Below are five tools worth starting with, roughly in the order you will reach for them, from the first 2D sketch to a design you have checked before you build it. You do not need all five on day one. Start with the core and add the rest as real projects call for them.

Who this is for: New product designers and early-career engineers picking a first CAD starter kit — not shop or CAM leads.

1. 2D CAD for Drawings and DWG Files

Many products start as a dimensioned sketch, a layout, or a drawing a vendor sent over as a DWG file. A dedicated 2D CAD tool lets you open, edit, and create those drawings accurately.

DraftSight is a professional 2D CAD platform from Dassault Systèmes that reads and writes native DWG files. It runs on Windows and macOS, and it is a practical, lower-cost option for teams that need genuine 2D drafting. Higher editions add capabilities such as 3D modeling, parametric constraints, and network licensing. For a closer look at the options, read Why Choose DraftSight.

2. Parametric 3D CAD as the Core of the Toolkit

Once an idea has to become a real, manufacturable product, you need parametric 3D CAD. SOLIDWORKS, the desktop mechanical CAD platform from Dassault Systèmes, is the center of most product design toolkits and the host for many of the other tools on this list.

“Parametric” is the key idea. Change one dimension and the model updates, along with the drawings that reference it. That behavior turns a design change from hours of redrawing into a quick edit.

SOLIDWORKS comes in three desktop packages, so you can start where you are:

• SOLIDWORKS Standard: Parts, assemblies, and drawings, plus sheet metal, weldments, and mold tools.
• SOLIDWORKS Professional: Adds tools such as Toolbox, eDrawings Pro, Costing, Design Checker, and TolAnalyst.
• SOLIDWORKS Premium: Adds Routing, ScanTo3D, and a starter set of linear static and motion analysis (the broader SOLIDWORKS Simulation family in section 5 goes further).

3. A Way to Turn 2D Drawings Into 3D Models

Many first projects begin with a legacy 2D drawing that needs to become a 3D model. It is a skill worth learning early so you are not recreating old parts from scratch. Our walkthrough on making a 3D parametric model from a 2D drawing shows the workflow.

Companies make this transition at scale, too. Knapheide, a builder of custom work truck bodies, moved from 2D to 3D with SOLIDWORKS and now gives its shop floor real-time access to 3D models across three shifts.

4. Design Automation for Repetitive Variants

If you find yourself building the same part over and over with different dimensions, design automation can capture those rules once and generate each variant for you.

DriveWorksXpress is free and ships with SOLIDWORKS, which makes it a low-risk place to try automating a single set of rules. When you outgrow it, DriveWorks Solo serves one engineer automating their own work, and DriveWorks Pro supports multi-user, web-deployed automation. Knapheide uses DriveWorks to automate repetitive design work across its variant-rich product lines.

5. Simulation to Check the Design Before You Build

Simulation lets you find a weak feature before you cut metal or build a prototype. SOLIDWORKS Simulation is a finite element analysis family built into SOLIDWORKS. SOLIDWORKS Simulation Standard covers linear static analysis on parts and assemblies, time-based motion, and fatigue. Professional adds frequency, buckling, and drop testing; Premium adds nonlinear and dynamic analysis as your needs grow.

Even simple stress checks early in a design can save the cycle of building a part, watching it fail, and starting over.

How to Build Your Toolkit Over Time

• Start with the core: One SOLIDWORKS seat, plus DraftSight if you work heavily with DWG files.
• Add checks as risk grows: Bring in simulation when parts carry real loads or failures are expensive.
• Automate when you repeat yourself: Try DriveWorksXpress as soon as you notice the same part with new dimensions.

Keep Learning

• From Idea to Product: How Startups Bring Big Ideas to Life with Hawk Ridge Systems’ SOLIDWORKS Startup Program
• SOLIDWORKS 2026: Enhanced Visuals, Smarter Part Design, and Auto-Generate Drawings
• Why Companies Use SOLIDWORKS to Design High Tech

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Best Product Design Software for a Beginner?

For 3D design, SOLIDWORKS Standard is a common starting point because it is parametric and covers parts, assemblies, and drawings, with Professional and Premium packages to grow into. If you mainly need 2D drawings first, DraftSight is a lower-cost, DWG-native option — see Why Choose DraftSight for edition guidance.

What Automation Tools Do Product Designers Use?

Many start with DriveWorksXpress, which is free with SOLIDWORKS, to automate a single set of design rules. DriveWorks Solo and DriveWorks Pro extend rules-based automation to more complex products and multi-user, web-deployed configurators. For a proof point on variant-heavy work, see the Knapheide case study.

Do I Need to Buy Every Tool at Once?

No. Most designers start with one 3D CAD seat and add SOLIDWORKS Simulation and automation as projects demand them. DriveWorksXpress ships free with SOLIDWORKS, so you can try design automation before spending more. When drawings and revisions start multiplying, turn on SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard (included with Professional and above) or step up to PDM Professional — What Is PDM covers the basics.

Build Your Starter Toolkit With Hawk Ridge Systems

Ready to choose your first product design tools? Explore SOLIDWORKS, DraftSight and SOLIDWORKS Simulation, or contact Hawk Ridge Systems to talk with a specialist about the package and tools that fit your first product.

The post Product Design Software: 5 Tools to Get Started in Product Design appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Key Takeaways

• Shift from the part to the process: Bridge production is the time to find the kinks, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies in the workflow before you run a few hundred or a few thousand parts.
• Make the drawing the rules of the game: Acceptance criteria, inspection plans, and revision control protect both the manufacturer and the end user.
• De-risk the supply chain: Pin down material and process, avoid single-machine or end-of-life dependencies, and get house knowledge out of people’s heads and onto the drawing.
• Quote for throughput, not quantity one: Realistic demand estimates unlock better production pricing — without leaving unsold inventory on the shelf.
• Build compliance before you need it: In regulated industries, the paperwork deliverable can matter as much as the part, so a quality management system has to be in place before you ramp.

From One Part to the Whole Operation

Episode 3 was about testing a part. Does it break, does it fit, does it survive the environment it will live in? Episode 4 zooms out. Dymond calls it a shift from engineering strategy into practice.

“The bridge production is definitely a time for strategy.”

— Michael Dymond

That practice means running into problems on purpose, early. The goal is to “iron out and discover the kinks, discover the bottlenecks, figure out what can be optimized,” so the results stay repeatable when a part is made not once or twice but a few dozen, a few hundred, or a few thousand times.

The scope of the conversation changes, too. Dymond describes everyone who touches the job — the build planner, the person sorting parts and doing QC, the operator reaming holes and installing inserts, all the way through to the people capturing, maintaining, and reporting inspection records. You are no longer thinking only about the bill of materials. You are thinking about the individuals and departments that will actually work on your project.

Whitten compares it to installing the offense in football preseason. Dymond agrees: There is the play itself, and then there is the repeatable execution that gets the result every time.

Make the Drawing the Rules of the Game

Dymond opens this part of the conversation with a line he credits to MythBusters.

“The only difference between blowing something up and science is writing it down.”

— Michael Dymond

Up to this point, the drawing has communicated design intent. In bridge production, it becomes the contract. It defines what gets measured, what counts as an acceptable part, and how much confidence you need that every part complies. Depending on the industry, that might mean a sampling plan such as AQL 4.0 or a production part approval process (PPAP), especially where FDA traceability or audits are involved. It is not a first article followed by letting the next thousand rip — compliance is checked and reported periodically.

“This is when we truly define the rules of the game. This is when we truly define the acceptance criteria.”

— Michael Dymond

Clear acceptance criteria protect both sides. A good part from a printer having a good day cannot be returned on a technicality, and the end user has something in the agreement to point to when they need a corrective action or an investigation.

Revision Control Matters More Than Ever

Bridge production is when you make more parts than you ever have, so you will find adjustments to make. Dymond points out that the CAD is not always what changes. Sometimes it is how an inspection is defined, how a feature or its GD&T is called out, or the process itself. A team might decide to move a part from SLA to MJF without touching the geometry — only the process, finish, and material in the notes section change.

Good revision control keeps a history of those decisions, so if something goes wrong later, you can isolate the variable during the investigation. Whitten adds that the same record shows where a team gained efficiency, not only where things broke down.

For engineering teams, that history usually starts in the design data. SOLIDWORKS PDM manages versions and revisions in a secure vault and keeps an audit trail of who changed what and when, so drawing and note changes made during bridge production stay traceable.

De-Risk Your Supply Chain

• Pin down material and process: Regulated work may require controlled, certified material with traceability and material certs. Consumer filament ordered online will not carry the paperwork a government job needs.
• Avoid single points of failure: If only one machine or one technology can make the part, the supply chain is at risk the day that machine or technology goes away.
• Capture house knowledge on the drawing: Build parameters, build orientation, and the order of finishing operations belong in the drawing package, not only in one technician’s head.
• Plan for realistic capacity: Choose a shop that can support you at today’s volume and grow with you as sales increase over the next few years.

Dymond’s example of the end-of-life risk happened the week before the episode. A customer’s part had been designed for a specific printer that went end of life a year or two earlier. There was still runway to get parts from that process and material, but not forever — so the right move was to pivot sooner rather than later.

Whitten’s version is about people. When processes are well recorded, one retirement does not take the whole shop down. Dymond’s answer to both is redundancy: If one machine or one person is unavailable, the work can move to someone or something else.

“Turnover is an inevitability.”

— Michael Dymond

This is also the time to look for small efficiency wins. A recurring bottleneck in one step of the process can sometimes be relieved with a quick jig or nesting tool, which further de-risks the supply chain and makes lead times easier to commit to.

Quote for Throughput, Not Quantity One

Dymond often sees a customer look at a first quote at quantity one and conclude the business cannot work at that price. But a quantity-one price has no efficiencies, no economy of scale, and no throughput behind it. The better move is to quote a quantity that matches a realistic month, quarter, or year of demand.

“There’s a difference between speed and throughput.”

— Michael Dymond

Speed is the time to your very first part. Throughput is how much a shop can produce week after week, month after month, once production has ramped. When teams understand their demand and can schedule three or six months of production, they can rely on throughput instead of a hair-on-fire request for speed. Dymond says A3D’s technicians value that runway, and A3D passes it on to customers through a more relaxed production pricing structure.

The opposite mistake is just as costly. Whitten warns against inflating quantities to chase a lower price per part and ending up with unsold inventory on the shelf.

“I do recommend trying to commit to as high of a quantity as you realistically should, that you have a good level of confidence in being able to move in a realistic time frame.”

— Michael Dymond

Build Your Quality System Before You Ramp

Nobody loves talking about documentation. But with CUI and export control in the news, Dymond notes that some industries — aerospace, defense, and energy among them — treat traceability as a deliverable in its own right.

“There are regulated industries out here where the traceability and paperwork deliverable is just as important as the part themselves.”

— Michael Dymond

Building a custom process plan for every part and every customer would mean reinventing the wheel hundreds of times a year. A quality management system (QMS) built on frameworks such as ISO 9001 and AS9100 provides the baseline, and customer-specific requirements are layered on top. Dymond says it is not uncommon for A3D to ship one line item at quantity 20 with seven supporting documents.

The timing matters. You do not want to be ready to hit go on a 10,000- or 100,000-unit order and only then realize your compliance chain and traceability are not in place.

Preparing for Production, in Short

Dymond’s wrap-up ties the episode together: Preparing for production is a shift from the technical requirements of a single part to how an organization will support making it. It is heavily documented, especially in regulated industries, and it depends on realistic throughput estimates. The more runway you have, the more you can plan around throughput instead of speed — which de-risks your supply chain.

“Everyone’s blood pressure is a little bit lower.”

— Michael Dymond

Whitten adds the management view: Realistic numbers give leadership a clearer picture of what is coming.

