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Using standard and catalog parts in new designs is a good practice that must be encouraged. TracePartsOnline.net offers a choice among millions of component from which you can download 3D models.

A component can be found on the site in different ways. You can enter the Part number directly if you know it. But if you don’t, TraceParts propose the ICS classification or to filter by the name of the supplier or by using one or more key words and launch a Text-based Search. For these methods, TraceParts returns a list of product families. You can analyze them and select a family in this list and finally select a specific component from a supplier. You can then download its 3D model in your preferred CAD format.

This approach is not always the panacea. For example, if you use a text-based search approach your results will be very dependent on the language you selected. Handle, Griff or Poignée, although being similar words in English, German and French will return very different catalog choices.  Once you have located a component if you want an alternate component you have to go through the same process with another manufacturer, assuming you know a competing supplier, or find the key words in a different language to see if there are other components available. This can become rapidly time-consuming and chances are you will often stick to the first component you found.

This is where 3DPartFinder comes into play.

Using strictly the shape and size of the selected component, 3DPartFinder walks through millions of parts on the site and displays in 3D the most similar ones coming from different catalogs than the reference component. In a few seconds, 3DPartFinder presents the results in a 3D viewer ranked by similarity. The identical components or “substitution parts” appears in yellow, nearby duplicates or “quasi-substitution parts” in red and other similar components we found of interest in green. All these components are ordered according to their similarity in size and shape to the reference model.

3DPartFinder gives you instant access to the best components tailored to your request among all of the offers available on the site. Who says better?

I invite you to explore the capabilities of 3DPartFinder in the TraceParts portal and share with us your experience on the social network or by adding comments to this blog. Please be curious and navigate our web site to find out how 3DPartFinder can help you and your company to accelerate product development while reducing cost!

So why did we decided to integrate 3DPartFinder to the TraceParts portal? I guess it is all about giving you choices!