4 Bottlenecks Slowing Down Your Product Development Cycle

The restrictions of traditional file-based CAD systems are increasingly out of step with the needs of today’s workers. A lack of collaborative features can cause major productivity issues, delays in the process, and can potentially lead to missed deadlines. The internet has made it possible for companies to work remotely, which is a huge advantage for employees. But when there's no remote access or collaborative features in place, users are completely cut off from their team members and co-workers. Lack of flexibility in the workplace inevitably leads to decreased productivity levels and stifled innovation for a company.

On the other hand, Onshape makes it easy for anyone with a web-connected device to work together from anywhere in the world. Quickly share files, analytics, and feedback in real-time with ease. Onshape is not only incredibly flexible, but is built with cross-platform compatibility, allowing users to view and edit designs from any modern device, including mobile phones and tablets. As a result, innovation, productivity and product development are accelerated by having teams work remotely.

Serial product development, often referred to as the “waterfall” method, is the traditional method for developing products one at a time. Often associated with high cost, long lead times, and low flexibility, the waterfall approach represents an outdated method of product development that does not meet the needs of its users.

In lieu of these limitations, companies are starting to adopt new technologies that will allow them to make concurrent design iterations and design revisions faster than the traditional waterfall method. Onshape embraces an agile and iterative approach that allows for changes to be made in the product design without ever having to go back to the beginning of the cycle and start over. Consequently, Onshape’s approach to the product development cycle has been proven to be more cost-efficient, flexible, and faster at developing high-quality products than traditional development methods.

Product development is a process that involves different stakeholders and departments. This makes it difficult to keep everyone aligned and informed on design modifications. In fact, many companies are using multiple versions of the same design data, which can lead to an uncoordinated workflow process. When there are multiple versions of design truth, it becomes increasingly difficult to know which version of data should be used as a baseline for future decisions. Multiple design versions lead to a variety of problems, such as: delays in product development, missed deadlines, and missed opportunities for growth within the business. Ultimately, miscommunication amongst teams will inevitably slow down your product development cycle.

Comparatively, Onshape grants users greater design transparency by enabling engineers and designers to work concurrently on the same design data. Using a single source of design truth, users don’t have to worry about working on the wrong version or accidentally overwriting others' work. This feature improves collaboration, communication and efficiency in the workplace. Faster time-to-market means increased revenue and higher margins for mature businesses and startups alike.

Data loss is a significant problem for companies and can happen at any point in the product development cycle. Whether it’s caused by an accidental deletion of data, software/hardware failure, or some other anomaly, data loss can drastically slow down the product development cycle and endanger a company’s ability to keep up with market demand.

Onshape’s cloud-native architecture was created to be resilient to data loss. Onshape captures every edit, by every user, so there is always a complete history of all the actions made in the design. Created with security in mind, Onshape keeps an up-to-date backup of your data at all times. If a user wants to access previous data, it can be easily restored from the last backup within minutes.