Watch Episode 4

Chapters

• 0:00 – Welcome
• 1:43 – Intros
• 3:14 – Housekeeping and series roadmap
• 4:47 – Bridge production is a time for strategy
• 6:25 – From the part to the process workflow
• 8:41 – Write it down: Drawings, inspection, and acceptance
• 9:48 – Revision control
• 11:54 – De-risking the supply chain
• 13:18 – Material traceability and shop capacity
• 15:50 – The drawing package as house knowledge
• 18:31 – Cost at volume: Speed vs. throughput
• 21:44 – Regulated industries and quality management systems
• 24:19 – Wrap-up
• 25:22 – Coming up: Episode 5

Watch the full Episode 4 recording and catch up on every session on the Design. Validate. Scale. fireside chat series page. If you registered for one episode, you already have access to all of them.

Coming Up: Episode 5

The final episode, Scaling with Confidence, airs Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 11:00 AM PT / 2:00 PM ET. It covers how to manage cost, lead time, quality, and supplier strategy as production needs grow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is bridge production?

Bridge production is the stage between prototyping and full-scale production. Quantities are higher than in the prototype phase, and the focus shifts from validating a single part to proving that the manufacturing process can produce consistent, compliant parts again and again.

What should a drawing package include before production?

Beyond design intent, it should define acceptance criteria — what gets measured and what counts as a compliant part — along with any inspection or sampling plan. Michael Dymond also recommends capturing house knowledge such as build parameters, build orientation, and the order of finishing operations, so the process does not depend on one person or one vendor.

Why does revision control matter during bridge production?

As volumes climb, teams adjust more than CAD. Inspection definitions, GD&T callouts, processes, finishes, and materials can all change. A clear revision history lets you isolate the variable if a problem shows up later.

How do I de-risk my manufacturing supply chain?

Pin down a certified, traceable material and process where your industry requires it, avoid relying on a single machine or an end-of-life technology, document your process, and choose a manufacturing partner with realistic capacity to grow with you.

What is the difference between speed and throughput?

Speed is the time to your very first part. Throughput is how much can be produced week after week and month after month once production has ramped. Planning around throughput usually leads to better production pricing than rushing for speed.

Why does my quantity-one quote look so expensive?

A quantity-one price has no efficiencies or economy of scale built in. Ask for a quote at a realistic month, quarter, or year of demand — and commit to as high a quantity as you can confidently sell in a realistic time frame.

When should a quality management system be in place?

Before you ramp. In regulated industries such as aerospace, defense, and energy, traceability and documentation can be as important as the part, so the compliance chain should be ready before a large production order is placed.

Keep Learning

• Episode 1: The First DFM Question Isn’t How Tight. It’s How Many.
• Episode 2: Print It or Mold It? Ask Per Part, Not Per Product
• Episode 3: A Good First Print Isn’t Proof You’re Ready to Scale

Contact Us

Getting ready to move from bridge production to a full production run? Talk with one of our engineering experts. Contact Us

The post Before You Ramp, Write It Down: Preparing for Production appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

• Lead with the problem: Describe the operational issue, how often it occurs, and the evidence behind it before naming the manufacturing purchase that could solve it.
• Show the full cost and a realistic return: Include implementation, training, support, and hardware alongside the purchase price, and separate measured results from projected capacity gains.
• Make the request easy to evaluate: Anticipate approvers’ questions, explain the cost of waiting, and use a short business case template with a clear owner and success measure.

When you request a manufacturing purchase, leaders will want to know: “What will this help the organization do better?”

The clearest way to answer is to start with the operational problem, then explain what it costs, how the purchase could help, and how you’ll measure the result.

A strong business case connects a real manufacturing challenge to a practical solution and a measurable result. Whether you’re asking for a software upgrade, new equipment, or implementation support, these steps can help you make your case. This guide covers getting a purchase approved — if you’re still deciding what to buy, start with our other year-end budget posts.

Describe the Problem Before Naming the Solution

Start by describing what’s happening today. Name the task, process, or constraint causing trouble. For instance, engineers may spend hours reprogramming similar parts, production may wait for design updates, or quality staff may repeat inspections because records are hard to trace.

Then size up the issue:

• Which team or process is affected?
• How often does the issue occur?
• How many people or jobs does it involve?
• What evidence can you provide, such as time records, delay reports, or rework logs?

A clear problem statement gives approvers a reason to consider your request. It also makes it easier for them to check whether the proposed purchase addresses the issue.

For example, a quality team that repeats inspections because records are hard to trace could start with one product line. The request might document how often inspectors search for the current drawing or past inspection results, how long those searches take, and how often a part is inspected again because its records can’t be confirmed.

Connect the Problem to Business Impact

Explain how the problem affects the business. It could mean extra labor on repetitive tasks, late jobs, rework, outside service costs, unused capacity, or trouble meeting customer requirements.

Use the information you have to estimate the impact. If a team spends four hours a week on a manual task, use your work schedule to estimate the annual total. For rework or delays, point to documented examples or internal records when you can.

Keep the estimate grounded. Show your assumptions and label what you’ve measured versus what you’re projecting. Approvers can do more with a realistic estimate than with a big savings number they can’t verify.

For example, a four-hour weekly task adds up to 200 hours a year on a 50-week schedule. If a pilot suggests the change could save one hour a week, that’s about 50 hours of added capacity each year. Call those hours capacity unless the change is expected to cut a specific expense, such as overtime or outside services.

Explain the Proposed Solution and Who Will Use It

Once you’ve explained the need, describe how the purchase would change the workflow. Say what the team could do, who would use it, and how it would fit with the work you do now.

For CAM, explain how programmers would use the tools on recurring part families or specific machine operations. For product data management, show how design and manufacturing teams would find released files and track revisions.

A team considering PDM could trace one drawing revision from engineering release to the shop floor. The request can show how employees find the approved file today, where delays or revision questions occur, and how the proposed workflow would make the current revision easier to identify.

Keep the scope focused. List the capabilities needed for this use case, along with any related needs such as compatible hardware, setup, data migration, or training. This gives approvers enough detail to evaluate your request without wading through a long feature list.

Present the Full Cost and a Realistic Return

Include the costs of getting the solution up and running, not just the purchase price. Depending on the request, that could mean implementation, training, support, maintenance, or additional hardware.

For example, a CAD or CAM estimate might cover the license, any needed workstation upgrades, setup, training time, and ongoing support. If there’s a promotional price, show it alongside the renewal cost and terms so approvers can compare the full cost.

Next, explain the return you expect and tie it to the problem. If you want to cut manual programming time, estimate how many hours the team could put toward other work. If you want to reduce rework, explain how the change could improve consistency or revision control. Hawk Ridge Systems can help you scope implementation and training needs.

Avoid counting every saved hour as cash savings. Those hours may instead give the team more capacity, shorten lead times, or free employees for other work. Say which result you expect and how you’ll measure it.

Answer the Questions Approvers Are Likely to Ask

It helps to think through the questions an approver is likely to ask. Be ready to explain:

• Why is this needed now? Describe the current situation and why the timing matters.
• Why this solution? Explain how the solution addresses the problem and what other options you considered.
• Can the team adopt it? Name the implementation lead, users, training needs, and support plan.
• Will it work with current systems? Call out compatibility requirements and dependencies.
• How will we know it’s successful? Choose one or two measures and record the baseline before implementation.
• What could prevent the expected result? Note the risks, assumptions, or conditions that could affect adoption or results.

Explain the Cost of Waiting

Approvers may also want to know what happens if you wait. Use current information to describe the process and what’s likely to continue, such as recurring labor or outside processing costs, longer queue times, or repeated quality issues.

Separate known costs from possible future effects. If waiting could affect capacity or customer delivery, explain what would need to happen for that risk to materialize. That way, approvers can weigh the timing based on evidence rather than pressure.

If jobs are waiting for revised drawings, review recent work orders to count them and measure queue time. List documented overtime or missed ship dates separately from possible future effects and show how you reached each estimate.

A delay could also mean missing an offer that fits the purchase. Check Hawk Ridge Systems’ current promotions and include any relevant pricing and terms in your request. A prepared business case helps approvers consider the offer in time.

Use This Business Case Template

Keep the request short enough to review quickly. Use this template to cover:

• Purchase requested: What solution, equipment, or service is being considered?
• Problem: What process or operational issue needs attention?
• Evidence: How often does it happen, and what information supports the request?
• Business impact: How does the issue affect labor, quality, schedule, capacity, or cost?
• Proposed approach: How will the purchase address the problem, and who will use it?
• Full cost: What are the purchase and implementation costs?
• Expected outcome: What improvement is realistic, and what assumptions support it?
• Owner and timing: Who will lead implementation, and when can the team begin?
• Success measure: What baseline and metrics will show whether the purchase helped?

Make Your Manufacturing Purchase Request Easy to Evaluate

Approvers can evaluate a manufacturing purchase more easily when the request is specific, backed by evidence, and clear about costs and assumptions. Start with the problem, explain its impact, and show how the team would use the solution.

Hawk Ridge Systems can help you assess the technical requirements for a manufacturing purchase. Contact our team to discuss software, hardware, training, and services that could support evaluation and implementation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a manufacturing purchase request include?

Keep the request short enough to review quickly. Cover the purchase requested, the problem, the evidence, the business impact, the proposed approach, the full cost, the expected outcome, the owner and timing, and the success measure.

Why should I describe the problem before naming the solution?

Leaders will want to know what the purchase will help the organization do better. A clear problem statement gives approvers a reason to consider your request and makes it easier for them to check whether the proposed purchase addresses the issue.

What costs should I include besides the purchase price?

Include the costs of getting the solution up and running, such as implementation, training, support, maintenance, or additional hardware. If there’s a promotional price, show it alongside the renewal cost and terms so approvers can compare the full cost.

Should I count saved hours as cost savings?

Avoid counting every saved hour as cash savings. Those hours may instead give the team more capacity, shorten lead times, or free employees for other work. Call those hours capacity unless the change is expected to cut a specific expense, such as overtime or outside services.

What questions are approvers likely to ask?

Be ready to explain why the purchase is needed now, why you chose this solution, whether the team can adopt it, whether it will work with current systems, how you’ll know it’s successful, and what could prevent the expected result.

How do I explain the cost of waiting?

Use current information to describe what’s likely to continue, such as recurring labor or outside processing costs, longer queue times, or repeated quality issues. Separate known costs from possible future effects and show how you reached each estimate, so approvers can weigh the timing based on evidence rather than pressure.

Keep Learning

• How to Justify Your SOLIDWORKS Data Management Investment
• Five Manufacturing Investments to Consider Before Year-End
• How to Make the Most of Your Remaining Manufacturing Budget

The post How to Get Approval for a Manufacturing Purchase appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Engineering change management is the process that answers that question. This guide explains how the process works, how an engineering change order (ECO) workflow moves from request to release and the practices that keep it fast without losing control.

What Is Engineering Change Management?

Engineering change management is the set of steps a company uses to request, evaluate, approve, carry out and record changes to a product’s design and its related documents. It covers the CAD files, but it also covers drawings, bills of materials (BOMs), suppliers and the people downstream who need to know a change happened.

Done well, it means three things. Everyone works on the correct revision. Every change has a reason, an owner and an approval. And anyone can look back later and see what changed, when and why.

The Core Terms: ECR, ECO and ECN

Companies use slightly different names for their change documents, but most processes include three:

• Engineering change request (ECR): The proposal. Someone reports a problem or suggests an improvement, and the request captures what, why and which items are affected.
• Engineering change order (ECO): The authorization. Once a request is approved, the ECO assigns the work, defines what will change and tracks it to completion.
• Engineering change notice (ECN): The announcement. It tells manufacturing, purchasing, quality and other teams that the change is released and what they need to do.

The term ECN varies the most. In some product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, it refers to the approved implementation plan rather than the announcement.

Some companies also run quality records such as corrective actions and non-conformances alongside these, and those often trigger change requests.

