Opinion
In the early days of the cloud, everything was going to run on it, according to the enthusiastic CEOs of certain CAD companies. Then reality hit, with users not necessarily keen to transition from desktop to cloud, and, worse, rewriting desktop software to work in multi-user, multi-server environments being hard enough that some vendors gave up on it. It’s easier to write new CAD software for the cloud from scratch, partly because user expectations of what desktop programs can do aren’t there.
Over the last decade, numerous new ventures received funding to build on-line CAD programs. After a while, though, as revenues proved insufficient, they waited to be bought by legacy vendors; most were. Never mind. In the last few months, I came across four newish programs that do CAD or are CAD-adjacent, on and off the cloud.
2D Design From Rayon
The last thing we’d expect in a tech environment brimming with 3D, AR, and AI is a new CAD program that’s 2D-only. It’s from France, and it’s called Rayon. Although it is meant for home and office floor plans, it could be used on the mechanical side for tasks like factory floor planning.
As I worked with it, I found Rayon to be dyadic [ref.]. It offers a modern user interface, along with most of what we expect from the cloud: multi-user collaboration, commenting, and versioning. On the other hand, it should be taking advantage of knowledge accumulated after forty years of 2D CAD, but lacks basics like editing dimension text or zooming to extents.
The user interface of Rayon with an imported DWG file
Rayon imports DWG/DXF/PDF files, so we can bring in 2D mechanical drawings for sharing and limited editing. The problem is that vector entities are imported as “path” objects, not native entities like lines or arcs. (Path objects are found in vector editing programs, such as Illustrator.) We can do some editing like moving, stretching, and erasing, while the Properties panel lets us edit with precise values. Editing imported circle and arc paths is awkward, because they don’t have a radius associated with them. Drawings can be exported in DWG, DXF, and PDF formats.
Rayon is free to a maximum of three drawings. This includes a seven-day history and a limited block library. To remove the limits and access more functions, pricing starts at US$29/user/month. https://www.rayon.design/
Small-scale PLM With Zel X
Zel X is a new offering from Siemens Software. When industry watcher Matt Lombard reviewed it, he called it a "collection of tools that looks and works like a miniaturized PLM [product lifecycle management] platform.” [source] It’s aimed at SMBs [small and medium-size businesses] who want to track projects. Zel, by the way, in an invented word; the X indicates it is based on Xcelerator.
Zel X runs on most platforms, because it operates in a Web browser and operates from the cloud. It handles many of the tasks a small manufacturing business could use: project management, quotations, editing of designs, basic analyses, collaboration and markup, manufacturing processes, and order fulfillment.
The dashboard in Zel X
Upon starting Zel X, the dashboard gives us an overview of projects. It has a version of NX for making edits to CAD drawings, models, and sheet metal designs; also for 2.5D CAM paths. We cannot start from scratch, but we can start with included 3D parts, and then modify them using interactive modeling commands, like stretch and move.
To start editing, go to All Projects, select a part, and then choose the Edit icon. Once in the CAD environment, a toggle changes modes between Designing, Machining, and Simulation. Being cloud-based, it closes after twenty-five minutes of inactivity.
Editing a part from the Zel X parts library
Pricing starts at US$1,296/user/year. You (and four others) can try out Zel X for 30 days in a Web browser, after registering an account with Siemens at https://trials.sw.siemens.com/en-US/trials/browser-based-contract-part-manufacturing.
Quick Remote Startup With DesignAir
Running software on virtual machines (VMs) lets us do things ordinarily impossible, such as running non-native applications (say, Linux CAE) on Windows computers. The rest of the computer acts like a viewer, albeit an interactive one.
VMs can run directly on our computers or remotely on servers. Remote ones run the entire CAD program on another computer hundreds of miles away; the high-resolution graphics need to be pushed to us very quickly. DesignAir thinks it has solved the problem by running on top of Splashtop at 25 data centers scattered about the world (use the one closest to you). Spashtop specializes in sends optimized graphics over long distances, but more importantly offers an API into which DesignAir was able to hook.
DesignAir feels its service is best for firms that have remote and contract employees needing access to engineering software, but don’t have engineering-grade computers, or work full-time.
Instance of DesignAir VM running CAD software
For every new employee, a new instance of DesignAir is spun up (this takes about 20 minutes), into which the employee’s DesignAir account is loaded up with all software that will be needed, including CAD, analysis, and office applications. Being a VM, all the programs are desktop versions. The licenses are acquired and paid for by the employer.
The cost for DesignAir starts at US$576/user/year. https://www.designair.io/
In-office CAD Workflows With EnSuite Impact 360
Running CAD software from cloud has its drawbacks, such as having to log in after the software logs you out for too-long inactivity, typically 20 minutes. There can be a lack of clarity of how and where our data is stored, and in which format. Sometimes, we are unable to access it due to Internet failure (less common) or cyberattacks (more common). Relentless updates can change how the software works. And then there is the uncertainty over protection of our IP [intellectual property].
The good news is that not all CAD-related software forces us onto remote servers. The collection of EnSuite Impact 360 programs, from CCE, lets we designers and non-CAD staff view 3D models, communicate with each other, and create workflows -- useful for when our generation retires, taking our process knowledge with us. It runs on any employee’s computer, because it is licensed is per-company. Being inside the firewall means greater protection for our intellectual property.
Ensuite acts as a hub, and start with four applications: 3D viewer of many MCAD formats, translators between them, meetings, and pack’n-go. While we can mark up models, we cannot modify them.
Viewing a 3D model with Ensuite Impact 360
The software generates BOMs [bills of material] and technical data packages. It’s possible to add more applications, written by CCE using a macro language, such as the optional SupplierConnect module that allows communication outside the company firewall.
There is no downloadable demo version; we must request a demo. Price is a custom quote, based on the number of likely seats at a company. https://www.cadcam-e.com/EnSuite-Impact360/
What Ralph Grabowski Thinks
Rayon is useful for collaborative editing in a pinch, when you and your clients don’t have access to a 2D CAD program that does collaboration easily. Also useful for designing at home. Keep in mind it doesn’t import DWG files as CAD entities.
Zel X is suitable for smaller manufacturing firms that need a single, integrated package for handling most tasks -- other than designing from scratch. Keep in mind that it cannot be customized.
DesignAir is best suited when your workforce is scattered and on contract, allowing employees to use your software licenses on an as-needed basis. Keep in mind it is running full desktop programs over the Internet.
EnSuite Impact 360 is a consideration for collaboration, where IP protection is the utmost concern, whether due of the kind of work your firm does, or as a requirement from a client. Keep in mind it does not edit CAD models.
[This article first appeared in Design Engineering magazine and is reprinted with permission.]
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