Altium Develop is a platform that unifies multidisciplinary teams across engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing to support seamless co-creation. It provides real-time visibility into designs, requirements, and supply chain data, enabling contributors to work together concurrently rather than in silos.
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GrabCAD Workbench (discontinued)
Score 5.7 out of 10
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GrabCAD Workbench was a CAD collaboration solution that helps designers to manage files and engage partners in the design process. Since August 2022 it has been discontinued.
Altium 365 is fantastic for students learning about PCB design and for large team-based PCB projects. Because this product is relatively easier to use than other ECAD software and it enables collaboration, students and professional engineers would greatly benefit from having this software in their skill set. In other words, Altium 365 is great for academic and industry purposes.
GrabCad Workbench is well suited for group projects, where all my team members can view the designs at the same time, and by integrating it with CAD software like SolidWorks, all my team members can see the live changes in the projects based on the recommendations received. I can also do conversations with my team, which are project-specific, thus reducing time in email and video conferences. For assemblies, I can generate a Bill of materials with a single click. However, there are some drawbacks like every member needs to have an account in order to sync files with everyone, and the platform requires good internet connectivity otherwise file uploading will be time-consuming.
One major drawback is, that it cannot display sketches and drawing files, only solids and surfaces can be seen on this platform.
The platform sometimes becomes unstable, it lags when I try to upload complex assemblies. Hence, GrabCad teams need to work to improve the stability of the platform.
ALTIUM DESIGNER is the reference tool in the electronic circuit design sector, its use is widespread worldwide. Although there are other alternatives, some of them free do not rival ALTIUM DESIGNER in terms of features and reliability. It is also very practical to request quotes with ALTIUM DESIGNER BOM reports since all suppliers are accustomed to using the tool.
Like any complicated program, it will always need some room for improvement. For example, it would be nicer to have other shortcuts than just the numpad Asterisk as the layer shift shortcut, or easy to shift layers via other ways. Some programs use a space bar instead, or similar. It would also be nice to manipulate or make 3D items better
I use the educational Program. And so far is the best technical support. Every time that I need one or I have a question. They respond so far and with excellent advice.
OrCAD was used at our company for years before we switched over to Altium Designer. Usually, moving all projects from one software can be a pain and time-consuming. Altium Designer made it very streamline to move all projects over, including all component libraries. In addition, on the Mechanical Engineering side of things, Altium Designer has wonderful integration with SOLIDWORKS, so all parts can be 3D modeled and brought over.
SOLIDWORKS PDM is great because it is connected with your windows explorer, so you can guarantee that you will get the most recent version of the file. You need to remember to regularly update your files when using GrabCAD. SOLIDWORKS PDM has a more useful interface, where you can see previews, find BOMs, and view configurations without opening any files or checking them out. GrabCAD was chosen as a starting point to get the team started and familiar with a PDM system with the intention that another PDM would be chosen at a later date
