Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, a global leader in aircraft landing and braking systems, faced the challenge of finding customized solutions for each client as rapidly as possible, often across continents. The company operates in a cross-cultural, multi-site environment with technicians and engineers working in different countries who do not necessarily speak the same language and who, in the past, were using different methods and tools. Each of their sites in Gloucester (UK), Montreal and Toronto (Canada), and Bidos (France) had their own industrialization processes and tools, making data exchange difficult and collaboration practically non-existent. The company launched a Manufacturing and Engineering Data System (MEDS) project to streamline development processes by rationalizing information systems at landing gear production sites.

Maschio Gaspardo, an Italian agricultural equipment manufacturer, was facing the challenge of meeting the diverse needs of farmers across the globe. The company needed to implement a flexible business environment to rapidly develop a full range of products tailored to farmers’ diverse needs. The demand for customized equipment and services was increasing due to varying local farming needs such as size of land or soil composition. Moreover, the growing demand for organic food and sustainable farming methods had changed the way the land is cultivated. The company's customers expected them to provide precision farming solutions through innovative equipment delivered fast without compromising on quality. To meet these challenges, Maschio Gaspardo needed to transform its business and improve collaboration among design, sourcing, production, and service teams.

KT&G, a leading tobacco manufacturer in South Korea, was facing challenges in managing and sharing product data across its different offices. The company's brand planning team is based in Seoul, the R&D team and production factory are in Daejeon, and the packaging facility is in Chonan. The development of new products involved many steps, each requiring coordination between these different locations and management of massive amounts of information and product data. Without an effective data management system, managing and sharing the right data was a serious challenge. The company needed to implement improvements to its development process in order to effectively manage product information and its flow from one location to another.

INNODESIGN, a top ten design firm in the world, was facing a challenge in accelerating its creation of innovative products to satisfy rapidly changing consumer tastes. The company needed to improve the sharing of design ideas and streamline its design processes. The company's CEO, Youngse Kim, believed that new ideas and speedy design processes were the most important factors that contribute to a product’s victory or failure in any market. He wanted to provide Korean startups with a place they could go to obtain design expertise and financial assistance, if needed, to get their projects off the ground when starting their own businesses.

Arburg, a leading manufacturer of injection molding machines, faced the challenge of bringing its products to market faster, while increasing quality and lowering costs. The company's product range and the modular design of its machines placed high demands on IT services. Under the motto “securing the future with process optimization using standard IT solutions”, Arburg's CIO and his IT team worked closely with the operations departments to radically rethink the company’s IT infrastructure. The goal was to build a process-oriented IT infrastructure with virtual product management to improve time to market and increase development-to-delivery speed two-fold.

Korsö Båt, a family-run boatbuilding company, wanted to leverage its extensive boatbuilding knowledge and expertise with the proper software tools. The company faced stiff competition and its biggest challenge was to combine utility and good looks as every customer wanted to have the best boat. The company relied on its extensive knowledge and experience gained through years of designing boats. However, it needed a technology solution that could help it meet customer demands and stay ahead of the competition.

A. Zahner Company, a US-based architectural engineering, manufacturing, and construction firm, was facing challenges in designing more complex geometries and improving communication between project stakeholders. The company was at the forefront of a shift in architecture to digital construction, using Building Information Modeling and digital definition to improve transparency and reduce errors. However, the iterative process of architectural projects often led to communication issues between different groups. The company needed a solution that would allow for efficient collaboration and communication, as well as the ability to design complex geometries.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has set detailed regulations about the materials, substructure, installation, testing, and certification of artificial turf for playing fields. This means that turf manufacturers have to consider a multitude of factors when designing their products for performance and safety. These factors include the make-up of the individual blades to mimic the look and playing-feel of natural grass, the type of yarn/fiber to use, the shape of the fiber, its height above the field surface, its density per square meter, stiffness and dissipative behavior. All these factors affect wear, safety, and playing characteristics. Furthermore, what’s below the visible surface of the grass is just as critical. The fiber travels down through infill made of rubber or thermoplastic granulate, which provides shock absorption, controls rebound and prevents skin damage caused by sliding. Beneath that are additional layers of rubber and sand and, finally, the backing in which the grass blade is imbedded.

