Is it Possible to Have CAD Version Control Issues With Only One Product Designer?

One of the biggest myths in the product development world is that version control problems only happen when large teams are collaborating on a complex design project. Certainly, the risk of engineers accidentally overwriting each other’s work or inadvertently editing an older version of a CAD model does become more likely once multiple colleagues are involved. But working alone is no guarantee that data management problems will leave you alone.

“With version control, we used to have problems even with one engineer because human error always comes into play,” says Vaibhav Boricha, Director of VIKASO, an England-based robotics and industrial automation startup.

“The biggest pitfall is not being able to go back to previous versions quickly. And secondly, there’s the problem of somehow forgetting what you did in which version. We (used to) have no ability to record notes for individual versions. We would name a file V3, but what was V3 about? What changed from V2 to V3?”

VIKASO integrates collaborative robots (“cobots”) into manufacturers’ existing production lines to automate repetitive tasks. Their customers include companies of all sizes, ranging from fellow startups to iconic global brands such as Rolls-Royce, BMW and MINI.

Eliminating the Hassles of Manual Data Management

Onshape, a cloud-native product design platform, provides CAD and built-in PDM for roughly the same cost as competitors charge for CAD alone.

In 2020, when VIKASO needed to expand its design team from one mechanical engineer to four, Boricha began exploring alternative CAD and data management platforms to find a better solution to their version control issues. He notes that his team’s previous approach of manually keeping track of the latest design versions through a file-naming convention – naming files V1, V2, V3, etc. – was a system prone to mistakes.

One of the biggest reasons VIKASO decided to switch from their old file-based CAD platform to cloud-native Onshape was its automatic version control. Onshape’s built-in Product Data Management (PDM) system, included in the cost of a yearly subscription, doesn’t require engineers to check in and check out designs from a vault. Multiple users can simultaneously edit the same document, seeing each other’s updates in real time with no risk of overwriting each other’s work.

La cronologia completa delle modifiche di Onshape registra anche quale ingegnere ha apportato quale modifica al progetto e quando, consentendo al team di tornare istantaneamente a qualsiasi iterazione precedente con un clic del mouse.

“Transparency is very important to us,” Boricha says. “Onshape’s Comments feature lets us easily record why we’ve done what we’ve done – so we can still work at a rapid pace while taking on some really risky, innovative and disruptive projects.”

Cloud-Native CAD Saves Money on Hardware Costs

Quando VIKASO ha quadruplicato il suo team di ingegneri, l'adozione di Onshape cloud-native ha comportato un immediato risparmio del 50% sui costi hardware. Poiché Onshape funziona su qualsiasi computer o dispositivo mobile (iOS o Android), non era più necessario acquistare workstation dedicate ad alte prestazioni esclusivamente per eseguire il CAD.

Dati i limiti di budget dell'azienda come startup, Boricha era alla ricerca di una piattaforma di progetto di prodotti Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) che offrisse un abbonamento annuale anziché dover acquistare in anticipo costose licenze CAD on-premise.

«Semplicemente non avevamo una quantità incredibile di denaro da spendere per acquistare altre licenze perpetue. Abbiamo trovato Onshape per la prima volta quando cercavamo un modello di abbonamento e tutti gli altri valori aggiunti, ovvero non dover gestire server o manutenzione, proteggere e fare il backup dei nostri dati, erano la ciliegina sulla torta», ricorda. «Un modello SaaS ci dà spazio per respirare. L'intera idea di acquistare licenze perpetue non è qualcosa che vorremmo perseguire in questa fase dell'azienda».

«Anche in futuro, non sceglierei mai una licenza perpetua perché non ci offre alcuna flessibilità», aggiunge Boricha. «Se c'è una tecnologia migliore che uscirà tra due anni, allora cosa facciamo? Rimarremmo bloccati con quelle licenze in cui abbiamo investito dai 20.000 ai 50.000 dollari. Oltre al modello di abbonamento, Onshape ci fa risparmiare denaro in altri modi, ad esempio risparmiando tempo nella condivisione delle informazioni con i nostri clienti e solo nell'intero processo di sviluppo».

To learn more about how VIKASO relies on cloud-native CAD and PDM to improve its agile methodologies, watch the video below: