Onshape Adds Release Management & Approval Workflow and Simultaneous Bill of Materials Features

Last week, Onshape extended its cloud-based CAD and data management system with two new features, Release Management & Approval Workflow and Simultaneous Bill of Materials. Both capabilities, which follow closely after the company's announcement of its Parametric Modeling 2.0 paradigm, were unveiled in conjunction with the company's introduction to its vision for Design Data Management 2.0.

“These new capabilities, along with the Parametric Modeling 2.0 innovations we announced in January,” writes Jon Hirschtick, Onshape's co-founder and CEO in a recent blog entry, give Onshape users “unmatched power to do their best work without the hassles of old CAD and PDM (product data management) systems.”

Onshape's new Release Management & Approval Workflow functionality provides workflows to release as well as obsolete a design. Its built-in release approval workspace offers a simple task view that allows designated approvers to explore release contents. Image courtesy of Onshape Inc.

Design Data Management 2.0 is intended to enable designers and engineers to focus on creating and innovating designs instead of spending productive time making a cumbersome PDM system work as desired. Onshape says that Design Data Management 2.0 “re-architects and reimagines how design data is created, stored, shared and managed, which effectively eliminates the problems of old file-based PDM.”

The core principles of Design Data Management 2.0, according to Onshape, embrace concepts such as the following:

• Virtual documents, not files: The database architecture captures the history of every design change, which provides unlimited undo/redo and complete traceability.
• Secure cloud-based workspace: Design data accessible only by authorized users prevents the copying or exporting of sensitive data.
• Parallel design: Users can explore multiple design alternatives simultaneously.
• Instant collaboration: Design teams can comment on designs, compare and accept changes together in real-time.
• Immutable links: Parts can be shared across multiple documents without fear of broken links or corrupted assemblies.

Building off these principles, the new Release Management & Approval Workflow provides workflows to both release and obsolete a design. Fully integrated within the Onshape modeling environment, this functionality offers such features as multiple methods for revision schemes, manual or automated part number generation and the ability to specify access options, release conditions and release dialog. Approvers and observers can receive release notifications within Onshape and through email.

Release candidates can include any combination of data, such as configurations, assemblies, drawings, parts and imported files. Additionally, individual part configurations can be selected for release independently of or as part of a larger release candidate.

Onshape's new Simultaneous Bill of Materials (BOM) functionality creates and updates BOM data automatically and in real time as an assembly is designed. Anything selected in the BOM is highlighted in the assembly and the instance list as shown here. Image courtesy of Onshape Inc.

Similar to its Release Management & Approval Workflow, Onshape's new Simultaneous Bill of Materials (BOM) builds off the Design Data Management 2.0 foundation. Fully integrated within an assembly, this functionality creates and updates a BOM automatically and in real time as an assembly is designed. This, in turn, keeps a BOM always in sync with its associated assembly.

An interactive and editable object, the Onshape BOM allows users to dynamically determine the properties it displays. For example, users can add or remove columns. Users can also edit an assembly from the BOM. For users with advanced multidisciplinary BOM requirements, Onshape now provides a dedicated BOM API (applications programming interface) for building custom apps to leverage Onshape BOM data.

Read what Jon Hirschtick has to say about Design Data Management 2.0.

Watch the on-demand webinar “What is Design Data Management 2.0?”

See a demo of Onshape's Release Management & Approval Workflow functionality.

Watch how Onshape's Simultaneous Bill of Materials functionality works.

Learn what else is new in Onshape's late March 2018 update.

See why DE's Editors selected Onshape's new functionalities and Design Data Management 2.0 paradigm as their Pick of the Week.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.