How an Oklahoma Engineer Switched from 2D to 3D Design Software

If it's not broken, why fix it? That's the question I hear from engineers, designers, draftsmen, and managers utilizing 2D CAD software in Oklahoma and throughout the Midwest. Everyone has their own way of doing things, so why switch?


As an Oklahoma engineer, I once asked the same question. I knew some other engineers working at EngATech who seemed to think the answer was 3D modeling, so I decided to give it a try.

When I first tried SolidWorks 3D CAD Software, I was working for a company that did tooling for parts. We always ran into trouble with the fit of the end part. Even with a simple design, we usually ran through at least three prototypes.

With 2D design, I could only see limited views of how the parts should fit together. With the information available, I tried to predict and correct any potential problems. Yet somehow each time the product went to assembly, the prototype didn't line up as perfectly as the 2D design said it should.

To solve that problem, I began working in SolidWorks with the engineers from EngATech. We were able to do a tolerance analysis and fit both the parts together in 3D before making anything. Creating a working design on the first try felt like hitting a hole in one.

SolidWorks allowed us to see potential collision problems before the designs left the drawing board. We could work out the kinks in the design phase without marching out one failed prototype after another. My manager was ecstatic, and the client was happy.

However, instead of making me king of a small island (as I felt I deserved at that point), they threw a new challenge at me: upgrading our tooling to accommodate part sizes. With 2D, that is a long and painful process. I would have to stretch each line to the new size, line by line by line. If I updated the front view, the side view wouldn't update. If I updated the side view, (you guessed it) the front view wouldn't update.

Working with EngATech's knowledge of SolidWorks, I knew there had to be some way to speed up the job. Bidirectional propagation turned out to be the answer. Base functionality of SolidWorks links dimensions throughout the model and drawings, so that when we stretched one line to 6 inches… "Eureka!" The rest of the model and all drawing views stretched too. We were able to update all views in minutes rather than spending hours on the project.

I also discovered the SolidWorks 3D drawing views were also linked back to the modeling views. When I updated sizes in the drawings, my 3D model updated automatically. And since views are generated automatically from the model, I didn't have to worry about drawing each individual view! It just made sense.

The symmetry of the 3D approach really hit home when I worked with EngATech on a support structure for a heater. We modeled the structure once, with all the beams. Then we went back and pulled all views directly from the model. The production standard was 16 hours for an experienced 2D design team. We completed the project in 11 hours in 3D.

To do the same project in 2D, I'd have to draw side views of all the beams, figure out where the beams on the other side were, incorporate those in the background, line up all holes going through the front and back, and line up parts on the front to left and right. I would have to draw each individual side versus dropping out a view from the existing model.