GrabCAD announced yesterday that starting immediately GrabCAD Workbench will be free for all users. This announcement means that engineering teams of all sizes will be able to share and manage CAD files effortlessly, accelerating the product development process.
What is Workbench?
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the product, GrabCAD Workbench is a CAD collaboration and workflow tool that can sync and track file versions; update the team when new versions are created; and can restore files or entire assemblies if something goes wrong.
Workbench also makes it easier to leverage past work in new projects. Users can search custom properties to find and re-use parts or assemblies from past projects; set up a common parts library so users can use a single component in multiple designs without having to re-create it; and upload and download files and resolve conflicts using various CAD system add-ins.
The product was designed from the ground up to help distributed teams work together more easily and share files more securely with external collaborators. Conversations are maintained with files to reduce the need for emails. Workbench also enables users to share specific file versions and revisions externally with their manufacturers, suppliers, and other design participants with a single click.
The software also offers an easy-to-use bill of materials (BOM) export capability that enables any Workbench user to generate a BOM with just a few clicks.
GrabCAD Workbench is a central part of GrabCAD’s mission to help engineers unlock creative possibilities by connecting people, content and technology. Since it’s introduction in 2013, Workbench has seen rapid adoption amongst engineers facing collaboration obstacles, such as working in multiCAD environments, reconciling multiple versions of designs, and communicating with distributed teams.
“Our goal with this change is to reach more people. Returning to the free model of Workbench will increase the speed of adoption and support uninhibited product design collaboration,” says Hardi Meybaum, CEO of GrabCAD. “We are excited to supply every engineer with a free solution that enables rapid iteration on design concepts, mobile access to designs, and generally increases the speed and quality of the design process.”
GrabCAD will continue to invest in Workbench and develop it as the tool of choice for CAD collaboration. Users can look forward to new features over the coming months. Learn more about GrabCAD Workbench here.
