Onshape Speeds Up Design Processes with New Premium Edition of 3D CAD Software Platform

Modern CAD platform Onshape, formed by several former SOLIDWORKS employees, is based entirely in the cloud, making it accessible by computer, tablet, or phone. An i.materialise plugin in 2016 made the platform even more accessible, and Onshape introduced two new cloud-integrated apps this past February, following those up with its Design Data Management 2.0 in March.

Today, Onshape has rolled out Onshape Enterprise, the new premium edition of its CAD software that helps companies speed up the design process. The company has been working on this complete design platform, which provides multiple contributors from different locations with access to design data, for over a year, and some of its customers have enjoyed early production access for the last six months. This new edition allows companies to work quickly under pressure while still maintaining control, and also helps them protect their IP.

According to an Onshape blog post, “In larger companies, an ever increasing number of internal and external stakeholders across many locations need access to design data for products that are produced with increasingly complex and encumbered design processes. As these companies strain to make decades-old CAD and PDM technology operate in their complex environment, they are forced to choose between being agile or having some semblance of control.”

Recurring problems that companies frequently face include visibility, maintaining control of IP, providing new team members with access to contribute to ongoing projects, and giving engineers the agility to balance administrative and software issues with actual design work; according to a Tech Clarity study of design and engineering teams, 98% of companies report that they have experienced negative business impacts because of design bottlenecks. Onshape Enterprise was built to solve these problems.

“Onshape Enterprise’s analytics help us look back on a project and understand how our design team allocated its time, what took the most time, and how much time was required overall,” said Stefan van Woerden, an R&D Engineer for Dodson Motorsport. “We find this data very valuable to plan future projects. As our company grows, the ability to get this information in real time is extremely useful.”

First off, the software is fully customizable for approval workflows, company security roles, projects, roles, and sharing privileges.

It also has several new features, including but not limited to:

• Project activity tracking
• Custom domain address and single sign-on
• Comprehensive audit logs
• Real-time analytics
• Instant set-up and provisioning
• Full and Light User types, including access for both employee and guest users

All user activity as it happens can be permanently recorded, as Onshape Enterprise runs on a centralized cloud database, rather than on federated vaults and local file systems. This will allow managers to truly gain an understanding for what their team is doing.

An Enterprise Light User, which costs just 1/10th of an Enterprise Full User seat in terms of subscription fees, can receive privileges like commenting, exporting, and viewing that work well for non-engineering roles, as they provide visibility to activity and design data without the CAD modeling capabilities. The new Guest status gives users access only to the documents specifically shared with them, like contractors, suppliers, and vendors – resulting in better information flow.

Using comprehensive audit logs to figure who did what, from where, and when, Onshape Enterprise users help companies protect and control their valuable IP. Users can configure permission schemes and roles, which is necessary for companies that employ hundreds, or even thousands, of people that would otherwise have dangerously unlimited access to the company’s IP.

It can also be a burden for companies when dealing with the overhead of having IT teams provision the access to design data, as it typically involves frequent service packs, a full-time help desk, long installs, and new hardware.

“With Onshape Enterprise, anyone on our production floor can look at the 3D model, they can look at the drawings, they can access the machine code and always know it’s the most up-to-date information. We’re really extended our engineering force without adding to the engineering team,” said Will Tiller, an engineering manager at Dixie Iron Works.

Over the last 10 years, there have been increases in the amount of real-time data efficiently flowing in all of the departments in large companies…with the notable exception of engineering. Onshape Enterprise can help companies overcome this visibility issue with efficient new tools.

“Half my product development team is based in Juarez, Mexico, and the other half works in Elgin, Illinois – and I split my time between both facilities. Onshape Enterprise helps me keep track of who is working on what and when, so I can better prioritize how our engineers spend their time,” said Dennis Breen, the Vice President of Engineering and Technology for Capsonic Automotive & Aerospace. “I also like the option to add Light Users so our manufacturing engineers and automation engineers can immediately access the latest 3D CAD data and use it to improve our processes.”

Onshape Enterprise gives large companies a platform to work faster, with more control, security, and access, and with maximum insight. This helps relieve the symptoms of a condition that Onshape has dubbed Enterprise Design Gridlock, where companies have outgrown old CAD and PDM technology that slows the design process down. With this new premium edition, companies can connect their entire enterprise with Onshape.

Onshape Standard reimagined the possibilities of parametric modeling, while the flagship Onshape Professional introduced approval workflows, company-level controls, and powerful release management. Now, Onshape Enterprise helps large teams work faster, while maintaining control, with the addition of real-time analytics, advanced security, and granular access controls.

To learn more about Onshape Enterprise, register now for a live webinar by David Corcoran, Onshape’s VP of Product, that will take place next Thursday, May 31, at 11 AM (EDT).

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[Images provided by Onshape]