How to Share NX Files Without Teamcenter: Cloud PDM Solutions
Share NX files without Teamcenter. Cloud PDM alternatives for SMEs with version control, assembly management, and supplier collaboration. Implementation guide.
Sharing SOLIDWORKS Files with Suppliers: Version Control Methods
Learn how to securely share SOLIDWORKS files with suppliers while maintaining version control. Compare Pack and Go, cloud storage, and cloud PDM solutions for engineering teams.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SOLIDWORKS is the go-to CAD software for millions of engineers and designers worldwide. While it excels at part and assembly design, one of the most persistent challenges teams face is collaborating with external partners, especially suppliers. How do you share your designs for quoting, feedback, or manufacturing without losing control over your intellectual property and, just as importantly, without losing track of versions?
Sending files via email or generic cloud storage might seem easy, but it quickly leads to a chaotic mess of conflicting versions, outdated feedback, and costly manufacturing mistakes. This guide outlines the common methods for sharing SOLIDWORKS files with suppliers, their inherent risks, and how a structured approach using modern collaboration tools can protect both your data and your sanity.
The Core Problem: Why Sharing SOLIDWORKS Files is Hard
SOLIDWORKS files are not like Word documents or PDFs. They are a complex ecosystem of interconnected files. An assembly file (
.SLDASM) is essentially a container that points to numerous part files (.SLDPRT) and sub-assemblies. If you only send the top-level assembly file, the recipient won’t be able to open it because they are missing all the referenced components. This fundamental complexity is the root of most sharing problems.Common Sharing Methods and Their Pitfalls
Here are the most common methods teams use to share SOLIDWORKS files with suppliers, along with the reasons they often fail.
1. Emailing ZIP Files with "Pack and Go"
The Process: You use the “Pack and Go” feature in SOLIDWORKS to bundle the assembly and all its referenced parts into a single folder, ZIP it up, and email it to your supplier.
The Pitfalls:
- Version Control Nightmare: If the supplier provides feedback and you make changes, you have to repeat the entire process. Soon, your inbox is cluttered with
Project_v1.zip,Project_v2_final.zip, andProject_v2_final_final.zip. There is no single source of truth.
- No Feedback Loop: Feedback comes back in unstructured emails, marked-up screenshots, or even phone calls. It’s difficult to track and easy to miss critical changes.
- File Size Limitations: Large assemblies can easily exceed email attachment size limits, forcing you to use clunky third-party file transfer services.
- Security Risks: Once the ZIP file is sent, you have no control over it. Your IP is now on someone else’s system, with no way to revoke access or track its usage.
2. Using Generic Cloud Storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive)
The Process: You upload your SOLIDWORKS files to a shared folder in a service like Dropbox and invite your supplier to access it.
The Pitfalls:
- Not CAD-Aware: These platforms don’t understand the relationships between SOLIDWORKS files. Renaming or moving a part file can break the assembly for everyone.
- Accidental Overwrites: If both you and your supplier are working in the same folder, it’s incredibly easy to overwrite each other’s changes. There is no file locking or check-in/check-out mechanism.
- No True Versioning: While these services have some versioning capabilities, they are not designed for the iterative nature of CAD. It’s difficult to compare changes between versions or understand the design’s evolution.
- Requires a SOLIDWORKS License: Your supplier needs their own SOLIDWORKS license to view and measure the files, which is not always a given.
3. Sharing Neutral or View-Only Formats (STEP, eDrawings)
The Process: You export your design to a neutral format like STEP or a view-only format like eDrawings to protect your native design files.
The Pitfalls:
- Static and Dumb: Neutral files are a “dumb” snapshot of the geometry. They contain no design history, metadata, or assembly constraints. If a change is needed, you have to go back to the native SOLIDWORKS file and re-export, creating yet another version to track.
- Limited Interrogation: While eDrawings is excellent for viewing and basic measurements, it doesn’t provide the full context of the native assembly.
- Feedback Disconnect: Feedback on a STEP or eDrawings file is still disconnected from the source design. You have to manually translate that feedback back into your SOLIDWORKS model.
A Better Way: Structured Collaboration with Cloud PDM
To truly solve the supplier collaboration challenge, you need a system that is CAD-aware, secure, and accessible to external partners. This is where a modern cloud-based Product Data Management (PDM) system excels.
A cloud PDM provides a centralized, single source of truth for all your CAD data and creates a structured environment for both internal and external collaboration.
Key Features for Secure Supplier Collaboration:
- A Single Source of Truth: All files are stored in one central repository. Everyone—including your suppliers—works from the same data, eliminating any confusion about which version is the latest.
- Granular Access Permissions: You can invite suppliers to specific projects or folders and grant them view-only or edit permissions. You retain full control over who can see and do what, protecting your IP.
- Browser-Based 3D Viewer: This is a game-changer. Suppliers can view, rotate, section, and measure your SOLIDWORKS models directly in their web browser—no SOLIDWORKS license required. This removes a major barrier to collaboration.
- Gather Feedback: The supplier uses CAD ROOMS’ built-in annotation tools to leave comments and suggestions directly on the shared 3D model. All annotations stay linked to the correct version, ensuring that design feedback is clear, traceable, and always in context.
- Controlled Versioning: Every change is tracked, and a full version history is maintained. You can easily see who changed what and when, and revert to a previous version at any time.
Implementing a Supplier Collaboration Workflow
With a cloud PDM system like CAD ROOMS, a typical supplier collaboration workflow looks like this:
- Invite Supplier: You invite your supplier to a specific project in CAD ROOMS with view or edit permissions.
- Share Designs: The supplier logs in via their web browser and can immediately view the 3D models you’ve shared. They don’t need to install any software.
- Gather Feedback: The supplier uses the built-in Annotation tools to leave comments and suggest changes directly on the model.
- Review and Iterate: You receive a notification and can see their feedback in the context of the design. You can then check out the file, make the necessary changes in SOLIDWORKS, and check it back in, creating a new version.
- Final Release: Once the design is approved, you can formally “release” it, locking it from further changes and signaling to the supplier that it is ready for manufacturing.
This entire process is tracked, version-controlled, and secure. There are no duplicate files, no conflicting versions, and no question about what was approved.
Conclusion: From Chaos to Control
Sharing SOLIDWORKS files with suppliers doesn’t have to be a chaotic and risky process. By moving away from manual methods like email and generic cloud storage and adopting a structured approach with a modern cloud PDM, you can establish a secure and efficient collaboration workflow.
This not only protects your intellectual property and ensures version control but also accelerates your design cycles by making feedback faster, clearer, and more actionable. It allows you to treat your suppliers as true partners in the product development process, without giving away the keys to your design data.
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