Mammut Sports Group, a Swiss mountain sports specialist and producer of alpine equipment and apparel, was facing challenges in accelerating their product innovation and managing their product information in compliance with norms and environmental regulations. The company was managing a highly diverse product portfolio and was using numerous Excel files to manage all their stock keeping units (SKU), which was time consuming and error-prone. The process of juggling between so many files eventually became complicated and information was hard to find. The company decided to consolidate all their product information in one unique system to improve coordination and to have better visibility within their product catalogue.

West Virginia University (WVU) was tasked by U.S. Homeland Security to develop large inflatable plugs for use in emergency situations requiring the closing of vehicular tunnels or other large cylindrical structures. The challenge was that refining prototypes in a test facility was complex and time-intensive. The need for such a plug was driven by incidents such as the flooding of New York City’s subways during Hurricane Sandy, a truck fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel, and the release of sarin gas in the Tokyo subway system. The idea was to set up inflatable structures, either permanently or temporarily, in multiple locations where an emergency was anticipated.

Renault, a global automotive company, was seeking an enterprise-wide PLM solution that would effectively address issues of standardization for its processes and design tools. With more than 40% of its engineers located outside of France in “technocentres” in Romania, India, Korea, South America and Spain, the company needed a global engineering tool that would allow its designers to effectively and efficiently collaborate around the globe. Renault also sought a solution that would allow it to easily access and manage all of the company’s data – from product design and process to simulation, testing and resources information – while ensuring its traceability. The company wanted a single PDM that could be deployed worldwide to cover all of Renault’s needs for data management across product, process, simulation and performance.

Zvezda, a leading Russian toymaker, faced challenges in maintaining its lead in the domestic market and securing its entry into the international market. The company needed to reduce product development time and modernize its operations with state-of-the-art technology used in modern toy manufacturing. The company's traditional methods based on outdated drawing technology were insufficient for creating exact replicas of modern aircraft, which have exceptionally sophisticated interior layouts. Increased competition in domestic and international toy markets forced Zvezda to adopt a new strategy that ensures technological support of its production process. The company's main business goals, such as constantly replenishing its stock, improving product quality, and focusing on innovation, necessitated the implementation of a more powerful system for automated design.

Superheat, a leading innovative heat-treatment provider, was facing challenges in handling DWG files received from customers and accelerating heat treatment package development. The company was using SmartDraw 2D software for creating layouts for its heat-treatment quality packages and SOLIDWORKS® 3D design software for developing more specialized and sophisticated heat-treatment designs. However, the 2D software had limited capabilities and could not read DWG files, the most common customer format for components requiring heat treatment. It also had difficulties in manipulating engineering drawing layers. This situation prompted Superheat to look for other 2D design solutions that could improve efficiency and accelerate the development of heat treatment packages.

Innovative Manufacturing Services, Inc. (IMS) was in need of a more efficient and cost-effective 2D design solution for developing electrical schematics and accessing legacy 2D files. The company had been using SOLIDWORKS 3D mechanical design software for creating custom manufacturing and automation systems, but continued to use AutoCAD 2D software for accessing legacy design files and creating electrical panel schematics. The challenge was to find a solution that could seamlessly integrate with their existing SOLIDWORKS implementation, provide access to legacy 2D data, and support the development of electrical schematics in a more cost-effective manner.

CentraSep Technologies, a leading manufacturer of industrial centrifuges, separation and filtration systems, environmental products, and fluid management services, was facing a challenge with its 2D drawing solution. The company had been using AutoCAD software for creating DWG files to support the drawing needs of sales, engineering, manufacturing, and documentation functions. However, the company's installed seats of AutoCAD were getting out-of-date and Autodesk no longer offers perpetual software upgrades, only more costly monthly leasing. This led CentraSep to start looking for a more cost-effective 2D solution. The company needed a solution that was easy to learn and use, worked well alongside SOLIDWORKS 3D design software, and provided a more cost-effective 2D solution.

