Stop drawing the same part forty times.
In most design offices a large share of drafting time goes on variants of something that already exists, and on re-checking work that changed upstream. Both are automatable. We write the software that does it, using the CAD tools you already have licences for.
From shared drive to pipeline.
The shared drive
- Four files called final, one of them current
- Approval is an email nobody can find
- The bill of materials is retyped into the ERP
- A senior draughtsman spends Monday on variants
A controlled pipeline
- One record, one current revision, full history
- Named approvers, timestamped and auditable
- BOM read from the model and pushed to the ERP
- Variants generated from a parameter table
Automation, then control.
Parametric generation
Define the part family once as a rule set. A parameter table — lengths, bores, materials, handedness — then produces the models, drawings and PDFs for the whole range without anyone opening CAD.
Revision control
Check-out locks so two people cannot edit the same file, an immutable revision history, and a superseded stamp applied automatically to every obsolete print.
Approval workflow
Draft, checked, approved, released — with the right people at each gate, delegation when someone is on leave, escalation on delay, and a log that satisfies an ISO or customer audit.
BOM extraction to ERP
The bill of materials read directly from the assembly and pushed into SAP, Tally or whatever you run — so a changed fastener reaches procurement the same day instead of three weeks later.
Shop-floor drawing viewer
A tablet or terminal at the machine that shows only the released revision, reached by scanning the job card. No CAD licence needed, and no stale printout in a drawer.
Legacy archive cleanup
Years of accumulated DWG files normalised in bulk — layer standards applied, title blocks rebuilt, metadata extracted — so the archive finally becomes searchable.
One part family,
as a trial.
CAD automation is easy to evaluate, because the result is measurable. Pick the part family your team generates variants of most often. We automate that one family as a proof of concept, and you compare the time it takes before and after.
If the saving is not worth it, you have spent very little finding out. If it is, the same approach extends to the rest of the catalogue.
We sit with your design team, pick the family, and record how a variant is produced today — every step, including the checking.
We write the automation against your CAD platform, using your title blocks, your layer standards and your drawing conventions.
Your team runs it on real jobs. We compare hours before and after, and you decide whether to extend it.
What we work with.
| Area | Details |
|---|---|
| CAD platforms | AutoCAD and AutoCAD Mechanical (.NET / ObjectARX), SolidWorks API, Autodesk Inventor, Revit, BricsCAD |
| File formats | DWG, DXF, SLDPRT / SLDASM, IPT / IAM, STEP, IGES, RVT, PDF and DWF, with PDF/A output for archive |
| Automation | Parameter-driven model and drawing generation, rule-based dimensioning, BOM ballooning, batch plotting and conversion |
| Vault & versioning | Check-in and check-out, immutable revisions, enquiry versus production branches, and comparison between revisions |
| Workflow | Configurable states and approvers, delegation, escalation timers, and digital signature where required |
| ERP integration | SAP (BAPI / IDoc), Tally, Oracle, Odoo, Zoho, or REST and CSV into anything that will accept it |
| Viewer | Browser-based 2D and 3D viewing with measure, section and markup — no CAD licence required on the shop floor |
| Deployment | On-premise vault with optional cloud viewing, designed to work acceptably over a slow site link |
Things clients ask.
No. The automation runs against the CAD software you already own, through its published API. What you may want is one additional machine to run batch jobs overnight, so the automation is not competing with a designer for a licence during working hours.
Only if you want it to. The automation uses your existing title blocks, layer standards, text styles and drawing conventions. Output should be indistinguishable from what your team produces by hand — that is the point, since your customers and your shop floor are used to it.
They stay manual, and that is correct. Automation pays off on families and repetition. The value of the vault and workflow side, though, applies to every drawing — including the one-offs — because that is about control rather than generation.
Less than you might expect, provided it is introduced as removing the tedious work rather than replacing the designer. The variants nobody enjoys drawing are exactly what gets automated, which frees the team for the design work that actually needs judgement. Involving them in the proof of concept makes a large difference.
Pick your most repetitive drawing.
Tell us which part family eats the most drafting hours, and we will tell you whether it can be automated and roughly what that would take.