobat, internal databases and IsoView. Depending on the individual regulations and customer requirements, these documents are provided on paper, as PDF files or spare parts catalogs on CD-ROM, or published on the Internet for authorized users.

The hotspot technology of IsoDraw is important for the electronic publishing of the documentation, because the interactivity of the illustrations thus achieved is an important contribution to the desired user friendliness of the electronic catalogs. IsoView, the vector-based viewer from ITEDO, is used to display the images. In this way, the illustrations created with IsoDraw can be used directly, i.e. it is not necessary to create new file formats, which is another cost-saving factor. The quality factor is decisive in this respect as well. The interaction of IsoDraw and IsoView enables the customer to zoom into the images without loss of quality, like the stair effect of pixel images. Moreover, the interaction between the image and the parts list enables a graphic navigation when searching for and ordering spare parts. This is particularly applicable with Internet connection with spare parts management.

The adjacent illustration shows the new GMK 7450 in working position. The individual components were imported as IGES files from IDEAS into CADprocess and rotated into the required isometric axis. Furthermore, the bracing was "extended" and the main boom "uprighted". Afterwards, all components were "released". These components were adjusted and assembled in IsoDraw. Missing components were added. The result is a high-quality illustration, which shows even greatly reduced details clearly. This is especially important if one considers the size of the GMK 7450: In the depicted working position, the GMK 7450 is approximately 9 m wide, 20 m long and 19 m high!   Graphics: Deutsche GROVE GmbH