The CAD software must have all the necessary features to address your needs. To choose your computer-aided design (CAD) software, you need to take into account the current issues specific to your business! What are the challenges that professionals encounter for designing parts and machines?

• Strict delivery time requirements: new consumer habits and the rise of Industry 4.0 are making delivery times even shorter, so compliance is urgent.
• Competition is increasing: in this context, the company must improve performance and make a difference in its market.
• Just-in-time logistics require optimized stock management.
• New quality standards are emerging, traceability must be implemented in an exemplary manner.
• The technicalities of the business are constantly evolving: faced with this fact, the company must surround itself with personnel that is not only qualified but also regularly trained.

To fully meet these challenges, equip yourself with a CAD software with seven key features.

#1 A modern and ergonomic user interface

The first essential feature of the CAD software: its user interface. The way in which the tool is controlled and operated has a direct impact on the final productivity. The easier and faster the software is to use, the more productive the user becomes.

• The commands must be designed according to modern conventions: copy and paste, drag & drop, contextual menus, etc. to allow the user to immediately adapt to the new tool.
• Access to the commands should be easy, fast and intuitive, in order to optimize the user’s working time.

Choose a CAD software with a modern and ergonomic user interface: you reduce the learning curve and you can work faster.

#2 Associativity, a guarantee of reliability

Associativity automates the updating of one element with respect to another. The designer can therefore easily modify his construction history: the associated operations are automatically updated.

Illustrations: 

• Moving a screw automatically moves the holes.
• Changing a chassis length automatically changes the positioning of the associated components.

With associativity, a key feature of good CAD software, you can drastically reduce the risk of errors or omissions when updating an element. And therefore, you can save time in the design process. So be sure to choose a tool that allows associative or parametric design.

#3 Choice in design methods

A good CAD software offers three design methods.

• “Bottom-up” design: this is the simplest method which consists of first designing the parts individually, and then assembling them. This is the principle of LEGO®! The assembly is then a succession of predefined part positionings.
• “Top-down” design: conversely, the designer starts from the constraint, then deduces the necessary assemblies and parts.
• “In-place” design: a variation of top-down design where parts are designed in their assembly context. The designer then has the advantage of simplicity for the creation of connecting parts, in particular.

The relevance of which method to be used varies from one profession to another. A manufacturer of highly standardized products will favor the Bottom-up method, while a subcontractor who works “on the case” will favor the Top-down method, for example. In any case, the three methods are complementary. To take advantage of your CAD software, make sure that the tool offers these three powerful design methods: maximum flexibility in choice and the precious opportunity of complementary methods.

#4 Smart components

User productivity increases as good standard components are created. For this purpose, your CAD system must provide the appropriate features. Unique smart components, process management, installation wizards, etc. allow you to store user know-how. Ultimately, the design is accelerated: the productivity gain is obvious.

TopSolid CAD/CAM Product Range

#5 Design documentation tools

Once completed, the design must be documented. This includes generating exploded views, assembly instructions, bills of materials, etc. These features are essential to get the most out of your CAD software. The tool must therefore make it possible to easily generate all useful production documents from an assembly.

#6 A detailed and standardized drawing

Despite the increasing use of 3D, detailed and standardized drawings of the designs are still often necessary, “the drawing is authentic!” Your CAD software must therefore integrate a powerful automated drawing module, to perform this task quickly when necessary.

#7 Change management tools

When choosing your CAD software, the extent and performance of the modeling features are essential criteria, but are not sufficient! The designer also has to deal with management issues. Changes to the specifications during the design process are common practice, so the tool must offer intuitive and powerful features for this purpose. To manage all types of modifications, without wasting time or reliability, choosing a PDM is then crucial. Therefore, you should choose a fully integrated PDM, which will allow you to track changes during the design process. From simple part number change to more complex modifications (interchanging parts, for example), pay attention to the extent of the PDM capabilities of your CAD software.

TopSolid is designed to address all the current challenges faced by professionals when designing parts and machines. TopSolid integrates the essential features of a good CAD software. In addition, you benefit from close support for the deployment of your new solution. Beforehand, evaluating your needs allows us to define the features of your tool according to your working methods. Afterward and in the long term, our technical support, everywhere in France and around the world, is available and responsive for beneficial proximity.

Interested in deploying a CAD software perfectly adapted to your needs? Contact us!