How an ECO Workflow Runs, Step by Step

A typical engineering change process moves through six stages:

1. Capture the request: Anyone affected can raise an ECR, with the affected parts, drawings or assemblies attached.
2. Review and evaluate: Engineering and the relevant stakeholders assess impact on cost, schedule, inventory and other products that use the same parts.
3. Approve or reject: The right approvers sign off based on rules your company sets, so small changes do not wait on the same people as major ones.
4. Issue the ECO and make the change: An engineer is assigned, the CAD and drawings are updated and the BOM is revised.
5. Release: The new revision is released, outputs such as PDFs and STEP files are created and the old revision is superseded.
6. Notify and close: Downstream teams are notified, and the record is closed with full traceability back to the original request.

Why Manual Change Processes Break Down

When change runs on email and spreadsheets, the costs are hard to see but easy to feel. The wrong revision gets sent to production. A CAD file is moved and nobody can find it. Revision letters are typed by hand into files that were copied to preserve the old version. Release packages are built manually at the end of every change.

Hawk Ridge Systems’ Enterprise Solutions team sees this across SOLIDWORKS Manage projects: Most customers’ main reasons for looking at the software include better automation of their BOMs and engineering change processes. In a 2022 post, the Hawk Ridge Systems Enterprise Solutions team described using a conservative $3,000 per manual change request as a starting point in its Manage PLM return on investment (ROI) calculations. Multiplied by the number of change requests a company handles over three years, that figure can make the case on its own.

Tools That Support Engineering Change Management

You can run a sound change process at three levels, depending on how far the change needs to reach:

• SOLIDWORKS PDM: SOLIDWORKS PDM workflows tie approval and release directly to the CAD files. Changing a file’s state notifies the next person, and revision schemes apply automatically to native files. Task automation can create PDFs at release, and SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional can also output neutral formats such as STEP and DXF. File references are tracked, so renaming or moving a file does not break an assembly.
• SOLIDWORKS Manage: SOLIDWORKS Manage builds on PDM Professional with configurable processes for change requests, change orders and quality actions, linked to BOMs, projects and files. It suits teams whose changes involve purchasing, quality and operations as well as engineering.
• Cloud change apps: On the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, apps such as Issue Management, Change Execution and Route Management in the Collaborative Industry Innovator role let teams track requests from outside engineering and the plan to resolve them, in the cloud. Our post on change management with 3DEXPERIENCE explains the options.

Best Practices for Engineering Change Management

• Make requests easy to raise: If filing an ECR is harder than sending an email, people will send emails. Keep the form short and attach the affected items automatically where you can.
• Scale approvals to the change: Route minor documentation fixes differently from changes that affect cost, safety or customers.
• Keep one source of truth: Work from native files in a managed vault rather than copies, so the released revision is never in doubt.
• Automate the release package: Let the system create neutral files at release instead of building them by hand.
• Close the loop: Notify downstream teams and record the outcome, so the history is there when an auditor or a new engineer asks why something changed.
• Measure it: Track how many change requests you handle and how long they take. Those numbers drive the ROI conversation.

Keep Learning

• Change Management in SOLIDWORKS PDM: Don’t Waste Your Best Work
• How to Manage Bills of Materials and Engineering Change Processes With SOLIDWORKS
• What Is PDM? A Practical Guide to Product Data Management

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Difference Between an ECR and an ECO?

An ECR proposes a change and explains why. An ECO authorizes an approved change, assigns the work and tracks it through release.

What Is the Difference Between an ECN and an ECO?

The ECO governs making the change. The ECN communicates the released change to the teams who need to act on it.

Do Small Teams Need a Formal Engineering Change Process?

Yes, scaled to their size. Even a simple PDM workflow with one approval step helps keep the wrong revision from reaching production.

What Software Manages Engineering Changes for SOLIDWORKS Users?

SOLIDWORKS PDM handles file-level workflows and revisions, SOLIDWORKS Manage adds cross-department change and quality processes and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers cloud-based issue and change apps.

Contact Us

Want to see what your change process costs today? Contact Hawk Ridge Systems and our data management team can walk through the numbers with you.

The post Engineering Change Management: Process, ECO Workflow and Best Practices appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Why Steady-State Mixing Simulations Take So Long

In a mixing simulation, it may take much longer to determine the mixture concentration than it does for the flow field to become established. Recalculating the flow after that point can add significant calculation time without providing much additional information.

Flow Freezing in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation can help in these situations. By freezing the calculations for the pressure and velocity field, the solver can continue focusing on slower processes such as diffusion. In this example, the analysis solved 36% faster with less than 5% deviation from the baseline result.

Background: The Gas Mixer Study

In the following study, a gas mixer is used to investigate how effectively two gases mix. Nitrogen and oxygen enter the mixer through separate inlets, combine as they travel through the mixer, and exit through a single outlet.

The goal is to determine how uniformly the gases are mixed at the outlet. The study also evaluates how Flow Freezing affects solve time and accuracy.

Simulation Setup

The gas mixer has two separate inlets. Oxygen enters at a mass flow rate of 0.03 kg/s, and nitrogen enters at 0.02 kg/s. The two streams mix as they travel through the mixer before leaving through the single outlet.

The objective of the simulation is to evaluate the quality of the mixing at the outlet. If the gases were perfectly mixed, the oxygen mass fraction would be 0.60 at every point across the outlet. In this mixer, however, some areas may contain more oxygen than others.

To quantify this variation with a single value, the oxygen mass fraction range is used. The range is the difference between the highest and lowest oxygen mass fraction at the outlet. A smaller range indicates a more uniform mixture, with an ideal range of 0 representing a perfectly mixed stream (the same gas concentration everywhere on the outlet face).

Flow Freezing Off: The Baseline

The first simulation was performed with Flow Freezing disabled, providing a baseline for comparison.

The calculation required 308 seconds of CPU time. The oxygen mass fraction at the outlet varied from 0.36 to 0.78, giving an oxygen mass fraction range of 0.42. The other two simulations are compared against this result.

Flow Freezing Starting at 50 Iterations

The second simulation used Permanent Flow Freezing, with freezing starting at 50 iterations.

The calculation required 133 seconds of CPU time, making it approximately 57% faster than the simulation without Flow Freezing. The oxygen mass fraction range, however, changed from 0.42 in the baseline case to 0.63, a 50% deviation.

Any significant difference in the oxygen mass fraction range compared with the baseline indicates that the flow may have been frozen before it had developed sufficiently.

Flow Freezing Starting at 100 Iterations

The third simulation also used Permanent Flow Freezing, but the flow was allowed to develop for 100 iterations. The calculation required 198 seconds of CPU time, making it approximately 36% faster than the 308-second baseline.

The oxygen mass fraction range was 0.40, compared with 0.42 in the baseline case — a deviation of less than 5%. This suggests that allowing the flow field more time to develop before freezing can provide a better balance between calculation time and maintaining the baseline mixing result.

What About Periodic Flow Freezing?

Permanent Flow Freezing works well when the velocity field can remain fixed. In some cases, however, the velocity field still needs to respond to changes in temperature or species concentration, as in natural convection.

In these situations, Periodic Flow Freezing can be used. Instead of freezing the flow permanently, Periodic Flow Freezing recalculates the velocity field at regular intervals. The user specifies the number of iterations for which the flow is frozen and the number of iterations for which it is recalculated. This can be useful when the flow changes more quickly than the temperature or concentration field but still needs to be updated periodically.

Conclusion: Let the Flow Develop Before Freezing It

The gas mixer example demonstrates how Flow Freezing can reduce the calculation time of a steady-state mixing simulation.

Without Flow Freezing, the baseline calculation required 308 seconds. Starting Permanent Flow Freezing at 50 iterations reduced the CPU time to 133 seconds, but the resulting oxygen mass fraction range was significantly different from the baseline. Starting Flow Freezing at 100 iterations required 198 seconds but produced results much closer to the baseline study.

The results show that there is a balance between calculation time and when the flow is frozen. Freezing too early may save more time, but the flow field may not yet be sufficiently developed.

When using Flow Freezing, it is therefore important to allow the flow to develop before freezing it. Finding the appropriate starting point may require testing different values for the specific simulation.

For steady-state mixing problems where the flow develops faster than the concentration field, Flow Freezing can provide a useful way to reduce calculation time while still allowing the slower mixing process to reach its final state.

Flow Freezing works in transient studies, too. For a transient example, see Speeding Up Transient Simulations with Flow Freezing, which applies Permanent Flow Freezing to a hammer cooling study.

Have questions about using Flow Freezing in your own simulations? Contact us to talk with Hawk Ridge Systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Flow Freezing in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation?

Flow Freezing freezes the calculations for the pressure and velocity field once the flow has developed, so the solver can continue focusing on slower processes such as diffusion. It helps when the flow field becomes established much sooner than the mixture concentration.

How much time did Flow Freezing save in the gas mixer example?

The baseline study without Flow Freezing required 308 seconds of CPU time. Permanent Flow Freezing starting at 50 iterations required 133 seconds, approximately 57% faster, and starting at 100 iterations required 198 seconds, approximately 36% faster.

Can freezing the flow too early affect accuracy?

Yes. Starting Flow Freezing at 50 iterations changed the oxygen mass fraction range from 0.42 in the baseline case to 0.63, a 50% deviation. Starting at 100 iterations gave a range of 0.40, less than 5% deviation. This suggests that giving the flow more time to develop before freezing it provides a better balance between calculation time and accuracy.

When should Flow Freezing start?

Allow the flow to develop before freezing it. Freezing too early may save more time, but the flow field may not yet be sufficiently developed. Finding the appropriate starting point may require testing different values for the specific simulation.

Where do you turn on Flow Freezing?

Go to Calculation Control Options > Solving. In the gas mixer example, the freezing strategy was set to Permanent, with freezing starting at 50 or 100 iterations.

When is Periodic Flow Freezing a better choice?

Periodic Flow Freezing is useful when the velocity field still needs to respond to changes in temperature or species concentration, as in natural convection. It recalculates the velocity field at regular intervals, and the user specifies the number of iterations for which the flow is frozen and the number of iterations for which it is recalculated.

Keep Learning

• Why Chimney Strakes Matter in Vortex Shedding CFD Analysis
• How to Use CFD Results as FEA Inputs for Multiphysics Analysis
• Industrial Equipment Validation with SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation

The post Speeding Up Steady-State Flow Simulations with Flow Freezing appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

• Confirm the timeline first: Get the exact amount left in your remaining manufacturing budget and the date funds must be committed, then work backward to see which options can realistically be approved and put to use.
• Start with what you already own: Training, implementation services, and version upgrades for installed software typically need less evaluation and approval, which makes them a good fit for tight year-end timelines.
• Decide what to fund now and what to plan for later: Compare every option against the same criteria, then sort each one into ready to move forward, worth preparing, or better suited for a future budget.

Use it or lose it. That’s what you’re probably hearing if there’s money left as the end of a budget year approaches. The goal shouldn’t be to spend simply because money remains. It should be to identify whether a timely investment now can address a real need, support business priorities, and deliver real value.

Short on Time? Start Here.

If your deadline is only a few weeks out, skip the full review below and do this instead:

• Get the exact amount that you have left to spend and the date funds must be committed by.
• Look at the software you already own before trying anything new. Training and implementation services rarely need a fresh evaluation, so they tend to move through approvals faster.
• Pick one problem your team complains about every week and see if it can be fixed before the deadline.
• Request quotes now.

Want the Full Scoop? Read On.

A thoughtful year-end review can help you make informed decisions and avoid rushing into purchases that are not a good fit. Here are some practical steps for deciding how to use remaining funds.

1. Confirm the Budget and Purchasing Timeline

Start by checking the details with your finance or procurement team. Find out how much funding is available and when purchase requests need to be submitted. Budget rules and deadlines vary by organization, so confirm whether the remaining funds can be carried forward or need to be committed by a specific date.

