Why is the CAD Industry Stuck in the 1990s?

The technology behind most of today’s 3D CAD systems hasn’t fundamentally changed in 20 years, leaving engineers in a state of permanent design gridlock. What is “design gridlock?” Unfortunately, many of us instinctively understand the term from bitter experience.

How many of us have wasted too much time waiting—when we should be creating? How many of these comments make you instantly cringe?

• “Do we have the latest version of the design?”
• “That file is from release 2015 of our CAD system, we have 2014. Sigh.”
• “I forgot to back it up.”
• “I can’t start until the file is checked back in.”
• “I’m waiting for design feedback.”
• “The file got corrupted. Need to start over!”
• “The assembly blew up.”
• “Anyone got a license code?”

Onshape is a modern CAD system built on a unique database architecture that lets you focus on doing your best work—unlike old CAD systems that keep slowing you down with administrative hassles and restrictive workflows.

We built the industry’s only professional 3D CAD system as a secure cloud workspace that unites your modeling tools, design data and data management in one central place. No software or files are ever copied anywhere. Every user is always on the same version of Onshape—the latest one. There’s no checkout, no locking, no crashes and no lost work. Version control and access control are built-in and effortless—no PDM headaches blocking your workflow.

Petrak Industries, which builds systems to safely move fluids and gasses for factories, credits Onshape’s Sharing feature with recently saving them 5 weeks on a tight deadline for an oil company. Instead of emailing static CAD screenshots back and forth, design teams can now share their master 3D models with customers and make improvements in real time.

The future of CAD is already here. Say goodbye to design gridlock!