The Future of Technical Data Packages: Solving the Data Distribution Dilemma

Summary: Modern Technical Data Packages (TDP) must support multiple delivery needs. Programs require MIL-STD-compliant 3D PDFs, secure web collaboration, and portable HTML for offline access. The future of TDPs is format flexibility delivered from a single model-centric publishing foundation that enables scalable digital engineering and model-based enterprise.

For years, conversations about Technical Data Packages have focused on format, raising questions about the best format to use.

Should organizations move beyond PDFs?
Should everything be web-based?
Should files disappear entirely?

But the future of Technical Data Packages is not about choosing one format over another. It is about delivering the right model-based data, in the right form, for every use case.

The New Reality for Manufacturers

Today’s manufacturers operate in highly distributed environments. Product definition must move across internal teams, suppliers, partners, regulators, and field organizations. Engineering, manufacturing, quality, procurement, and sustainment all rely on the same authoritative information. But they do not work in the same systems, networks, or operating environments.

Some users collaborate in connected enterprise platforms. Others work in supplier networks with limited access. Still others operate in secure, air-gapped, or resource-constrained environments.

As a result, organizations are being asked to deliver high-fidelity product data in multiple ways so stakeholders can access authoritative information where they work and when they need it.

This is the operational reality of model-based enterprise and digital engineering. And it has created a growing data distribution dilemma.

The Data Distribution Dilemma

Most organizations have already invested heavily in creating model-based data through CAD, PLM, and digital engineering initiatives. The challenge is no longer creating the data. The challenge is distribution. So the questions you have to ask yourself are how do you:

Deliver contract-required technical data in compliant formats?
Enable real-time collaboration across internal and external teams?
Share complex models with partners who do not have access to your systems?
Support users working in secure, disconnected, or constrained environments?
Move large assemblies and rich product data quickly and efficiently?

No single delivery method solves all of these problems. Yet, modern programs must support multiple delivery requirements at the same time.

Three Essential Delivery Needs

Across aerospace, defense, and industrial manufacturing, three core delivery needs consistently emerge.

1. Contract Deliverables (MIL-STD-31000 Compliant 3Di PDF TDP)

Many programs require formal technical data deliverables that meet regulatory or contractual standards such as MIL-STD-31000.

For this use case, 3D PDF remains the industry workhorse, providing portable, self-contained product definition that can be archived, reviewed, and delivered with confidence.

This requirement is not going away.

2. Web-Based Collaboration (File-less web-hosted TDP)

At the same time, internal teams and suppliers increasingly need access to model-based information in a secure, controlled environment.

Web-hosted Technical Data Packages enable:

Cross-functional engineering reviews
Supplier collaboration
Controlled access and version management
Real-time decision support

Web-hosted TDPs are essential for organizations working to operationalize the digital thread and align with Digital Engineering initiatives.

3. Ultra-Portable Distribution (Stand-alone HTML TDP)

There is also a growing need for lightweight, viewer-free packages that can be shared quickly and accessed anywhere.

This includes:

External partners without platform access
Field and sustainment environments
Secure or disconnected networks
Situations where file size, performance, and simplicity matter

Standalone HTML Technical Data Packages are ultra-portable and address this need by delivering rich, interactive product data in a format that runs in a standard browser with no specialized viewer.

One Publishing Engine, Multiple Outputs

Supporting multiple delivery formats often introduces new problems: Different tools, different workflows, different interpretations of the data, and increased risk of inconsistency.

The better approach is not to standardize on a single format. It is to standardize on a single source of publishing. From one authoritative model, organizations should be able to produce the formats required for every stakeholder and every environment.

At Anark, all delivery formats are generated from a single model-aware publishing engine that preserves product definition and model fidelity across outputs. From one authoritative source, organizations can produce:

MIL-STD-compliant 3D PDFs for contract deliverables
Secure, web-hosted TDPs for collaboration and controlled access
Ultra-portable standalone HTML TDPs for lightweight distribution

This approach ensures consistency, reduces risk, and allows programs to support diverse delivery needs without duplicating effort.

Building on MBD and 3D TDP Experience

This strategy is not a departure. It is an evolution. Anark brings:

Twenty years of industry-leading 3D PDF expertise
A decade of secure HTML delivery for enterprise collaboration
Deep experience supporting model-based enterprise and digital engineering initiatives

Standalone HTML publishing extends this foundation, making high-fidelity product data more accessible, more usable, and more scalable across the enterprise and supply chain.