Timing matters, too. Count backward from your deadline to see how much time you actually have. A purchase may require a quote, internal approval, and vendor setup in your accounting system before anything else can happen. New hardware or a new system can add delivery, installation, and training time on top of that. Once you lay out all the steps, you’ll see quickly which options will work in the time allotted. Check for any available promotions that might allow you to gain more value from your budget dollars.

2. Tie Potential Spending to Business Priorities

Before considering specific products or services, identify what the organization needs to accomplish. Priorities might include increasing throughput, improving quality, supporting a new product launch, expanding capacity, or helping engineers spend less time on repetitive tasks.

Ask department leaders and employees close to the work where current processes make those goals harder to reach. For example, a team may be waiting on CNC programming, wasting time locating design files, or relying on manual steps that create delays. These observations can help turn a general request for new tools into a clearer operational need.

3. Get Input from More Than One Team

Engineering, manufacturing, quality, IT, and operations all touch the same workflow, but they don’t see it the same way. A short conversation with each can reveal dependencies before one team’s purchase creates extra work for another.

Keep the input process simple. Ask teams to describe what’s slowing them down, who it affects, how often it happens, and what would improve if the issue were addressed. Focus on understanding needs rather than choosing a solution.

4. Check What You Already Own

For a lot of teams, the smartest year-end spend goes toward software that’s already installed.

Training allows engineering to use the features you’re already paying for. Implementation services can finish a rollout that stalled. And if your team is a few versions behind on its software, version upgrade services move you to the current release and new features.

These services typically need less evaluation and approval. Plus, these can often be more budget-friendly options when you’re trying to squeeze out the last bit of funds available.

5. Compare Options Using Consistent Criteria

Once you have a list, compare each option against the same criteria. This makes it easier to see which purchases are likely to provide useful returns and which need more planning. Compare across the following criteria:

Ready to Invest Your Remaining Manufacturing Budget?

Depending on the need, options might include updating CAD or CAM capabilities, improving product data management, adding training, or getting implementation support for tools the organization already owns. The right choice depends on the workflow and goals, not on the category of purchase.

6. Consider Implementation, Not Just Acquisition

A purchase only creates value when the team can put it to work. Before committing funds, outline what implementation involves. Identify who will lead the effort, which employees will use the solution, and whether the team needs training or outside support. A shiny new tool nobody has time to learn is just an expensive desktop icon.

Estimate when the team could begin using the purchase and what success would look like. Depending on the investment, useful measures could include reduced programming time, fewer revision-related errors, improved throughput, or less time spent on manual tasks. Establishing a baseline now makes it easier to assess results later.

7. Decide What to Fund Now and What to Plan for Later

Not every worthwhile idea needs to be purchased before year-end. Sort options into three groups:

• Ready to move forward: The need is clear, the purchase fits the available budget, and the organization can implement it on a practical timeline.
• Worth preparing: The opportunity looks promising, but the team needs more information, stakeholder input, or planning before deciding.
• Better suited for a future budget: The purchase may support a longer-term goal, but the timing, readiness, or resources are not in place.

This approach gives decision-makers a clear view of both immediate opportunities and future needs. It also helps teams avoid treating the calendar as the only reason to spend.

Year-End Manufacturing Budget Checklist

Before deciding, be sure to answer these questions:

• What business or operational priority does this address?
• Which teams will benefit, and have they been consulted?
• What are the full costs, including implementation and training?
• Is there a current promotion available that can reduce cost?
• Can the purchase be approved and put to use within the required timeline?
• Does it fit with current systems, equipment, and workflows?
• Who will own implementation and measure the outcome?

Make the Most of Your Remaining Manufacturing Budget

Year-end money goes furthest when it fixes a problem people already feel. A careful review can help teams direct funds toward improvements they are prepared to use, while creating a clear plan for investments that need more time.

Hawk Ridge Systems works with manufacturers to evaluate engineering and manufacturing workflows and identify software, training, and services that fit their needs. If your team is currently reviewing its year-end priorities, connect with Hawk Ridge Systems to discuss any challenges you want to address.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do first with a remaining manufacturing budget?

Check the details with your finance or procurement team. Find out how much funding is available, when purchase requests need to be submitted, and whether the remaining funds can be carried forward or need to be committed by a specific date. Then count backward from your deadline to see which options can realistically be approved and put to use.

What if my year-end deadline is only a few weeks away?

Get the exact amount you have left to spend and the date funds must be committed by. Look at the software you already own before trying anything new, pick one problem your team complains about every week and see if it can be fixed before the deadline, and request quotes now.

Why consider training and implementation services at year-end?

For software that’s already installed, training and implementation services rarely need a fresh evaluation, so they tend to move through approvals faster. They can also be more budget-friendly options when you’re trying to squeeze out the last bit of funds available.

How should I compare year-end purchase options?

Compare each option against the same criteria: business impact, total cost, readiness, compatibility, and staying power. This makes it easier to see which purchases are likely to provide useful returns and which need more planning.

Do I have to spend my remaining budget before year-end?

Not every worthwhile idea needs to be purchased before year-end. The goal shouldn’t be to spend simply because money remains. Sort options into three groups: ready to move forward, worth preparing, and better suited for a future budget.

How can I tell whether a purchase will deliver value?

A purchase only creates value when the team can put it to work. Identify who will lead implementation, which employees will use the solution, and whether the team needs training or outside support. Then define what success looks like, such as reduced programming time, fewer revision-related errors, improved throughput, or less time spent on manual tasks, and establish a baseline now.

Keep Learning

• 10 Year-End Budget Wins Manufacturers Should Use Before It’s Too Late (with Tax Code References)
• Five Manufacturing Investments to Consider Before Year-End
• How to Justify Your SOLIDWORKS Data Management Investment

The post How to Make the Most of Your Remaining Manufacturing Budget appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

• Start with the work: Look at where teams are losing time, what’s limiting capacity, and which improvements people can realistically put to use before choosing a year-end purchase.
• Five areas to evaluate: Engineering and manufacturing automation, product data management, additive manufacturing and 3D scanning, workforce training, and implementation support can each address different operational needs.
• Plan before you buy: Confirm the full cost, your organization’s readiness, and how you’ll measure results so the calendar isn’t the only reason to buy.

Year-end has a way of making budget decisions feel rushed. Manufacturing teams may have little time to evaluate purchases and get approvals while juggling workflow issues, capacity limits, and the usual production demands. That can make it rough to tell which investments are worth pursuing now and which need more time.

It can be tempting to go with the easiest purchase. Instead, start with the work itself: Where are teams losing time? What’s limiting capacity? Which improvements can people realistically put to use?

The right investment depends on each company’s priorities and readiness. The following five areas can help manufacturers identify opportunities worth evaluating before year-end. They also build on a broader industry focus on process automation, data, and workforce capabilities. In Deloitte’s 2025 smart manufacturing survey¹, 46% of respondents ranked process automation as their first or second priority.

1. Engineering and Manufacturing Automation

Repetitive design, quoting, and programming can keep skilled employees tied up with less valuable tasks. Automation can take some of that off their plates, standardize recurring tasks, reduce manual data entry, and improve consistency.

For example, teams might consider design automation for configurable products, CAM for recurring part families, or workflows that move information between engineering and manufacturing.

Start with a process the team knows well and repeats often. Map out its steps, exceptions, and time involved before deciding what to automate.

Ready to Invest in Engineering and Manufacturing Automation?

2. Product Data Management and Collaboration

As product information grows, teams need a reliable way to find current files, check revisions, and share approved data. Product data management (PDM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) tools can organize product information and help teams manage access and changes.

The right fit is a system that supports how your team actually works. Before choosing a tool, map how design files and related information move among engineering, manufacturing, quality, and other teams. Then look for the spots where people lose time, redo work, or risk using outdated information.

Ready to Invest in Product Data Management and Collaboration?

3. Additive Manufacturing and 3D Scanning

3D printing and scanning can help with prototyping, custom fixtures, tooling, inspection, and reverse engineering. For some teams, these capabilities make it easier to evaluate a design or create a part for a specific production need. The best fit depends on the application, materials, accuracy requirements, and how often the team will use the technology.

You don’t have to buy equipment to explore these capabilities. Compare the cost of owning it with outsourcing, or test the waters with one small application before expanding.

For scanning, check whether your team can capture the data it needs and use it in existing design and inspection workflows.

Ready to Invest in Additive Manufacturing and 3D Scanning?

4. Workforce Training and Upskilling

New software and equipment don’t deliver their full value on their own. Employees need time and practical support to learn how each tool fits into their workflows. Training can help teams build skills in CAD, CAM, data management, additive manufacturing, scanning, and other areas tied to current operational goals.

Training can also help your team get more from the tools it already owns. A focused review can pinpoint where employees need a hand, and whether that’s with a specific workflow, advanced feature, or consistent team standards.

Ready to Invest in Workforce Training and Upskilling?

5. Implementation, Integration, and Workflow Support

Sometimes the most useful investment is support that helps a team put new or existing technology to work. That support might include implementation planning, data migration, software setup, system integration, or help improving a process before automating it.

This kind of support can be especially useful when a project involves several departments, or your team is short on time to manage the work internally. Make sure the plan covers the people, processes, and data involved, along with the technology.

Ready to Invest in Implementation, Integration, and Workflow Support?

How to Choose the Right Investment

Even a promising idea still needs a practical plan. Before you sign off on a year-end purchase, ask:

• What operational need will this address?
• Which teams will use or depend on it?
• What is the full cost, including setup, training, and ongoing support?
• Are current promotional offers available?
• Is the organization ready to implement it?
• What baseline and measures will show whether it helped?
• Would a pilot, service, or future budget cycle be a better fit?

Your answers can help you spot which investments are ready to move ahead and which need more planning. They can also keep the calendar from becoming the only reason to buy.

Plan for the Year Ahead

Manufacturing investments are most useful when they address a clear need and fit the organization’s ability to put them into practice. A careful review can help your team choose a practical next step, whether that means improving an engineering workflow, organizing product data, evaluating new production capabilities, building employee skills, or planning implementation support.

Hawk Ridge Systems helps manufacturers assess their workflows and offers software, training, and services that may fit your team’s needs. Already have something in mind? Talk with Hawk Ridge Systems to discuss how to make it happen by year’s end.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should manufacturers consider before making a year-end investment?

Start with the work itself. Look at where teams are losing time, what’s limiting capacity, and which improvements people can realistically put to use. Then confirm the full cost, your organization’s readiness, and how you’ll measure results.

Which manufacturing investments are worth evaluating before year-end?

Five areas can address different operational needs: engineering and manufacturing automation, product data management and collaboration, additive manufacturing and 3D scanning, workforce training and upskilling, and implementation, integration, and workflow support.

How do I know if my team is ready for engineering and manufacturing automation?

Automation is worth considering when your team repeats similar design or programming tasks, handoffs slow work, or you need more capacity without adding the same amount of manual effort. Start with a process the team knows well and repeats often, and map its steps, exceptions, and time involved before deciding what to automate.

Do I need to buy equipment to explore 3D printing and scanning?

No. You can compare the cost of owning equipment with outsourcing, or test the waters with one small application before expanding.

Why invest in training if we already own the software?

New software and equipment don’t deliver their full value on their own. Training helps employees learn how each tool fits into their workflows and can help your team get more from the tools it already owns.

How can I tell if a year-end purchase is the right move or should wait?

Ask what operational need it addresses, who will use it, what it costs in full, whether the organization is ready to implement it, and how you’ll measure results. Those answers show which investments are ready to move ahead and which might fit better as a pilot, a service, or a future budget cycle.

