The CAD Platform Making Monday Mornings Less Painful

TL;DR: Onshape, PTC's modern cloud-native CAD and PDM platform, delivers automatic BOMs, Git-style branching, real-time collaboration, and infinite version history with no file management headaches. Real companies report productivity gains, thousands in annual savings, and cost reductions. Learn exactly which features are fueling these improvements to product development.

You know that Monday morning feeling – checking if someone saved their Friday changes, hunting for the right file version, waiting for someone to check in the assembly you need, discovering work was lost over the weekend. What if none of that happened anymore?

Rory Aronson, CEO and founder of FarmBot, puts it simply: “Shifting to Onshape was very much like the shift from desktop word processing to Google Docs. All of a sudden, the power of collaboration was unlocked.”

That comparison isn’t an exaggeration. It’s what actually happens when CAD software is built for the cloud from the ground up.

Here are the CAD features that prove it. Not theoretical capabilities. Real functionality that engineering teams use daily to work faster, collaborate better, and ship products without the chaos.

1. In-Context CAD Commenting

You can annotate directly on geometry – faces, edges, features. Comment threads stay attached to specific parts through every revision. If someone asks, for example, “Why did we use this fillet radius?” six months later, the discussion is right there on the model, not buried in some email thread you'll never find.

TECH TIP: Comments in Onshape

Formlabs runs product development globally. Head of Sustaining Engineering and Quality Matt Lipsitz put it simply: “I need to be able to show them the latest CAD model in a matter of seconds” to colleagues in different time zones. No more screenshot attachments that are instantly outdated.

The comment history becomes part of your documentation. Future engineers (or future you) can see not just what was built, but the engineering rationale behind it.

2. Git-Style Branching and Merging for CAD

If you’ve used Git for code, this works the same way for CAD. A branch creates an isolated workspace from any version without file duplication. Changes in the branch remain separate from the main design until merge.

READ: 11 Ways CAD Teams Can Leverage Branching and Merging

California-based FarmBot saw 50% to 100% productivity gains. “When we need to get parts to our manufacturers or need to make a prototype on the 3D printer, we do things a lot quicker in Onshape,” says Aronson.

You can actually experiment with that weight reduction idea without worrying you’ll break the production design. Version control isn’t something you bolt on, it’s how the system works.

3. An Improved Real-Time Multi-User Experience

File locking is eliminated, allowing multiple engineers to edit the same assembly or part simultaneously. Geometry changes propagate across all active sessions in real time. Follow Mode provides view synchronization and cursor tracking, allowing one user to observe another's workflow directly.

TECH TIP: Follow Mode

“I've got a guy working on a drawing,” said Command Tooling’s Chuck Berg, “and at the same time, three or four people can be in the same part making corrections immediately.”

This matters when you’re trying to hit a deadline. The PDM check-in/check-out bottleneck just doesn’t exist.

4. Complete CAD Version History

Onshape’s version control system automatically captures every click, drag, and feature edit in real-time. The platform maintains history that allows engineers to navigate through any previous state and server models instantly. This continuous save architecture eliminates the traditional file-based versioning that leads to lost work and confusion between team members.

“We used to have problems even with one engineer because human error always comes into play,” said VIKASO's Director Vaibhav Boricha. “The biggest pitfall is not being able to go back to previous versions quickly."

The old workflow was manually saving files as V1, V2, V3. Mistakes happened. Work got lost. Now every change is written to a database as you make it. Power failure mid-edit? Your work is already saved.

5. Infinite Restore

The restore capability in Onshape enables designers to revert their entire workspace to any previous point in the document’s history, not just view it. Visual comparison tools highlight geometric differences between states – additions appear in green, removals in red – allowing engineers to preview changes before committing to a restore.

TECH TIP: Comparing Design Changes

The traditional approach required manual backups and complex file management to recover from mistakes. Engineers would lose hours recreating work after accidental deletions or flawed design decisions. Now any state can be restored instantly, whether it’s recovering a deleted part, reverting a failed design experiment, or selectively bringing back features from earlier iterations while keeping recent improvements in other tabs.

6. Instant Sharing via URL

Onshape’s URL-based sharing system eliminates traditional file transfer complexity by providing direct browser access to CAD models. Users can generate links with granular permissions (view-only or edit), and recipients can access designs without CAD licenses for viewing, file downloads, or version management concerns.

TECH TIP: Share Your Document With a Link

“Onshape lets us instantly share our CAD models with our partners so they can review them in real time,” said Rafal Pijewski, co-founder and CTO of Actronika, a haptic technology pioneer. “We just send them a link and they can view, turn and zoom in on any detail. Getting feedback is much quicker.’’

7. Automated Bill of Materials (BOMs)

The BOM functionality in Onshape derives directly from assembly data, ensuring automatic synchronization between design changes and documentation. Interactive features allow users to click any row for corresponding 3D part highlighting, while export options to Excel remain available for external processes.

8. Built-In Release Management

Release management capabilities within Onshape include native approval workflows that track reviewer actions, timestamps, and revision changes without requiring separate PDM systems. The integrated system allows part selection, approver assignment, and review submission through a unified interface with full traceability.

“One of our carpenters finished a task,” said Felipe Polido, co-founder and Head of Technology at Reframe Systems. “And noted that there was a call out missing. One of our designers noticed that and within basically nine minutes updated the drawings, re-released it, and it was back on the floor with the right fix.”

The difference isn’t just speed but the elimination of friction. No separate PDM to purchase, configure, or maintain. Release management is built into the same system where design happens, making iteration cycles measured in minutes rather than business days.

Beyond the Feature List

Yes, these features deliver measurable results, but here’s what you’re actually buying when you switch to cloud-native CAD:

• Peace of mind. No more panic over lost work. No more confusion about which version is correct. No more waiting for file check-ins when you're on a deadline.
• Time back. Time your engineers currently spend on IT overhead, manual BOM updates, and creating workarounds for version control. Time they could spend designing.
• Competitive edge. Your competitors aren't waiting for file check-ins anymore. They're iterating faster, collaborating in real-time, and shipping products while you're still resolving version conflicts.
• Team satisfaction. Engineers want tools that work with them, not against them. They want to collaborate the way they collaborate on everything else – in real-time, with full visibility, without friction.

Onshape helps to deliver all of that. These features are not nice-to-haves. They’re the difference between engineering teams that thrive and teams that fight their tools.