HiCAD and HiCAD PDM: Connected CAD, Data, and Engineering Services
Engineering teams rarely struggle because their CAD software cannot create a model. Problems arise when designs, revisions, approvals, drawings, and production documents are managed across separate systems.
HiCAD and HiCAD PDM bring these processes together. HiCAD provides integrated 2D and 3D design, while HiCAD PDM manages the associated product and project data. Supported by ISD Group’s implementation, consulting, training, and customization services, the combined solution creates one connected workflow—from initial design through approval and fabrication.
Design and Detail in One CAD Environment
HiCAD is built on a single, integrated 2D/3D CAD platform. Engineers and detailers can design in 2D, model in 3D, and move between both approaches without transferring information between separate CAD programs.
A 2D geometry can become part of a 3D model, while drawings, sections, elevations, details, and fabrication documents can be generated directly from the model. Because the documentation remains connected to the design, project changes can be applied more consistently and with greater control.
Day-to-day capabilities include:
- Integrated 2D drafting and 3D modeling in one system
- Parametric and feature-based design
- Automated creation of drawings, sections, elevations, and details
- Intelligent management of parts, assemblies, materials, and attributes
- Visualization tools for design reviews and customer presentations
- Point-cloud integration for captured field conditions
- Specialized functions for steel, façades, glazing, cladding, sheet metal, stairs, railings, and mechanical engineering
This eliminates many of the export, correction, and reimport steps that commonly introduce errors into steel and façade projects.
What Is PDM Software?
If you need PDM software explained without unnecessary technical language, Product Data Management software controls the information connected to a product or engineering project.
It helps answer essential questions:
- Which drawing or model is the current version?
- Who made the latest change?
- Which documents have been reviewed or approved?
- Who is authorized to view or modify the data?
- Which drawings, assemblies, and documents belong together?
Without PDM, this information is often spread across shared drives, email inboxes, spreadsheets, and folders containing filenames such as “final_v3_APPROVED_NEW.dwg.” That makes it difficult to determine which information is correct.
HiCAD PDM replaces this uncertainty with a structured and traceable engineering-data environment.
Keep Models, Drawings, and Documents Under Control
HiCAD PDM connects product and project information directly with the HiCAD design environment. Models, drawings, documents, parts, assemblies, and related information can be organized and controlled from one central system.
Key capabilities include:
- Structured revision and version management
- Controlled access based on users and responsibilities
- Check-in and check-out processes that help prevent files from being overwritten
- Traceable records showing who changed what and when
- Status-controlled review and approval workflows
- Central management of drawings, models, documents, and project information
- Structured relationships between projects, assemblies, parts, and production documents
- Faster retrieval of current and previously released information
This gives engineering teams a controlled source of truth and helps ensure that purchasing, project management, production, and installation work with the correct information.
From the 3D Model to Production
Once a design is approved, HiCAD can generate production information directly from the intelligent 3D model. This reduces the need to recreate drawings, bills of materials, and manufacturing data manually.
Depending on the application, HiCAD can produce:
- General arrangement and assembly drawings
- Individual part and fabrication drawings
- Bills of materials and structured parts lists
- Cutting and production lists
- Sheet-metal developments and flat patterns
- DXF and DWG production files
- NC and DSTV data for steel fabrication
- Data for CNC, laser-cutting, and other manufacturing processes
- IFC and STEP files for coordination with external systems
Because the output is generated from the same model used for engineering, approved design changes can flow through to the related drawings and production documents more efficiently.
Why Combine CAD and PDM?
Running CAD and PDM as a connected workflow creates more than administrative convenience. It gives the entire organization greater control over engineering information.
The combined approach helps companies:
- Keep 2D drawings and 3D models synchronized
- Reduce duplicate files and uncontrolled document copies
- Prevent employees from working with outdated revisions
- Improve collaboration between multiple engineers and departments
- Create documentation directly from approved model data
- Shorten the time required to process project changes
- Improve traceability throughout the project lifecycle
- Reduce errors, rework, and production delays
- Reuse approved designs, parts, and company standards
For smaller teams, this creates structure without depending on individual filing habits. For larger organizations, it provides a scalable foundation for handling multiple users, departments, and concurrent projects.
Built for Steel, Façade, and Manufacturing Workflows
HiCAD is not a general-purpose CAD system with isolated construction tools added afterward. It has dedicated solutions for industries that depend on complex geometry, tight tolerances, detailed documentation, and fabrication-ready output.
Applications include:
- Structural and miscellaneous steel detailing
- Stairs, railings, platforms, and curved steel
- Façade engineering
- Curtain-wall and glazing systems
- Unitized and stick-built façades
- Rainscreen and rear-ventilated cladding
- ACM and sheet-metal panel systems
- Industrial façades
- Mechanical and plant engineering
- Custom manufacturing and configurable products
HiCAD PDM extends these capabilities by keeping the engineering data, revisions, approvals, and documents organized throughout the complete workflow.
More Than Software: ISD Group Services
Successful CAD and PDM implementation requires more than installing software. ISD Group works with customers to configure HiCAD and HiCAD PDM around their actual engineering and production processes.
Our services include:
- Workflow and process analysis
- CAD and PDM implementation planning
- System configuration and deployment
- Data structure and approval-workflow setup
- Migration of existing engineering data
- Development of company standards and templates
- On-site and online training
- Project-based consulting
- API development and workflow automation
- Custom tools, configurators, and specialized functions
- Integration with ERP, production, nesting, and manufacturing systems
- Ongoing technical support and software maintenance
Our objective is to help customers establish a complete design-to-production platform—not simply introduce another software tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between HiCAD and HiCAD PDM?
HiCAD is the engineering, modeling, and detailing environment. It is used to create 2D drawings, 3D models, assemblies, fabrication documents, bills of materials, and production data.
HiCAD PDM manages the information surrounding that engineering work, including versions, revisions, access rights, approval status, project structures, and related documents. Together, they connect design and data management within one coordinated workflow.
Does a company need both CAD and PDM?
A company can use HiCAD independently, but HiCAD PDM becomes increasingly valuable when several employees or departments work with the same engineering information. It provides greater control over revisions, approvals, responsibilities, and document access.
Is HiCAD PDM suitable for smaller engineering teams?
Yes. Small teams also benefit from structured file management, revision control, and a reliable source of current project information. The system can be configured around the company’s present requirements and expanded as the organization grows.
Can HiCAD exchange data with other software?
Yes. HiCAD supports widely used formats such as IFC, STEP, DXF, and DWG. Depending on the industry and configuration, it can also generate manufacturing formats such as DSTV/NC data and sheet-metal developments.
ISD Group can help evaluate the required exchange formats and configure the workflow for external BIM, ERP, nesting, CNC, and production systems.
Can existing project data be migrated into HiCAD PDM?
Yes. The migration approach depends on the structure, quality, and volume of the existing files and data. ISD Group can analyze the current environment and develop a practical migration and implementation plan.
Can HiCAD and HiCAD PDM be customized?
Yes. ISD Group provides configuration, API development, automation, and custom programming services. This can include company-specific templates, automated workflows, configurators, integrations, specialized production output, and tools developed around individual engineering processes.
How does ISD Group support the implementation?
ISD Group supports the complete implementation process—from workflow analysis and system configuration to training, customization, rollout, and ongoing technical support. The goal is to help each customer create a stable, scalable design-to-production workflow that delivers measurable operational improvements.