Keep Learning

• 10 Year-End Budget Wins Manufacturers Should Use Before It’s Too Late (with Tax Code References)
• What Is PDM? A Practical Guide to Product Data Management
• 6 Ways Private SOLIDWORKS Training at Hawk Ridge Systems Pays Off for Your Team

Source

¹ Deloitte, 2025 Smart Manufacturing and Operations Survey: Navigating challenges to implementation

The post Five Manufacturing Investments to Consider Before Year-End appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

In October 2026, that question became real for a large share of manufacturers. Schneider Electric and PTC announced a definitive agreement under which Schneider Electric will acquire PTC, the company behind Creo CAD, Windchill PLM and Onshape cloud CAD. If you use any of those tools, or any engineering software from a vendor that changes hands, this guide walks through what the PTC acquisition, and any vendor acquisition, does and does not change, and the questions worth asking before your next renewal.

What Was Announced on October 5, 2026

According to the joint press release published by PTC, Schneider Electric agreed to acquire PTC in an all-cash deal at $205 per share, valuing PTC’s equity at approximately $22.6 billion. Closing is anticipated by Q3 2027, subject to approval by PTC shareholders and required regulatory approvals. Reuters reported that it would be Schneider Electric’s largest-ever acquisition.

The companies describe the goal as a unified digital thread that connects product design and engineering data with Schneider Electric’s industrial automation and AI capabilities, while “preserving an open-by-design approach across vendors and hardware.”

Two points are worth keeping in mind. First, a signed agreement is not a closed deal, so ownership has not changed yet. Second, the announcement describes a strategy, not a product roadmap. Specific decisions about individual products, packaging and pricing have not been published, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing.

Why Industrial Software Consolidation Matters to Engineering Teams

For years, choosing a CAD tool was mostly a comparison of features: sketching, surfacing, sheet metal, drawings. That comparison still matters, but it is no longer the whole story. CAD now sits inside a much larger web of software that includes data management, PLM, simulation, manufacturing and, increasingly, automation and AI.

As larger industrial companies assemble those pieces into platforms, the conversation shifts from tool versus tool to platform versus platform. Your design software becomes one part of someone else’s broader strategy. That can bring real benefits, such as deeper integration and more investment. It can also bring new priorities that may or may not match yours.

What an Acquisition Does Not Change Overnight

An announcement does not change the software on your workstation. Your files, your templates and your workflows work the same way today as they did before the announcement. There is no reason to make a rushed decision, and a knee-jerk switch can cost far more than it saves.

What an acquisition can change, over months and years, is direction. That is why the most useful response is not to react, but to ask better questions and write down the answers.

Five Questions to Ask Your Vendor After an Acquisition

These questions apply to any engineering software vendor that changes ownership. Ask them of your account team, and ask for answers you can keep on file.

1. What Does the New Owner’s Strategy Mean for the Product Roadmap?

Every buyer has a reason for buying. Ask how the products you depend on fit that reason, which capabilities are planned for the next few releases and whether any of those plans have changed since the announcement. Look for specifics rather than general statements of commitment.

2. What Happens to Integrations and Interoperability?

Your CAD tool connects to PDM or PLM, to ERP, to suppliers and to customers who may use different software. Ask how tightly the CAD and PLM products will be tied to the new owner’s wider ecosystem, and whether open interfaces and support for other vendors’ systems will stay as open in practice as they are today.

3. How Might Packaging and Licensing Evolve?

After a change in ownership, product bundles, subscription terms and cloud offerings are common areas to revisit. Ask what is planned for your current licenses and maintenance terms, whether new bundles are expected and how much notice customers will receive before any change takes effect.

4. Where Will R&D Investment Go?

A combined company has more products competing for the same engineering budget. Ask how investment will be balanced between the established desktop tools you use every day, cloud-native products and new platform initiatives. The answer tells you a lot about where your tools sit on the priority list.

5. Does the Platform Still Match Your Digital Thread and AI Goals?

This question is about you as much as the vendor. If your plan is to connect engineering data with manufacturing, service or the factory floor, the new owner’s direction may be a strong fit. If you value vendor independence, or your automation runs on another supplier’s hardware, weigh how the combined portfolio aligns with that plan.

Questions to Ask Inside Your Own Organization

The vendor is only half of the conversation. Before you can judge any answer, you need a clear picture of your own situation:

• Renewal timing: When do your current agreements renew, and what does each term length commit you to?
• Customization and integration: How many macros, add-ins and system connections would make a change difficult?
• Cloud plans: Are you moving more product development infrastructure to the cloud, or keeping it on premises?
• Vendor strategy: Is reducing the number of technology vendors important, or is staying independent more important?
• Engineering to manufacturing: How important is connecting design data with production and operations?
• Licensing and administration: Are costs or license management already a pain point?
• Last benchmark: When did you last compare your current platform with alternatives?

When you do compare options, focus on the work your team does most of the time rather than features you might use once a year. A tool that wins on a rare edge case can underperform on everyday tasks.

Treat Your Next Renewal as a Checkpoint

With closing anticipated by Q3 2027, many customers will renew at least once before ownership changes. A renewal is a natural checkpoint. Use it to collect your vendor’s answers, review your own priorities and decide whether a closer look at alternatives is worth the effort. For some teams, the right outcome is staying put with better information. For others, it is a planned evaluation on their own schedule.

If a deeper review makes sense, be realistic about what changing tools involves, from data migration and training to the temporary dip in productivity. Our post on how adoption maximizes technology ROI covers why the rollout matters as much as the purchase, and our guide to the digital thread in manufacturing explains what connected engineering data looks like in practice.

Part of that evaluation can be low-risk. SOLIDWORKS, for example, includes 3D Interconnect, which lets you open native files from other CAD systems, including Creo, without converting them first, so a pilot does not have to start with a full data conversion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will My CAD Software Stop Working After My Vendor Is Acquired?

An announcement by itself does not change the software you already use. What can change over time is the roadmap, packaging, licensing and integrations, which is why it is worth asking your vendor directly and getting answers in writing.

Should I Switch CAD Software Because My Vendor Was Acquired?

Not automatically. An acquisition is a good reason to review your options, not a reason to switch on its own. Compare the vendor’s answers with your long-term goals, and weigh the real costs of changing before you decide.

When Is the Schneider Electric Acquisition of PTC Expected to Close?

According to the joint press release, closing is anticipated by Q3 2027, subject to PTC shareholder approval and required regulatory approvals.

What Questions Should I Ask My CAD Vendor After an Acquisition?

Ask about the product roadmap, integrations and interoperability, packaging and licensing, where R&D investment will go and how the platform aligns with your digital thread and AI goals.

Talk Through Your Options

If the news has your team asking questions about its engineering platform, Hawk Ridge Systems can help you think through them, whatever you decide. Contact Hawk Ridge Systems to start the conversation.

The post PTC Was Acquired. How to Reassess Your CAD and PLM Strategy appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

This article is the practical companion to our free guide, The Automation KPIs that Make or Break Your ROI. The guide goes deep on each of the eight KPIs. Here, we focus on the groundwork: how to set a baseline, how to track the numbers after go-live, and how to avoid the mistakes that make ROI impossible to prove.

Why a Baseline Comes Before Any ROI Claim

ROI is a comparison. Without a reliable starting point, there is nothing to compare against, and every improvement becomes an opinion. A baseline also protects you from the opposite problem — a new automation project that gets blamed for a dip that was really caused by a seasonal order mix or a staffing change.

A good baseline does three things. It defines each KPI the same way everyone will use it later. It covers enough time to reflect normal ups and downs. And it records the conditions behind the numbers, so you can explain changes instead of guessing at them.

The 8 Automation ROI KPIs at a Glance

These are the eight KPIs covered in the full guide. Use this table as a quick reference for what to measure and where the data usually comes from.

Four notes on the formulas:

• Machine utilization — run time ÷ scheduled production time is the availability calculation used in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Many shops use “utilization” to mean run time ÷ total calendar (available) time instead, which usually produces a lower number for the same machine. Pick one definition, label it clearly, and keep it consistent before and after go-live.
• Quote-to-production lead time — you can also split this KPI into quote turnaround (quote request to quote sent) and order-to-production (order received to production start) to see where the delay sits.
• Setup time per job — count each job once. If a job runs as multiple operations, such as Op 10 and Op 20, all of its setups roll into that one job rather than counting as separate setups.
• Scrap and rework — count a unit once, even if it is reworked and then scrapped, and consider weighting scrap by cost so one expensive part does not count the same as an inexpensive one.

For why each KPI matters, how automation moves it, pro tips, and what good looks like, download the full guide.

How to Baseline Your Automation KPIs in 5 Steps

Step 1: Start With the Workflow, Not the Metric

Pick the process you plan to automate — CNC programming, quoting, configured product design, change management — and choose the two or three KPIs it affects most. Tracking all eight for every project spreads your effort thin. If you are still deciding where to automate, The Manufacturer’s Workbook to Automation Opportunities walks you through finding friction across engineering, programming, production, data, and quoting.

Step 2: Pull History From Systems You Already Have

Many manufacturers have more data than they realize. Work orders, quality records, shipping history, and PDM workflow timestamps can often give you a starting point without a new tool. Where there is no history, run a manual time study before the change goes live, and run it across enough jobs and shifts to reflect your normal mix rather than a single week.

Step 3: Write Down One Definition for Each KPI

Does “run time” include warm-up cycles? Does “on time” mean the promise date or the original request date, and will you count on-time delivery by units, orders, or order lines? Agree on these definitions with operations, engineering, and finance before you collect a single number, and keep them in one shared document.

Step 4: Capture a Window Long Enough to Be Fair

A single good or bad week is not a baseline. Choose a period that reflects your normal mix of parts, customers, and shifts — often a full quarter or one complete order cycle — and note anything unusual that happened during it.

Step 5: Record the Context Behind the Numbers

Log part mix, order volume, staffing, and any equipment downtime alongside your KPIs. When results change after automation, this context helps you explain what the automation likely changed and what the business changed.

How to Track Automation KPIs After Go-Live

Use the same definitions, the same data sources, and the same reporting cadence you used for the baseline. Changing how you measure in the middle of a project is the fastest way to lose credibility with stakeholders.

Watch trends, not snapshots. Automation often improves over time as teams build templates, refine rules, and trust the new process, so an early reading rarely tells the full story. Review results on a regular rhythm — weekly for shop-floor metrics like setup time and utilization, monthly for cross-functional ones like quote-to-production lead time.

Read KPIs in pairs. Faster programming time per part is good news only if scrap and rework hold steady. Higher machine utilization means more if on-time delivery improves with it. Pairing KPIs keeps one gain from hiding a new problem somewhere else. It also keeps a real improvement from looking like a failure. Utilization can drop even when automation is working — better CAM programming or a more efficient post processor can cut cycle times and raise output while lowering utilization. Track utilization alongside parts produced per scheduled hour, so a drop in utilization is not mistaken for a failure.

Here is a simple worked example with illustrative numbers only. If a machine is scheduled for 40 hours in a week and actually cuts parts for 26 of them, its utilization rate is (26 ÷ 40) × 100 = 65% for that week. Track that same calculation week after week, before and after the change, and the trend becomes your evidence.

To turn KPI gains into ROI, translate them into dollars — for example, hours saved multiplied by your fully loaded labor rate, or avoided scrap valued at its material and labor cost. Then weigh those gains against the full investment, including software, implementation, training, and the internal hours your team spends on the project.

Common Tracking Mistakes That Distort ROI

• Measuring only after go-live — without a “before,” improvements cannot be quantified.
• Moving the goalposts — redefining a KPI mid-project makes old and new numbers incomparable.
• Chasing a single number — one KPI in isolation can look great while another quietly slips.
• Ignoring adoption — automation only pays off when people use it, so low usage often explains flat results.
• Keeping results in a spreadsheet nobody sees — share trends with the people doing the work, not just leadership.

Turning KPI Trends Into Your Next Automation Move

Your KPIs do more than prove ROI on past projects. They point to the next opportunity. Long programming times may signal a case for rules-based CAM such as SOLIDWORKS CAM or CAMWorks. Slow quote-to-production lead times on configured products may point toward design automation with DriveWorks. Long engineering change cycles often trace back to disconnected data, where SOLIDWORKS PDM or the 3DEXPERIENCE platform can help connect workflows. Hawk Ridge Systems sells, implements, and supports these solutions, and our team can help you match the KPI to the right tool.