You have noticed that some of your competitors are saving money by using TopSolid, and you may be wondering why you should change software.

Here are seven important reasons to switch to TopSolid that will guide you in your decision.

1. Integrated Product Data Management (PDM)

The integrated PDM makes TopSolid unique in its market.

PDM does much more than simply store and organize files:

– It helps designers find existing parts to reuse instead of recreating them, saving many hours of work.

– It generates bill of materials for cost estimation and data input for ERP systems.

– Finally, it automates change control processes to ensure that outdated or unpublished information is not passed on to factories or suppliers.

• The PDM is not an additional product: it is directly integrated into the software interface;
• It allows you to quickly search for product data managed by TopSolid;
• It allows you to manage versions easily;
• It allows you to perform all data management activities directly in TopSolid (renaming, etc.);
• It allows you to put files in the vault and also manages non-TopSolid files;
• It manages the multi-site (for companies with several production sites around the world).

2. Intuitive user interface

Time is money and TopSolid’s intuitive user interface easily makes the difference!

Design the way you want and not according to the logic of the software, thanks to TopSolid’s unique in-place design method.

In addition, we offer advanced training sessions to enable you to make the most of TopSolid according to your specific needs.

• Easy to learn and use (learning phase reduced by 50 %);
• Drag and drop, copy and paste, undo/redo history features are supported;
• Creating construction entities on the fly;
• Sorting entities (classification by type) and operations (chronological classification).

In addition, the user interface is fully customizable interactively by the user.

3. Simultaneous engineering

This is a very important feature of TopSolid which allows all co-designers to work on the same design basis simultaneously, which is a significant asset in this time of health crisis.

• Ability to work with all your colleagues on the same database;
• Ability to define user rights and permissions;
• Anyone from anywhere (local or otherwise) can all be connected;
• Communication made easy with the PDM Messenger;
• Ability to create life cycle workflows to automate information exchange.

TopSolid CAD/CAM Product Range

4. Modern software technology: open platform

Most of the CAD software available on the market is based on a rather old software technology. TopSolid has been completely redesigned and rewritten, offering you a state of the art software.

Here are a few key points:

• Use of the latest development technologies (C#, .net);
• Support for the latest hardware technologies (multi-core technology, rendering engine, etc.);
• Real-time and incremental updates;
• High-performance realistic rendering engine (Redway3D);
• Data exchange with most CAD software available on the market, with these interfaces: Parasolid, AutoCAD (*.dwg, *.dxf), ACIS, IGES, Step, Catia v4, v5, Pro/E, UG, SW, SE, Inventor.

5. TopSolid’Automation

TopSolid’Automation is TopSolid’s API (Application Programming Interface) which allows users to control TopSolid 7 from another program in order to exchange information and/or automate repetitive tasks.

TopSolid’Automation allows significant productivity gains while reducing the risk of errors. The time investment required to master this development tool is therefore undoubtedly well spent.

By allowing communication with other software, TopSolid’Automation is a powerful tool to successfully integrate CAD/CAM applications in your digital process chain and covers a wide range of areas:

• Data exchange with sales or production management systems;
• Automation of manufacturing processes for parts and assemblies;
• Automated data import;
• Automated generation of drawings;
• Data exchange with tool management systems.

All these possible uses make TopSolid’Automation a very valuable and reliable tool to optimize industrial processes.

This interface is totally free and included in TopSolid 7. Documentation is integrated into the software to guide you and online training sessions are available for a quick start.

6. Global network and service

France, Europe, Asia, Americas, Oceania, etc. Our customers are everywhere and, thanks to TopSolid, they exchange, develop, collaborate and work together. TopSolid establishes contacts between them.

Our experienced network of 10 subsidiaries and 70 resellers and their teams around the world provide expertise to help you increase your competitiveness in the market.

7.  Ready for Industry 4.0

 TopSolid is more than simply an integrated CAD/CAM software. It is a complete application environment towards the digital transformation of the mechanical industries. It offers solutions for:

– estimation of mechanical parts (TopSolid’PartCosting);

– simulation of CNC machines (digital twin, with TopSolid’CamSimul);

– quality management of parts produced by a machine (TopSolid’Inspection);

 TopSolid has been offering a fully integrated digital chain for years via its CAD/CAM software suite, thus ensuring total interconnectivity from design to production.