Interscale Content Hub – It’s no secret that integrating CAD with other business systems is a fundamental strategy for modern companies seeking to optimize workflows, streamline processes, and improve decision-making.
According to Chad Jackson in a 2021 CAD Productivity Research Report by Lifecycle Insights, more than half of the executives surveyed identified the need to significantly improve the productivity of their design teams, with CAD integration as a key lever for achieving these gains.
But integration is not as easy as taking a couple to a romantic dinner. Data compatibility and integration complexity are significant hurdles.
So let’s discuss several aspects of integration and find the right approach for you.
Importance of Integrating CAD with Business Systems
Integrating CAD with business systems like ERP, PLM, CRM, and SCM is crucial for modern manufacturing enterprises.
Chad Jackson’s research in “The CAD Productivity Research Report,” found that 94% of executives agree that they need to improve productivity. This shows how important CAD integration is for achieving these goals.
Jackson’s research shows that integrating CAD systems makes data more consistent, reduces errors, and makes processes easier to manage across different departments. This helps people make better decisions and run their businesses more efficiently.
For custom manufacturers, integrating CAD and ERP systems is a big plus.
It makes it easy to turn design data into production workflows, which speeds up the process and keeps everything accurate.
This integration cuts down on the number of manual data entry errors and ensures that everyone’s up to date with the latest information, which makes the whole process more efficient and improves customer satisfaction.
ABAS, an ERP specialist, in their article, “How does ERP/CAD integration help custom manufacturers?“ goes into detail about how this integration is critical for optimizing business processes from the initial engineering phase to the final product delivery.
Key Business Systems to Integrate with CAD
As we said before, putting CAD together with key business systems like ERP, PLM, CRM, and SCM can really help your company work more efficiently and productively.
Now, we’ll look at how these systems can help your company become more efficient and productive.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems
ERP systems handle the key business processes a company needs to run, such as finance, human resources, manufacturing, and supply chain.
This integration ensures that design data, such as BOMs and routing information, flows easily from engineering to manufacturing and procurement.
This eliminates manual data entry, reducing errors and ensuring everyone works with the most up-to-date information.
For your business, when a design is finalized in the CAD system, the ERP system can automatically update inventory and purchase orders, making production planning and inventory management easier to manage.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Systems
PLM systems manage a product’s entire lifecycle, from inception through design, manufacturing, service, and disposal.
Integration enables seamless data exchange between design and manufacturing teams, ensuring everyone works with the latest design data.
This reduces the risk of errors and rework, enabling faster product development cycles.
As products become more complex and incorporate electronics and software, this seamless integration becomes even more critical to manage the increasing volume and complexity of CAD data effectively.
One example is your company’s ability to automatically update manufacturing instructions in the PLM system when a design change occurs in the CAD software, ensuring that all teams are aligned and minimizing delays.
You can read “Mobile CAD Applications for Designers on the Go: What We Need to Know,” for details about CAD mobile apps.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
Integrating CAD data with CRM systems might not be as common as other types of integration, but it can really boost customer service and support.
By linking CAD data to CRM systems, sales teams can access detailed product specs and design changes, giving customers more accurate info.
This capability makes customers happier and gets sales cycles over with more quickly by making sure sales reps have the most up-to-date product info.
For instance, linking a CRM with CAD lets sales teams access the latest design data instantly when responding to customer queries.
This integration means that any design changes are reflected in the information available to sales teams right away, which means that they can be more informed and responsive in their customer interactions.
Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems
Putting CAD and SCM systems together really helps to make the supply chain more efficient. It means that decisions about the supply chain are based on the latest design data.
This integration makes it easier to manage supplier relationships and improves overall operational efficiency.
SCM integration gives companies real-time insights into what’s going on in their supply chains. This helps them balance supply and demand more effectively and reduce lead times.
For instance, integrating CAD with SCM lets manufacturers automatically update suppliers about design changes, which ensures that production schedules are adjusted promptly.
This cuts down on delays and minimizes the risk of errors. Plus, this integration puts all the data in one place, so everyone in the supply chain can work with the same info.
Challenges in Integrating CAD with Business Systems
Despite the clear benefits, integrating CAD with other business systems presents several challenges. One major issue is the complexity of data compatibility.
Different systems often use varying data formats and standards, making seamless integration difficult.
This is compounded by the need to maintain data accuracy and consistency across multiple platforms.
Additionally, the initial cost and resource investment required for implementing and maintaining these integrations can be significant.
Custom manufacturers must ensure that their engineering and IT teams are adequately trained to handle these integrations effectively.
For another reference, check our article “The Evolution of CAD: From 2D to 3D Modeling (& Why You Should Care).”
Best Practices for Successful CAD Integration
One key practice is to make sure all data formats are consistent. Using industry-standard data formats makes it easier to integrate CAD with other business systems. This reduces the risk of data translation errors and improves compatibility.
Another important thing to do is invest in middleware solutions. Middleware is like a bridge between different systems. It translates and manages data flows between CAD and systems like ERP or PLM.
This software layer makes sure that data is consistent and that things work together well, so that you can communicate easily with different software.
Then, it’s vital to make sure your company has rock-solid data security in place to protect all that sensitive design and business information.
If you encrypt your data and control who can access it, you can reduce the risk of data breaches and protect your intellectual property and critical business data.
It’s key to get stakeholders on board early on in the integration project. That way, you can align objectives and address potential issues from the start.
It’s important to get relevant teams involved, including IT, engineering, and management, to make sure the integration process is collaborative and that all perspectives are considered.
And please, make sure you provide continuous training for employees so they’re proficient in using the integrated systems.
The training should cover both the technical aspects of the systems and the new workflows introduced by the integration.
Keeping employees up to date with new skills helps them make the most of the new systems, which in turn boosts productivity and reduces the risk of mistakes.
Another way to boost productivity is to use automation in CAD solutions.
Automating repetitive tasks and workflows using macros and AI/ML-based tools lets engineers focus on more critical tasks, since they don’t have to do as much manual work.
Finally, don’t be shy! There are tons of helpful online resources and communities where users can quickly get answers and stay up-to-date with all the latest best practices.
It’s always a great idea to encourage people to use online help, tutorials, and community forums. This provides valuable support and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
How Integrating CAD with Other Business Systems Without Kill Your Core Business
As you can see, integrating CAD with other business systems is a complex but necessary challenge for many in the AEC industry. It takes time, resources, and expertise to get it right.
On the other hand, your main business needs your full attention. Yes, we all know it can be tough.
So we at Interscale offer a service to streamline your company workflows by ensuring seamless integration of CAD with various business systems.
For instance, we helped Ewert Leaf get their CAD software working with other important business systems.
This integration led to better efficiency, fewer mistakes, and more collaboration across the company.
Our orientation is to build strong relationships with our clients by offering solutions that are tailored to their specific needs.
That’s why, we’re always learning and adapting to what’s best for the industry to provide cutting-edge solutions for you.
Finally, we’ll make sure your data is safe and reliable throughout the integration process.
Okay, enough about marketing. Now it’s time for a few background checks.
If you’re just getting started, we suggest checking out our Interscale CAD/BIM Management Service page. It will give you an idea of how we work and how we can support you in AEC projects.
Conclusion
Putting CAD together with other business systems really helps to boost efficiency, accuracy, and productivity.
While there are challenges, businesses can make the most of their CAD investments by adopting best practices and using expert solutions, such as those from Interscale.
Keeping data flowing smoothly and letting different departments work together is the way to stay competitive and responsive in today’s fast-paced market.
Ultimately, integrating CAD with other business systems is a smart move that leads to big improvements.