Before automating anything new, make sure the underlying process is ready. Our guide, Optimize. Automate. Accelerate. Future-Proof Your Manufacturing Operations, covers how to optimize people, processes, and systems first. And for practical advice on getting teams to actually use new automation, read Maximize Adoption of Automation & AI in Daily Workflows: 5 Things Manufacturers Can Do NOW.

Try It With Your Own Data: An AI Prompt for Automation ROI

Want a head start on your own numbers? Copy the prompt below into your AI assistant of choice, fill in the brackets with your data, and leave blank anything you do not have yet. It uses the eight KPIs from this article, and it is built to flag missing data instead of guessing.

Before you paste, remove customer names, part numbers, and pricing, and use your company’s approved AI tool.

You are a manufacturing operations analyst. Help me baseline and track the ROI of an automation project using the 8 automation ROI KPIs below. Use only the data I provide. Do not invent numbers. Do not cite industry benchmarks, averages, or targets unless I provide them. If something is missing, tell me exactly what to collect and where it usually lives. Use a code or calculator tool if available and double-check all arithmetic.

ABOUT MY OPERATION
- Company type / what we make: [e.g., job shop, CNC machined aluminum parts]
- Process we automated (or plan to automate): [e.g., CNC programming, quoting, configured product design, engineering change management]
- Automation tool or approach: [e.g., rules-based CAM, design automation, PDM workflows]
- Tools we already own (optional): [e.g., SOLIDWORKS, SOLIDWORKS PDM]
- Go-live date (or planned date): [date]
- Baseline period: [start date to end date]
- Anything unusual during the baseline period: [e.g., new customer, staffing change, machine downtime, seasonal spike]

MY KPI DEFINITIONS (one agreed definition per KPI)
- What counts as "run time": [e.g., spindle cutting only, excludes warm-up]
- Utilization is measured against: [scheduled production time (OEE availability) / total calendar (available) time]
- What counts as "on time": [promise date or original request date]
- On-time delivery is counted by: [units / orders / order lines]
- Other definitions we agreed on: [list]

MY DATA (formula inputs BEFORE and AFTER go-live; same definitions, same sources)
- Before period: [start date to end date]  After period: [start date to end date]
1. Time Saved = Original Time - Time After Improvements
   Task or job measured: [ ]
   Original Time (hrs per [job / part / week]): [ ]
   Time After Improvements (hrs per [job / part / week]): [ ]
   Source: [time studies / job travelers / ERP labor]
2. Programming Time Per Part = Total Programming Time / Number of Parts Programmed
   Total programming time (hrs): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Number of parts programmed: Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Source: [CAM logs / job tickets]
3. Machine Utilization Rate = (Actual Run Time / Scheduled Production Time) x 100
   Actual run time (hrs): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Scheduled production time (hrs): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Parts produced in that time (optional, for parts per scheduled hour): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Source: [machine monitoring / MES / schedule]
4. Quote-to-Production Lead Time = Production Start Date - Quote Request Date
   Average and median (days) over [N] orders: Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Source: [CRM or quoting system / ERP]
5. Engineering Change Cycle = ECO Released or Implemented Date - Change Request Submitted Date
   Average and median (days) over [N] changes: Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Source: [PDM or PLM workflow]
6. Scrap & Rework Rate = (Scrapped or Reworked Units / Total Units Produced) x 100
   Scrapped or reworked units (count each unit once): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Total units produced: Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Source: [quality logs / NCRs]
7. Setup Time Per Job = Total Setup Time / Number of Jobs
   Total setup time, all setups for those jobs (hrs): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Number of jobs (count a multi-op job once, e.g., Op 10 + Op 20 = 1 job): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Source: [operator logs / machine monitoring (where setup start is captured)]
8. On-Time Delivery Rate = (On-Time Units Delivered / Total Units Delivered) x 100
   On-time deliveries ([units / orders / order lines]): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Total deliveries ([units / orders / order lines]): Before [ ]  After [ ]
   Source: [shipping records / ERP]

CONTEXT LOG (before and after)
- Part mix: [ ]
- Order volume: [ ]
- Staffing: [ ]
- Equipment downtime: [ ]
- Adoption (who is actually using the new process, and how often): [ ]

WHAT I NEED FROM YOU
1. Pick the 2-3 KPIs that matter most for the process I automated, and explain why.
2. Calculate those KPIs before and after (or all eight, if I provided data for them), showing the math.
3. Read the KPIs in pairs (e.g., programming time with scrap/rework, utilization with on-time delivery, utilization with parts produced per scheduled hour) and flag any gain that may be hiding a new problem. If utilization dropped, check whether shorter cycle times raised output before calling it a failure.
4. Use my context log to suggest what the automation may have changed versus what the business changed. Label these explanations as hypotheses, not findings.
5. Call out tracking mistakes in my data: no true baseline, definitions that changed mid-project, a baseline window that's too short, a single KPI in isolation, or low adoption.
6. Based on the weakest KPIs, suggest where to automate next, considering the tools we already own first.
7. Summarize the results in 5 bullets I can share with leadership, clearly labeling any estimates.

The prompt handles the math. For pro tips and what good looks like for each KPI, download The Automation KPIs that Make or Break Your ROI.

Get the Full Automation ROI KPI Guide

A baseline tells you where you started. The full guide tells you what to do with each number. The Automation KPIs that Make or Break Your ROI breaks down all eight KPIs with why each one matters, how automation helps, a practical pro tip, what good looks like, and how it connects to throughput, labor efficiency, and workflows.

Download the free guide and go from friction to flow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to measure automation ROI in manufacturing?

Set a baseline for the KPIs your automation project affects most, then track those same KPIs the same way after go-live. Time saved, programming time per part, machine utilization rate, and scrap and rework rate are common starting points.

How do you calculate automation ROI?

ROI = (financial gains − total costs) ÷ total costs × 100. In plain words, add up what the automation saved or earned in dollars, such as labor hours saved at your fully loaded labor rate and avoided scrap. Subtract everything you spent to get there, including software, implementation, training, and internal time. Then divide the result by those same total costs and multiply by 100 to express it as a percentage.

How long should a KPI baseline period be?

Often a full quarter or one complete order cycle, whichever better reflects your normal mix of parts, orders, and shifts. Avoid basing it on a single unusually busy or slow stretch, and note any unusual events that happened during the window.

How do you calculate machine utilization rate?

Machine Utilization Rate = (Actual Run Time ÷ Scheduled Production Time) × 100. Measured against scheduled production time, this is the availability calculation used in OEE. Many shops instead define utilization as run time ÷ total calendar (available) time, so pick one definition and keep it consistent. Track it by machine, work center, shift, or facility, and watch the trend over weeks rather than relying on a single reading.

How often should you review automation KPIs?

Use a regular rhythm and keep it consistent with your baseline. Weekly reviews work well for shop-floor metrics like setup time and machine utilization, while monthly reviews suit cross-functional metrics like quote-to-production lead time and engineering change cycle.

Which automation KPI matters most?

No single metric tells the whole story. The KPIs are strongest when tracked together, because pairing them shows where friction remains and keeps one improvement from masking a new problem.

What if our KPIs do not improve after we automate?

Check adoption first — automation only pays off when people use it. Then confirm you are measuring with the same definitions and data sources as the baseline, review the context you logged (part mix, order volume, staffing, downtime), and give the new process time, since automation often improves as teams build templates and refine rules.

What if we never measured anything before we automated?

Start now. Use whatever historical records you have — work orders, quality logs, shipping history — to reconstruct an approximate baseline, label it as an estimate, and measure consistently from here forward.

How can a manufacturer find its biggest automation opportunities?

Benchmark your current KPIs, then look for the processes with the longest programming times, lowest utilization, or highest scrap. The Manufacturer’s Workbook to Automation Opportunities is a practical place to start. For an outside perspective, a Hawk Ridge Systems Business Assessment reviews your product development processes, pinpoints inefficiencies, and delivers a plan to address them.

Contact Us

Not sure which KPIs to baseline first, or where automation will make the biggest difference in your operation? Contact Us to talk with a Hawk Ridge Systems expert about your workflows, your data, and a practical plan to measure the results — or ask about a Business Assessment to uncover inefficiencies and get a plan to close them.

The post 8 Automation ROI KPIs to Track, Plus a Prompt to Run on Your Own Data appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

Before you touch servers and installers, skim Dassault Systèmes’ official What’s New in SOLIDWORKS 2027 — the authoritative list for SOLIDWORKS 2027 across Design, PDM, Simulation, Electrical, and 2D CAD. A short set of reasons the IT work is worth doing:

• Design and AI: Turn prompts, images, and legacy drawings into SOLIDWORKS geometry and production-ready documentation, with improved sheet metal and fillet modeling. FAQ highlights from Dassault also call out In Context Design and Performance Assistants, sheet metal bend editing and stamping, AI automated assembly instructions, AI natural-language macro generation, and AI BREP-to-parametric conversion.
• PDM: Single sign-on, distributed task processing for uninterrupted PDF and file generation, and smarter file replication that synchronizes only active project data.
• Simulation, Electrical, and 2D CAD: Portfolio cards on the same What’s New page cover greater control across Structural, Plastics, and Flow studies; native wire and harness management with bidirectional 2D–3D navigation; and faster documentation workflows in 2D CAD (including STEP export and PLM metadata access).

None of that pays off if licensing, backups, hardware, or PDM are out of order. Use the checklist below to keep the SOLIDWORKS 2027 cutover quiet.

Start with Your Licensing Model

How you upgrade depends on how you’re licensed. SOLIDWORKS has two major licensing methods, and they behave differently during a version change. For a deeper comparison, see our guide to SOLIDWORKS licensing options.

A quick scope note: this checklist covers classic standalone and SolidNetWork (SNL) upgrades, plus PDM and Electrical coordination. 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Named User seats follow a different upgrade path and have their own cutover considerations — if that’s your licensing model, contact Hawk Ridge Systems and we’ll map out the right plan with you.

Standalone (machine) licensing ties an activated license to a particular workstation. You can install SOLIDWORKS on more than one PC with a single license, but it can only be activated on one machine at a time — switching computers means deactivating from the Help menu on the old PC and activating on the new one. There’s no limit on transfers. Only the initial activation typically requires internet access; air-gapped machines can activate through a multi-step offline process where the license request file travels by USB drive to an internet-connected PC and back.

Network licensing (SNL) uses the SolidNetWork License Manager on a server to hand out licenses from a pool. Clients check out a license when they launch SOLIDWORKS or load an add-in, and return it on close. Users heading off-network can borrow a license for up to 30 days. A quick identification tip: network serial numbers generally start with 9010, standalone with 9000.

One licensing rule dominates upgrade planning: the SNL is backwards compatible, but it cannot serve licenses to versions of SOLIDWORKS newer than itself. Documentation from Hawk Ridge Systems and other SOLIDWORKS resellers still describes a current license manager serving clients as far back as SOLIDWORKS 2004 — but the load-bearing rule for your upgrade is simpler: the SNL must be at least as new as every client it serves. It must be upgraded with every release, which means the license server is the first thing you upgrade for SOLIDWORKS 2027, every time. The good news: it’s normally about a 20-minute task, and once it’s done, users on the previous version keep working without interruption while you test SOLIDWORKS 2027 on a few client machines.

While you’re on the server, confirm the basics covered in our IT considerations for SOLIDWORKS network licensing: a small disk footprint (the SNL installation typically uses under 1 GB) and open firewall ports (defaults are 25734 inbound and 25735 outbound). Remote users connect over VPN, though high latency can slow file opens, saves, and add-in loads. For the server operating system, don’t rely on last year’s checklist — supported Windows versions change by release year, so check the current SOLIDWORKS system requirements under SOLIDWORKS Server Products before you upgrade.

