#USA #Massachusetts #PTC #Onshape #Altium

Enhanced ECAD-MCAD Collaboration through PTC's Latest Integration

PTC Inc., headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, has made a significant advancement in product development by announcing a new integration between its cloud-native CAD platform Onshape and Altium's PCB design software. This integration aims to facilitate more effective collaborations between electrical and mechanical engineering teams by ensuring design changes can be synchronized seamlessly across both platforms.

In product development, especially when involving electronics, the collaboration between electrical design and mechanical design teams is crucial. However, when this collaboration relies on manual updates or email file transfers, efficiency can drastically decline. Issues such as exporting data, aligning versions, and discovering discrepancies—like a circuit board not fitting into its housing or connectors being misaligned—can result in lost time and frustration.

The Onshape Altium Connector establishes a direct link between the two platforms, allowing PCB designs from Altium to be imported directly into Onshape. This integration resolves friction in the process, enabling teams to evaluate compatibility early and track changes in real time, ensuring clarity and consistency as their designs evolve.

Nikolay Ponomarenko, Vice President of R&D at Altium, commented on the significance of this collaboration: “This partnership marks a pivotal moment in cloud-native engineering. By expanding the direct integration of ECAD-MCAD co-design technology, we achieve a seamless connection between major cloud-based design platforms. In a complex and rapidly changing industry, leveraging cloud data allows engineers to collaborate in real-time within a unified workflow that spans across design areas, significantly reducing the risks associated with manual file sharing. This level of synchronization ensures that teams are aligned from the early stages of the design process, laying the foundation for more advanced collaboration in the future.”

Key Features of the Onshape Altium Connector:

• - Fully Cloud-Compatible: No need for file conversions, downloads, or manual data transfers.
• - Synchronized Electrical and Mechanical Design: Changes made in one platform are automatically reflected in the other, eliminating version mismatches.
• - Early Detection of Design Issues: Teams can verify if circuit boards fit correctly into housings at an early stage, preventing costly revisions later on.
• - Integrated Version Management: Keeps track of changes and their timing in real-time, with electrical design history managed via Altium and mechanical design history managed via Onshape.
• - Browser Accessibility: No software installations are necessary, enabling teams to review, comment, and markup designs from anywhere.

David Katzman, General Manager of Onshape and Arena at PTC, emphasized the importance of this real-time connection between electrical and mechanical design: “Connecting electrical and mechanical design in real time is a significant step toward complete digital product development. By integrating these workflows into a single cloud-native environment, teams continuously access shared, real-time product definitions, allowing them to focus on rapid development, maintaining consistency, and building better products.”

Through this and other product offerings, PTC aims to drive the vision of an intelligent product lifecycle, helping manufacturing and product companies to build a robust data foundation that extends its value throughout the enterprise and speeds up transformation powered by AI. This wide utilization of product data enables companies not only to launch high-quality products to market more swiftly but also to effectively manage product complexities and address various challenges such as regulatory compliance and adherence.

For more details, please visit: Onshape-Altium Connector Blog

About PTC:
PTC is a global software company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, that supports digital transformation in manufacturing through design, manufacturing, and service software. With over 7,000 employees and serving more than 30,000 customers worldwide, PTC is at the forefront of innovation in product design and lifecycle management. For more information, visit www.ptc.com.

About PTC Japan:
PTC's subsidiary in Japan, headquartered in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, offers a range of products including the versatile 3D CAD Creo, the cloud-native platform Onshape that integrates CAD and PDM, the product lifecycle management (PLM) software Windchill, the application lifecycle management (ALM) solution Codebeamer, and the service lifecycle management (SLM) software ServiceMax. By providing these solutions, PTC aids manufacturers in integrating digital threads across the product lifecycle, facilitating digital transformation initiatives. Established in March 1992, PTC Japan operates four business locations in the country. More information is available at PTC Japan.