CAD
A better way to share CAD files
CAD files have references, are large, and have many versions. This creates challenges when sharing CAD files with customers, suppliers, and partners.
Why File Explorer, SharePoint, and Google Drive don’t work for effective CAD document management
Traditional file systems like File Explorer, SharePoint, and Google Drive weren’t built for managing CAD documents. References, versions, and CAD data make them challenging.
Andreas Dreifuerst
May 31, 2024
When talking with potential customers, many engineers say they are currently managing their Computer-Aided Design (CAD) documents with some basic tools like the default File Explorer or cloud-based solutions like SharePoint or Google Drive. It might make sense to start out like this when there are only 1 or 2 people on the engineering team. But when the team starts to add more engineers, and the team becomes more distributed, problems can arise. Engineers start working on the same parts. Parts in assemblies start to become scattered. CAD documents become harder to find. Why are our default systems not cut out for working with CAD documents? What can we do?
Differences between CAD Documents and normal documents
First, we need to understand what makes CAD documents unique compared to normal non-CAD documents. CAD design documents have the following unique characteristics compared to normal documents:
| Characteristics | CAD files |
| Naming | Engineers try to keep a consistent naming convention among all CAD files. Naming might include a part number or area. |
| Storage | Larger file size. |
| Format | CAD systems have unique file types. Neutral file types (ex. DXF, STEP) are also often created. |
| Metadata | Some CAD designs store metadata fields that contain information about the design. For example, in a CAD design drawing you might store information about the scale, area, revision, or number in a title block. |
| References | CAD documents often contain references to other designs. For example, you have an assembly of a desk. The desk contains two parts, a chair and a table. These are three different files, but they are connected. Some CAD designs can contain thousands of references leading to thousands of connected files. |
These characteristics pose unique challenges for engineers to manage their files effectively. Trying to manage these unique CAD design characteristics in traditional file systems becomes challenging.
Why file explorer, SharePoint, and Google Drive aren’t cutting it
Traditional file systems like Windows File Explorer with network drives, SharePoint, and Google Drive weren’t built for managing CAD documents. Let’s look at some of the challenges with managing CAD documents in traditional file systems.
Reference management
CAD designs contain references. With traditional systems, you can move a file and break a reference. References can typically only be seen inside the CAD software. This can increase the workload of engineers if they need to spend time repairing broken references or references that are pointing to the wrong file.
Version changes
CAD designs need clear version changes. Engineering managers need to know what version to review, and manufacturers need to know what revision to build. CAD documents need a way to easily communicate what version and revision state it is in. Aside from file name or folder name, there is no clear way to display this in traditional file systems.
Categorizing files
To communicate information about a file outside of the name, we typically create a new folder to indicate what category this file belongs to. This can lead to many folders that we don’t necessarily need and make files harder to find. A classic example is moving a file that is final into a “Final” folder. There is no easy way to add more information about the file such as company, customer, status, or part number outside of the file name or folder name (such as with index fields or labels).
No easy locking mechanism (Simultaneous working leads to duplicates and conflicts)
Cloud solutions like SharePoint and Google Drive make it easy to work on some files simultaneously. For CAD documents, this can cause conflicts. Two engineers can accidentally work on the same part at once. The system creates a duplicate because it doesn’t know which is the latest. Now the engineers must spend time trying to decide whose changes they should keep.
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Vistapoint as a CAD Document Management system
CAD document management systems such as Vistapoint can help engineers overcome the challenges of working with CAD documents in traditional file systems.
Manage references and see relationships outside of the CAD software
With CAD software integrations Vistapoint can read CAD relationships and store file references to view and manage. This can make it easier for non-engineers who don’t have a CAD software to find related files and easier for engineers to know which files could be impacted by their changes.
Version control
Version control gives engineers a clear way to distinguish who is working on what, what version is the latest, and avoid working on the same files. You can check out files that you want to work on. The file then becomes locked so someone else cannot edit at the same time. When you check it back in, you leave a comment on what changed, and it stores it as a new version. Engineers can restore to previous changes and avoid rework if a customer wants to go back to an older version.
Index fields or labels
To categorize documents, make them easily searchable, and labels documents, index fields give engineers an easy way to store information outside of just the file and folder name. This can make it easier to find files and lead to less of a folder mess. Comments can be added to files to also update the team on any status as well.
Conclusion
We build our entire working process around folders and files. As engineering teams grow, they need more control to stay productive. CAD document management systems give engineers more control over their CAD designs so they can continue to focus on what matters like creating great products. What do you think? What are challenges you’ve had with managing CAD documents in traditional systems?