California Wire Products Corporation (Cal-Wire), a leading manufacturer of woven wire products, was facing challenges in creating custom product designs in 2D during the configuration of SOLIDWORKS 3D/ DriveWORKS automated design application. The company was using AutoCAD 2D design software, which was not only costly but also presented data compatibility issues. The company had attempted to use Autodesk Inventor 3D design software to automate development but hit a roadblock in the process. The need for a cost-effective, efficient 2D design solution was paramount, especially as the SOLIDWORKS/DriveWorks automation package was being built and configured. The company was also facing issues with opening files and losing dimensions and text blocks on drawings due to outdated AutoCAD licenses.

Haenen Design Studios, a brand identity and interior design consultancy based in Culver City, CA, faced a significant challenge in creating to-scale, dimensionally accurate 2D drawings of interior design concepts. These drawings were crucial for incorporating design elements and communicating interior design concepts to clients and contractors. The company's principal designer, Christine Haenen, had experience with AutoCAD® 2D design software from her student days. However, upon founding Haenen Design Studios, she found that a commercial license for AutoCAD was prohibitively expensive. She needed a more affordable 2D design and drawing package that could meet her needs without compromising on quality or functionality.

Bill’s Custom Fab, Inc., a family-owned business providing custom design and fabrication services for structural steel components since 1990, faced a challenge in supporting the 2D design requirements of their business more efficiently. The firm uses 2D CAD for fabricating structural steel for a variety of applications, including construction, handrails, and stair stringers. The management team, committed to quality improvements, periodically re-evaluates its design and fabrication tools to increase efficiency, boost productivity, or add capabilities. However, licensing changes with their former CAD provider led Bill’s Custom Fab to re-evaluate its 2D design solution. The firm needed a solution that was not only functional and provided a good return on investment, but also stable, compatible with major CAD formats, and capable of running LISP macros and routines, which the firm uses to create common structural steel features.

Young Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of custom-designed equipment for handling dry bulk materials, was seeking to optimize the use of 2D and 3D design tools to boost productivity and advance the development of custom material-handling systems. The company had been using the SOLIDWORKS® 3D applications platform for the past two decades, but still had needs that were better addressed with 2D tools. They had been using MountainTop® 2D design software, but decided to seek a new 2D design solution after encountering both hardware and software failures. The company needed a solution that was easier to maintain and support, included the features they needed at a better price, and was compatible with their existing SOLIDWORKS design environment.

Griscia Pastacaldi, a former technical officer with the Italian navy and a talented naval architect designer and mechanical engineer, founded GPNA S.R.L. in 2018. The firm focuses on creating innovative yacht designs for a variety of clients, emphasizing high-quality designs and top-notch technical support. However, Pastacaldi faced challenges with the design tools he had previously used at other naval architecture design firms. He found AutoCAD® and MicroStation® 2D design software increasingly complex and less intuitive, with too many commands that took up too much space from the working area. This led him to investigate other solutions that would be more efficient and cost-effective for his new firm.

MAC Design and Build, a family-owned contracting business, specializes in creating custom cabinetry, furniture, doors, and built-ins for home and business furnishing and remodeling services. The company prides itself on delivering unique interior design and remodeling services that are only limited by the client's imagination and budget. However, the company faced a significant challenge in accelerating the development of these custom pieces while simultaneously eliminating errors and reducing costs. The company initially used AutoCAD 2D design software for designing the cabinets and woodworks, which are at the core of the firm's business. However, the annual licensing costs of AutoCAD, roughly $1,200 for two seats, were too high for the company. They needed a more cost-effective 2D solution that could deliver the same capabilities as AutoCAD.