The first week of a CAD automation project is decided by what you measure, not which tool you pick. A four-step working method, from measuring the problem to widening scope in the field.
Converting legacy drawings into 3D models is the most requested and most underestimated job in CAD automation. Here is why geometry is not enough, how design intent gets recovered, and where AI actually fits in the chain.
CAD automation tools promise 70%, 85%, 90% speed-ups. Here is what those numbers measure, what they leave out, and how to build an honest measurement for your own process.
There are three routes on the AutoCAD side: AutoLISP, .NET/ObjectARX, and AI-assisted generation. Here is when each is the right call, with a decision table based on team size and maintenance load.
AI tools genuinely accelerate scaffolding and API discovery when building SolidWorks add-ins. They also produce confidently wrong code around COM lifetimes and silent failures. Learning to separate the two is the whole skill.
SolidWorks 2026 hands drawing generation and standard hardware recognition to AI. Here is which minutes of the working day those features actually give back, which ones they don't, and what it means for add-in developers.
An introduction to scripting against the SolidWorks API to cut repetitive design work — COM connection, parameter updates, session handling, and where Python ends and C# begins.