Drawings and CAD files measured and shown in 3D
Keep a buyer's drawings and CAD files with the estimate or the lead. STEP, IGES and STL models are measured for size, volume, surface and weight; DXF flat drawings for sheet size, cut length, pierces and holes. Anyone can turn the part in 3D and measure it in the browser, with nothing to install.
PLANSScale only
Why it matters
A job shop lives on quotes, and quotes start with a buyer's drawing or CAD model. Usually only the person with CAD software can open a STEP file, so enquiries wait. Here the file is measured the moment it is saved: size, volume, surface and weight for models, cut length, pierces and holes for flat drawings. Anyone in sales or planning can turn the part in 3D and measure it in a browser, even on a phone. The figures then feed the estimate, and the drawings follow the job to the item when it is won.
The problem it solves
- A buyer sends a STEP file and nobody in sales can open it, so the enquiry waits for the one engineer with CAD.
- The weight of a part is guessed from the drawing, and the material cost is wrong from the start.
- Laser and plasma jobs are priced without the cut length or the number of pierces.
- Drawings sit in email threads and are lost by the time the order is made.
How it works
- Open an estimate or a CRM lead and go to the Design Files tab, or open Manufacturing > Products > Design Files. Add a line, pick the file, give a description and the material's Density.
- When saved, the file is measured on the server. A 3D model gets its length, width and height, volume, outside surface, number of solids and faces, and its weight at the density. A DXF gets its sheet size, cut length, pierces and holes.
- Open the View tab: the part is drawn in the browser. Drag to turn, right-drag or two fingers to move, wheel or pinch to zoom; switch to Front, Top, Side or 3D, and Fit.
- Press Measure and click two points: the distance and its X, Y and Z parts show. On a DXF, Measure snaps to line ends and hole centres, so hole-to-hole distances are exact.
- Change the density or the file and press Measure Again. When the estimate is won, its design files are attached to the item it makes, so production has the drawings.
Everything it does
Files and what is read
- STEP (.step, .stp) and IGES (.iges, .igs): size, volume, surface, solids and faces, weight at the density
- STL: the same; STL carries no unit, so millimetres are assumed
- DXF: sheet size, cut length (lines, arcs, circles, polylines), pierces (separate cut contours), holes (circles); inch drawings are turned into mm
- PDF and pictures: kept for people and for Draft with AI; nothing measured
- Units in the File and Not Measured Because are shown on the file
Figures kept
- Length, Width and Height (mm), Volume (cm³), Surface (cm²) for coating, painting or plating, Weight (kg)
- Cut Length (mm), Pierces, Holes for flat drawings
- Density (g/cm³): 7.85 (steel) to start with; the help lists stainless 8.0, aluminium 2.70, brass 8.5, ABS 1.05, nylon 1.15
- Measured: when it was measured; each change is kept in the file's history
The viewer
- A light preview is made once on the server when the file is added or measured again; the browser only draws it
- Works on a computer, phone or tablet browser with its own graphics; nothing to install
- 3D: turn, move, zoom, 3D, Front, Top, Side, Fit, the part's size above the picture, Measure between two points with X, Y and Z
- DXF: move and zoom, Measure snapping to line ends and circle centres
- When a file cannot be shown, the tab says why
Limits and needs
- Files over 50 MB are refused: send the part, not the whole assembly
- STEP and IGES need the free OpenCascade library on the server; without it the file is kept with the note that 3D measuring needs it. STL and DXF are always measured
- A file that cannot be measured or shown is still kept
Who uses it
Planner / estimatorAdds files to estimates, sets the density and prices from the measured figures.
SalespersonAdds and reads files on CRM leads and turns the part in 3D with the buyer on the phone.
SupervisorReads the drawings of an item before making it.
Production ManagerChecks weight and surface for material and finishing costs.
Where you use it
- Web: Manufacturing > Products > Design Files (Planners and above); the Design Files tab of estimates and CRM leads
- The View tab works in a phone or tablet browser too
- Not in the SmartMy Manufacturing app; the quote request page takes files but has no viewer
What you control
Settings
- Density per file: 7.85 g/cm³ to start with
- The OpenCascade library on your server for STEP and IGES: we check it is there before go-live
Questions
Do we need CAD software to see the files?
No. The View tab draws STEP, IGES, STL and DXF files in the browser, on a computer, phone or tablet. Nothing is installed.How exact are the figures?
Size, volume and surface come from the model's geometry, and weight is volume times the density you give. On our test files they matched hand calculations. STL files are read in millimetres because they carry no unit.Can it read a PDF drawing?
It keeps PDFs and pictures for people and for Draft with AI, but measures nothing in them. Measuring needs a STEP, IGES, STL or DXF file.What about large assemblies?
Files over 50 MB are refused. Send the part you are quoting, not the whole assembly.Has it been used with real customer drawings?
Measuring and the viewer were tried on our own test files outside the product, not yet with customer drawings inside it. We try your typical files with you before go-live.Related features
PRODUCTION AND JOB WORKEstimates priced by quantity, made into the item, BOM and quotationPrice a new job from its material, its steps on your machines, overhead and margin, at each quantity the buyer asks for. Send the estimate as a PDF; when it is won, the item, its bill of materials and the sales quotation are made from it.DESIGN FILES AND QUOTESDraft with AI on estimatesPress Draft with AI on an estimate. The buyer's drawings, the measured CAD figures, your machines with their costs and similar past estimates go to the SmartMy AI service. Back come material lines, steps on your machines with minutes, and the assumptions, for your estimator to check before anything is sent.DESIGN FILES AND QUOTESA quote request page that makes CRM leadsPut one link on your website or email signature. Buyers send what they need, the quantities, a needed-by date and up to five drawings or CAD files. Each request becomes a CRM lead with its files already measured, and your sales team is told by email.PRODUCTION AND JOB WORKSales, purchase and CRM: from lead to goods receivedFollow enquiries through your pipeline, send quotations, take sales orders and invoice them, raise purchase orders and receive the goods into your plant. Every invoice and bill names its plant.PLANNING, QUALITY AND COSTEngineering changes with approval, BOM versions from a date and where usedA change to an item's components, steps or drawing is raised as an engineering change order. It makes a new version of the bill of materials to edit and goes through approval. It takes over from the date you choose, with the old version kept.
See your shop floor on it.
Tell us what you make, how many machines and people you run, and how production is recorded today. We will set up a line with you and run a job on the terminal.