Back Up Before You Touch Anything

At minimum, back up anything stored in the default SOLIDWORKS install directories — templates, weldment profiles, material libraries. These can be lost when uninstalling the previous version. Back up your SOLIDWORKS settings with the SOLIDWORKS Settings Wizard (called Copy Settings Wizard in SOLIDWORKS 2022 and older), found in the SOLIDWORKS folder of the Windows Start Menu. Our support team’s guide to saving, restoring, or resetting SOLIDWORKS settings walks through it.

Backing up your CAD files themselves before opening them in SOLIDWORKS 2027 is also good practice. Upgrade-related file issues are very rare, but a backup copy of critical company IP is never a bad idea — and it matters because file compatibility primarily flows one way. Once a file is saved in the new version’s format, older versions can’t edit it in the usual way. (Since SOLIDWORKS 2024, you can save back to the last two releases, with a warning if a newer feature can’t be preserved.) Before anyone upgrades, talk to your design community — collaborators, suppliers, clients, and vendors — so a version mismatch doesn’t stall a project mid-stream. The same backup-and-coordinate mindset shows up in our earlier SOLIDWORKS upgrade planning guide.

Install Smart: Test Side-by-Side, Then Deploy with an Admin Image

Download SOLIDWORKS 2027 from the SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal — the high-speed download servers can get you the software in minutes. Skip beta and pre-release builds for production use; wait for the production SP0.

You don’t have to cut over in one leap. You can install SOLIDWORKS 2027 alongside the previous version on the same computer and test before removing anything. An expert tip from our team: rename the install folder and Toolbox folder with the version number (for example, “SOLIDWORKS Corp 2027” and “SOLIDWORKS Data 2027”) so cleanup later is painless.

For multi-seat deployments, an administrative image standardizes the rollout — and it’s also how you lock down settings. The admin image Option Editor can point clients to a settings file from the SOLIDWORKS Settings Administrator, where you choose which system options to apply and which to apply and lock. Locked settings prompt users with a contact-for-password message, you control whether settings apply on first launch or every launch, and the settings file should live on a shared server location referenced by UNC path. No more mystery template drift between workstations. Step-by-step detail lives in locking settings with an admin image in SOLIDWORKS — the Option Editor and Settings Administrator flow it describes still applies to current releases.

Check Your Hardware While You’re At It

A new release is the natural moment to retire marginal workstations. The current Hawk Ridge Systems SOLIDWORKS Recommended Hardware Guide sets the baseline for a solid CAD seat: Windows 11 Professional 64-bit, a professional-grade CAD-certified NVIDIA RTX graphics card (consumer gaming cards are not the path we recommend for certified SOLIDWORKS stability), an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 32 GB of RAM, and an SSD primary drive (512 GB or larger). For large assemblies, heavy multitasking, Visualize, or Simulation and Flow Simulation work, the guide steps up to 64–128 GB or more of RAM, an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, a 1 TB M.2 PCIe SSD — storage has a direct impact on open, save, and rebuild times — and higher-tier NVIDIA RTX Ada or Blackwell professional graphics. If performance is the complaint, run the Performance Benchmark Test inside SOLIDWORKS before spending money.

Don’t Forget PDM and the Rest of the Stack

If you run SOLIDWORKS PDM or SOLIDWORKS Electrical, the SOLIDWORKS 2027 upgrade is a coordinated event, not a workstation-by-workstation rollout: plan to upgrade the PDM server at the same time as the clients, and make sure vault content is adequately backed up before you start. The same coordination applies to companion products like Inspection and Composer.

That matters even more for the 2027 PDM gains on Dassault’s What’s New page — single sign-on, distributed task processing, and smarter active-project replication only land cleanly when the vault and clients move together. Treat the PDM upgrade as a project with planning, testing, and deployment phases. Hawk Ridge Systems publishes product-specific upgrade guides on our support site each upgrade season; review the guides for every product you own before you begin. For a refresher on keeping vaults healthy between upgrades, see techniques to refresh a SOLIDWORKS PDM system.

When to Call Hawk Ridge Systems

Call us early if any of these apply:

• You’re converting between standalone and network licensing (conversions involve a new serial number and fees, so they take lead time).
• You’re hosting the license server on a virtual machine or cloud provider.
• Your machines activate SOLIDWORKS offline (air-gapped).
• Your SOLIDWORKS 2027 upgrade spans PDM, Electrical, and multiple sites.
• You license through 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Named User seats, which follow their own upgrade path.

Licensing and installation help is a core part of what our support engineers do — practicing mechanical, electrical, and computing engineers with 430+ combined certifications and a 98% customer satisfaction rate, covering the US and Canada. And if you’d rather hand off the whole thing, Hawk Ridge Systems offers turnkey SOLIDWORKS upgrade services: we’ll help build the project plan and execute it, coordinating Network License Manager upgrades, CAD installs, PDM upgrades, Electrical upgrades, and backups. Contact Hawk Ridge Systems to scope your SOLIDWORKS 2027 upgrade — and enjoy a release day where nothing breaks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I upgrade the SolidNetWork License Manager before or after client machines?

Before. The SNL must be at least as new as the SOLIDWORKS 2027 clients it serves. Upgrade the license server first, keep previous-version users productive, then roll out and test the new client installs. Our IT considerations for SOLIDWORKS network licensing article covers backwards compatibility and server prep in more detail.

Can I keep the previous version installed while I test SOLIDWORKS 2027?

Yes. Side-by-side installs are a standard way to validate workflows before you remove the older version. Rename install and Toolbox folders with the version year so cleanup is straightforward.

What should I back up before uninstalling the old version?

Templates, weldment profiles, material libraries, Design Library content, Toolbox customizations, and a SOLIDWORKS Settings Wizard export (Copy Settings Wizard in SOLIDWORKS 2022 and older) — plus vault backups if you run PDM or Electrical.

We use SOLIDWORKS PDM. Can clients upgrade on their own schedule?

No. PDM server and clients need a coordinated plan — especially if you want the SOLIDWORKS 2027 PDM improvements. Match major versions carefully, back up the vault first, and treat the PDM cutover as its own project phase.

When should we involve Hawk Ridge Systems support?

Anytime the SOLIDWORKS 2027 upgrade touches licensing conversions, virtualized or cloud license servers, air-gapped activation, multi-site PDM/Electrical, 3DEXPERIENCE Named User licensing, or you simply want a managed rollout. Start at Contact Us or through your account team.

Keep Learning

• What’s New in SOLIDWORKS 2027 (Dassault Systèmes)
• Everything You Need to Know About SOLIDWORKS Licensing Options
• IT Considerations for SOLIDWORKS Network Licensing
• SOLIDWORKS System Requirements (Dassault Systèmes)
• Locking Settings with an Admin Image in SOLIDWORKS
• SOLIDWORKS Recommended Hardware Guide
• SOLIDWORKS Upgrade Services
• Prior year: What’s New in SOLIDWORKS 2026 (Hawk Ridge Systems)

The post Upgrade Without Breaking Anything: Licensing, Install & IT Prep for SOLIDWORKS 2027 appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

That is where DraftSight fits. It provides a dedicated application for working with 2D drawings, with licensing options for people who use CAD every day and teams that only need it occasionally.

The starting point is understanding what your team needs to do. From there, you can choose the features and licensing that make sense for the work.

What Is DraftSight

DraftSight is Dassault Systèmes’ desktop CAD software for creating, editing and reviewing DWG and DXF drawings. If you have worked in AutoCAD or another 2D CAD application, many of the commands and drawing tools will feel familiar.

You can create geometry, organize layers, add dimensions and annotations, work with blocks and print your drawings. Tools such as Power Trim, automatic dimensioning, drawing comparison and batch printing help with common drafting tasks. Toolbox provides content such as hardware, holes and drawing symbols.

For teams with customized processes, DraftSight supports LISP routines and APIs to automate repetitive tasks and create custom tools. DraftSight Premium also includes macro recording for automating sequences of commands.

Some capabilities depend on the edition. Premium and Enterprise Plus include Custom Blocks, 2D geometric and dimensional constraints, 3D modeling, Sheet Set Manager and STEP import. These are worth considering even if most of your work stays in 2D.

PDF capabilities also deserve a closer look. Using a PDF as a drawing reference is different from converting its content into editable drawing entities. If that is part of your workflow, make sure the edition and operating system you choose support the tools you need.

Working With Your Existing DWG Files

For an established CAD team, the software is only part of the picture. Your drawing templates, block libraries, fonts and print settings are part of how you work.

DraftSight opens and saves DWG and DXF files, including older formats. It also supports drawing resources such as layers, blocks, external references, fonts and plot styles.

Before switching, we recommend working through a few of your own projects. Open a drawing, make the changes you would normally make and check the printed output. If you exchange files with customers or suppliers, include that in the test.

Pay particular attention to blocks with adjustable settings and any scripts or routines your team uses. Some custom command shortcuts may need to be set up again. Testing those items early gives you a clearer picture of what the transition will involve.

Which DraftSight Edition Do You Need

There are two decisions to make: which tools you need and how your team will access them.

Professional covers everyday 2D drafting. Premium adds advanced drafting tools and 3D modeling capabilities. Enterprise and Enterprise Plus offer network licensing, deployment tools and technical support for teams. Mechanical adds tools for managing part references, bills of materials, parts lists and balloon callouts in mechanical drawings.

DraftSight Standard is no longer available for new purchases. Standard and Professional were merged into DraftSight Professional.

DraftSight Professional and Premium are available for Windows and macOS, with some differences in features. Before choosing an edition, confirm that it supports your operating system and includes the tools you need. Linux is not listed as a supported operating system in the current system requirements.

How Many Licenses Do You Actually Need

The number of licenses you need depends on how they are assigned and how your team uses the software.

With Single User Licensing (SUL), each person who needs access requires an assigned license. This option is available for DraftSight Professional, Premium and Mechanical through the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. DraftSight Creator also uses individual user licensing and provides access to the browser based xDraftSight app.

Network licensing works differently. DraftSight Enterprise, Enterprise Plus and Mechanical offer shared license pools. The number of licenses you need depends on how many people use the software at the same time.

For example, ten engineers may need to edit drawings, but only four may need access at once. A pool of four network licenses may cover that usage. If all ten need access simultaneously, you need ten available licenses. Consider overlapping projects and deadlines when determining the size of your pool.

Enterprise and Enterprise Plus are available through resellers as annual subscriptions or perpetual licenses. Network licensing requires a supported license server configuration. Review the maintenance, upgrade and support coverage included with your selected option.

What Does DraftSight Cost

As of October 1, 2026, the published U.S. annual prices below provide a starting point for planning. These are starting prices, are in USD and do not include promotional discounts.

Prices are subject to change.

Perpetual licenses are available through resellers. Hawk Ridge Systems can provide a quote for the edition, license count and support coverage your team needs.

When comparing costs, look at the full setup. Include the licenses you need, subscription or maintenance fees, and any deployment or migration work. For occasional users, a shared network pool may reduce the number of licenses required. Use your busiest periods to determine how many seats you need.

Where DraftSight Fits With SOLIDWORKS

Using SOLIDWORKS does not mean every existing drawing needs to become a 3D model. DraftSight gives your team a place to continue working with DWG files while using SOLIDWORKS for the designs that require 3D.

There are also ways to reuse information between the applications. SOLIDWORKS supports copying entities and blocks into a 2D editor such as DraftSight.

For teams using SOLIDWORKS PDM, DraftSight integration allows 2D drawings to become part of an established file management process. Plan upgrades carefully because DraftSight and PDM version compatibility needs to be considered together.

If your team uses the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, DraftSight can connect to cloud data management, revision management and collaboration capabilities through the appropriate roles. DraftSight remains installed on your computer, while the platform manages and shares the data.

The right approach depends on how your team already manages its drawings and what you want to improve.

When DraftSight Makes Sense

DraftSight is worth considering when you need to create and maintain 2D drawings, exchange DWG files or keep legacy designs accessible.

