3 Things to Consider When Choosing CAD Software
With a variety of CAD software options available, choosing the right one can be a daunting task. Selecting the right CAD software can literally make or break your product design process.
According to the 2022-2023 State of Product Development and Hardware Design report, here are three of the most important factors that engineers and manufacturers consider when choosing a CAD software:
Reliability
Remote Access
Version Control (PDM)
Let’s take a look at how cloud-native Onshape – the only product development platform that combines a robust CAD system with built-in PDM and real-time collaboration tools – addresses each issue.
CAD Reliability
It’s easy for collaboration to be hindered by a number of time-wasting factors, and worst of all are CAD software crashes. CAD crashes not only waste time and cause significant frustration, but can become a huge setback for all parties involved.
2.8 hrs
Product developers waste an average of 2.8 hours per week on time lost to CAD software stability, reliability, versioning or performance.
Say goodbye to software crashes or data loss.
Onshape mitigates the risk of data loss by storing your data in the cloud where it can be accessed from anywhere, rather than on a local server. In the cloud, your data is protected from hardware failure by always having a live backup running on other machines or servers.
Remote CAD Access
In order to work as efficiently as possible, developers need to have strong lines of communication between different departments, external suppliers/manufacturers, non-CAD stakeholders, and customers.
3.4 hrs
Product developers waste an average of 3.4 hours per week locating, accessing, and communicating the correct CAD information.
Reduce miscommunication and confusion with a single source of design truth.
Cloud-native Onshape is accessible via a browser on any web-connected device and offers a single place where all the design information is stored. Everyone has access to the same information and can make better-informed decisions on how to move forward with a project.
Version Control (PDM)
Today, users of file-based CAD and Product Data Management (PDM) systems struggle with the challenge of version control of their designs. Tight project timelines are jeopardized and productivity is sacrificed as users must wait to access a needed file that is “checked out” by another user. Team members cannot work concurrently and are forced into serial workflows.
of product developers report collaboration friction with external suppliers or manufacturers
Collaborate seamlessly.
Onshape’s cloud-native CAD platform includes a built-in Product Data Management (PDM) system that allows multiple users to simultaneously work on the same design. Whenever one member of the team makes a design change, everyone else instantly sees it. There is no danger of colleagues overwriting each other’s work, and no confusion over which version of a design is really the latest version – reducing the risk of costly manufacturing errors and recovering lost time.
No matter how talented your team is, inefficiencies in the design process can still cause collaboration friction and costly mistakes. With cloud-native Onshape, engineers can save time and money by having all their data in one place. There is no longer a need to worry about losing data, dealing with version control headaches, or managing files. Onshape allows engineers and extended design teams to collaborate with each other more efficiently than ever at a lower cost.
For more information on the benefits of cloud-native CAD, try Onshape Professional today!