That could mean updating facility layouts, preparing manufacturing details or revising drawings received from a supplier. It could also mean giving occasional users access to drafting tools through a shared network license pool.

The question is whether DraftSight supports the work those users need to complete. A few representative projects can help answer that before you make a decision.

Choosing DraftSight for Your Team

Choosing the right DraftSight edition starts with your drawings, your processes and the people doing the work. Evaluating a few of your own projects will help you see how its tools support your daily tasks. Include any specialized workflows or custom automation so you can identify what transfers directly and where adjustments may be needed.

DraftSight supports everyday 2D drafting, with editions that add advanced drawing tools, 3D modeling and mechanical documentation capabilities. For teams that also need parametric part and assembly design, SOLIDWORKS can complement DraftSight while you continue maintaining your 2D drawings.

At Hawk Ridge Systems, we can help you evaluate your workflows, compare editions and choose the right licensing approach. Whether your team needs individual access or a shared network license pool, we can help you put DraftSight to work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is DraftSight a good AutoCAD alternative for DWG files?

Yes for many teams. DraftSight is built around DWG and DXF, so familiar drafting commands, layers, blocks and print workflows usually transfer well. The best check is to open a few of your own drawings, run your usual edits and confirm the printed output before you commit.

Which DraftSight edition should I buy?

Start with the work, not the label. Professional covers everyday 2D drafting. Premium adds advanced drafting tools and 3D modeling. Enterprise and Enterprise Plus add network licensing, deployment tools and support. Mechanical adds part references, balloons, bills of materials and related mechanical documentation tools.

Do I need a license for every person on the team?

Not always. Single User Licensing assigns a seat to each person. Network licensing shares a pool, so you size seats to concurrent use rather than headcount. If ten people edit drawings but only four work in DraftSight at once, a four-seat network pool may be enough.

Does DraftSight work with SOLIDWORKS?

Yes. Many teams keep SOLIDWORKS for 3D design and use DraftSight for plant layouts, supplier drawings and legacy DWG files. You can also manage DraftSight files in SOLIDWORKS PDM and connect DraftSight to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with the right roles.

Can DraftSight turn a PDF into editable geometry?

That depends on the edition and operating system. Referencing a PDF under a drawing is different from converting PDF content into editable entities. If PDF import is part of your workflow, confirm the edition supports it — see DraftSight: Importing PDF to DWG/DXF.

Keep Learning

• DraftSight: Modern Use Cases for 2D CAD
• DraftSight vs AutoCAD: Which 2D CAD Tool Works for You (And Your Bottom Line)

The post Why Choose DraftSight: A Practical Guide to Your 2D CAD Options appeared first on Hawk Ridge Systems.

I have spent more than 20 years working alongside engineering teams using a wide range of CAD tools, including SOLIDWORKS and Autodesk Fusion 360. More importantly, I have spent that time observing how teams actually work around these tools: design intent, revisions, collaboration, manufacturing handoff, and the many decisions that happen between first concept and production-ready design.

My intent with this article is simple. I am not trying to convince you that one solution is universally better than the other. I am laying out how each tool approaches the same engineering problems, where each tends to work well, where limitations show up, and how their underlying frameworks differ. I am doing my best to be accurate and fair, but I may not see things the same way you do. That is intentional. Engineers should make up their own minds.

Establishing Common Ground

Before getting into where SOLIDWORKS and Fusion 360 diverge, it is worth acknowledging how much they share at a fundamental level.

• Both follow the same core engineering workflow most mechanical engineers expect: sketch to part, part to assembly, and assembly to drawing.
• Both rely on feature-based modeling and maintain a structured feature and assembly tree to capture design intent.
• From a usability standpoint, both present a familiar Windows-style desktop experience with toolbars, panels, context menus, and a central graphics viewport.

On the surface, the two systems can look and feel very similar. For many engineers evaluating them side by side, it can be genuinely difficult to answer basic questions, such as which is easier to learn, which fits best long term, or which is more future-proof when considering areas like PLM and AI. Those answers typically do not reveal themselves in a short trial.

Saving Data by Default

Both tools can open and save CAD data locally and support cloud-based data workflows, but they default differently.

• SOLIDWORKS can work universally in either direction, meaning it can save locally as a traditional desktop workflow or save to the cloud when a team chooses to use cloud data management. In other words, cloud data management is optional in SOLIDWORKS, and many teams adopt it selectively.
• Fusion 360 defaults to cloud-based data management. Local data can be exported or archived, but Fusion is fundamentally designed to treat cloud storage and cloud data management as the standard workflow rather than an optional layer.

In both cases, CAD computation happens on the local machine, taking advantage of installed hardware such as CPUs, system memory, and graphics card drivers. Neither operates as a purely remote compute solution.

Working Offline

Offline work is supported by both, but the details matter.

• Fusion 360 can work offline for up to two weeks, then requires an online sign-in to refresh access.
• SOLIDWORKS offline capability depends on the license model. Traditional perpetual licenses can work offline indefinitely. Cloud licensing can also run offline, but only for up to 30 days before it requires an online check-in.

From a day-to-day perspective, engineers experienced with one system will recognize many familiar patterns in the other. The meaningful differences tend to appear not in these basics, but in how each system is architected and scaled across broader workflows.

So, let’s get into it.

Two Different Frameworks for Solving the Same Problems

At a high level, both tools aim to solve the same engineering challenges:

• Creating manufacturable designs
• Managing change
• Supporting collaboration

Where they differ is in how those challenges are structured and delivered.

Fusion 360’s Integrated Experience

Fusion 360 is built around a unified, cloud-first framework. Modeling, manufacturing, simulation, and data management are designed to live inside a single environment from the start. This creates a tightly integrated experience where workflows move fluidly between disciplines without switching tools or contexts.

SOLIDWORKS Modular Framework

SOLIDWORKS follows a more modular framework built around a familiar and deeply mature desktop CAD core. Cloud services are layered on top to support collaboration, data management, and extended workflows, rather than replacing the desktop experience outright. This reflects a belief that different engineering needs benefit from purpose-built tools rather than a universal interface.

Within the SOLIDWORKS ecosystem, Dassault Systèmes treats desktop and browser-based CAD as distinct use cases.

SOLIDWORKS Desktop remains the primary tool for traditional parametric modeling, large assemblies, and drawing-driven workflows, while cloud-native tools like xDesign are positioned for teams that want browser-based CAD without sacrificing connection to the broader SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE ecosystem.

For teams that prefer running traditional SOLIDWORKS through a browser, virtualized CAD and remote workstation solutions continue to be supported, as they have been for many years.

Neither framework is inherently right or wrong, but they lead to different day-to-day experiences, especially as designs grow in complexity, teams expand, and long-term workflow requirements become clearer.

Core Modeling & Design Workflow

Modeling is where the day-to-day differences between the two tools start to show. Both cover the fundamentals, but they take different approaches to combining parametric, direct, and freeform modeling.

Fusion 360’s Blended Environment

Fusion’s modeling environment blends parametric, direct, and surface modeling into a single workspace. This flexibility is particularly useful early in the design process, where concept exploration and rapid iteration are priorities.

Fusion’s Strengths & Limitations

Strengths	Limitations
Seamless switching between modeling approaches Strong continuity from concept through manufacturing Well suited for smaller teams that want everything in one place	Parametric rebuild behavior can become harder to manage as designs grow Large, highly detailed assemblies can feel constrained Less separation between conceptual exploration and production-ready workflows

SOLIDWORKS’s Parametric Modeling Engine

SOLIDWORKS is built around a deeply mature parametric modeling engine that emphasizes design intent, predictability, and long-term maintainability.

SOLIDWORKS’s Strengths & Limitations

Strengths	Limitations
Robust parametric control and feature history Strong performance with large, complex assemblies Clear separation between parts, assemblies, and drawings	Conceptual exploration can feel slower without supplemental tools Requires additional solutions to achieve an all-in-one workflow feel

Where xDesign and xShape Fit

Within the SOLIDWORKS ecosystem, conceptual exploration is addressed through xDesign and xShape.

xShape uses subdivision modeling to support organic and ergonomic design, complementing the more traditional parametric workflows in desktop SOLIDWORKS. For teams that want faster concept development without abandoning SOLIDWORKS entirely, this fills an important gap.

Assemblies & Performance at Scale

This section focuses on what most engineers would consider large assemblies: examples like ebikes, industrial machinery, or a two-person submersible.

Fusion 360’s Workflow

Fusion 360 can handle assemblies of this scale, but performance and workflow structure can feel limiting as part counts increase and configurations become more complex.

SOLIDWORKS’s Support for Longer Lifecycles

SOLIDWORKS has long been optimized for these scenarios, with tools and performance characteristics designed to support large, detailed assemblies over long product lifecycles.

Once you move into truly massive product definitions, such as full aircraft, EVs, or yachts, the conversation shifts toward tools like CATIA, which are purpose-built for super large assemblies. That is a different discussion for a future article.

Drawings, Documentation, & Model-Based Definition (MBD)

In many organizations, drawings are still contractual deliverables, so it is worth looking at how each tool approaches documentation. Fusion 360, SOLIDWORKS, and xDesign each handle it a little differently.

Fusion 360’s Drawing Environment

Fusion 360 provides traditional 2D drawings tightly integrated with its modeling environment. For many workflows, this is both sufficient and efficient.

SOLIDWORKS’s Drawings

SOLIDWORKS offers a mature 2D drawing environment that remains a key reason many organizations standardize it, especially when drawings are contractual deliverables.

xDesign’s MBD

xDesign approaches documentation differently through a stronger emphasis on model-based definition (MBD). This can be a benefit for keeping 3D and 2D perfectly aligned, but it can also limit the flexibility of what dimensions and annotations can be placed.

For better or worse, it removes the ability to “fake” dimensions, which some teams see as a safeguard and others see as a constraint.

APIs, Automation, & Custom Workflows

Automation and customization matter more than ever as teams look to reduce repetitive work, standardize internal processes, and connect CAD to downstream systems. Both SOLIDWORKS and Fusion 360 provide strong API capabilities, but they come from different starting points.

Fusion 360’s API

Fusion 360’s API leans into modern development practices and cloud-connected workflows.

It supports Python and C++ for desktop automation and TypeScript for cloud-based automation through Autodesk Platform Services. In practice, Fusion’s API is often used to build add-ins, create custom commands, extract geometry and metadata, and integrate CAD into broader cloud workflows.

Python also lowers the barrier for engineers who want to automate without becoming full-time developers.

SOLIDWORKS’s API

The SOLIDWORKS API is one of the most mature and comprehensive CAD automation interfaces available.

It supports VBA, VB.NET, C++, and C#, and it exposes an enormous amount of SOLIDWORKS functionality across modeling, assemblies, drawings, simulation, and PDM-related workflows.

VBA remains a practical advantage for many teams because it is also used across Microsoft Office, making it easier to connect spreadsheet-driven processes directly into CAD. The tradeoff is that the API reflects its long history, which can feel more macro-style and parameter-heavy compared to newer platforms.

How the Difference Shows Up in Practice

Fusion 360	SOLIDWORKS
Fusion tends to be a strong fit when teams prioritize: modern languages faster onboarding for automation cloud-centric integration	SOLIDWORKS tends to be a strong fit when teams need: deep, comprehensive control across specialized engineering workflows an established ecosystem of add-ins and developer resources

Choosing What Fits Your Team

Both SOLIDWORKS and Fusion 360 are capable, professional tools. On the surface, they share many similarities, which can make evaluation difficult.

The differences that matter tend to emerge over time: how designs scale, how teams collaborate, how change is managed, and how future capabilities like lifecycle management and AI are integrated. This article reflects how I see those tradeoffs today, based on real-world usage and observation. You may see them differently, based on your unique application.

If you have any questions about SOLIDWORKS or 3DEXPERIENCE, contact us at Hawk Ridge Systems.

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