Expert Solutions for 2D and 3D to overcome CAD Data Migration Challenges

In 2025, nearly 65% of engineering projects experience significant delays due to CAD data migration issues. This reality particularly affects manufacturing companies that, following a merger-acquisition or facing system obsolescence, must transfer thousands of 3D and 2D models to a new platform. A European automotive manufacturer recently experienced this: after changing their main CAD system, their engineering team found themselves unable to effectively utilize more than 15 years of design history, compromising the development of their new vehicle range.

Migration between CAD systems represents much more than a simple file transfer. It constitutes a major technical and strategic challenge where every detail matters. Preserving design intelligence - the ability to maintain construction history, parametric relationships, and designer intentions - represents the main difficulty. Without it, models become rigid, impossible to modify effectively, transforming a strategic asset into simple fixed geometry.

Faced with these critical challenges, specialized solutions have emerged to ensure successful digital transitions. These technologies offer different levels of conversion according to needs:

Precise geometric conversion - To faithfully transfer 3D models while preserving essential dimensional constraints
Advanced parametric migration - To maintain complete model intelligence, allowing future modification without reconstruction
Independent validation - To certify the conformity of converted models compared to originals

Our expertise covers all major CAD formats on the market, including CATIA V5 (up to V5-6 R2024), CATIA V4, ProE/Creo (up to CREO 10), NX, SolidWorks (up to 2024), as well as neutral standards like STEP (AP203, AP214, AP242), IGES, Parasolid, JT and many others. This extended compatibility allows us to meet the most complex migration needs, regardless of the combination of source and target systems.

The benefits of professionally managed CAD migration extend far beyond the technical framework:

Drastic reduction in time-to-market through immediate reuse of existing designs
Substantial savings through process automation, avoiding costly manual reconstruction
Preservation of the company's intellectual capital, often accumulated over decades
Unification of working methods following reorganizations or mergers and acquisitions
Elimination of risks of errors inherent in approximate manual conversions

Our catalog of specialized solutions includes proven technologies such as CADfix for high-precision geometric conversion, Proficiency for complete parametric migration, DraftView for 2D drawing management, CADIQ for independent validation, and DEXcenter for automation of conversion workflows.

Whether you are facing post-acquisition consolidation, legacy system modernization, or alignment with your industry standards, our solutions ensure a smooth transition to your new technical environment. Explore our detailed articles to discover how to transform what is often perceived as an insurmountable technical obstacle into a strategic opportunity for rationalization and innovation.

Embarking on a journey of data migration? CAD Interop offers a comprehensive, multi-phase process to ensure that your legacy data transitions smoothly into a new system. From in-depth legacy database analysis to meticulous interoperability testing and seamless execution, this guide breaks down the intricate steps involved.

Proficiency

In 2025, nearly 65% of engineering projects experience significant delays due to issues related to CAD data migration. This reality particularly affects manufacturing companies seeking to maintain their competitiveness while modernizing their design tools. The loss of critical information during these transitions costs organizations millions and can compromise years of product development.

Preserving the construction history during CAD migration represents one of the most complex but also most strategic challenges in the industry. Unlike simple geometric conversions, a complete migration with design intent allows for preserving the intelligence embedded in models - a major competitive asset often overlooked.

3D CAD data migration represents a major challenge for industrial companies facing the replacement of their design systems. In a context where manufacturing companies lose millions each year due to migration failures, mastering this transition becomes strategic. Moving from one CAD system to another involves not only data transfer but also preserving the integrity of 3D models that constitute the company's digital heritage.

In 2025, as digital transformation accelerates across all industrial sectors, the ability to efficiently migrate 3D CAD data becomes a decisive competitive advantage. This migration directly impacts operational continuity, collaboration with partners, and the company's innovation capacity.

CADIQ

In the constantly evolving industrial world, the migration of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems represents a major strategic challenge for companies concerned with maintaining their technological competitiveness. This complex process, consisting of replacing an existing CAD system with a more recent solution, exposes organizations to considerable risks in terms of technical data integrity. A recent study reveals that more than 60% of CAD migration projects encounter significant problems related to the loss of critical information or unintentional alterations of 3D models. Faced with these challenges, CAD migration validation emerges as an essential discipline to secure this digital transformation process.

The precision and reliability of CAD data constitute the very foundation of modern design, simulation, and manufacturing processes. A tiny geometric deviation, sometimes invisible to the naked eye, can lead to disastrous consequences: defective parts, production delays, significant cost overruns, and potentially product recalls. How then can we guarantee the absolute integrity of data during migration between heterogeneous CAD systems?

2D CAD data migration represents a major technical and strategic challenge for industrial companies with a historical legacy of technical drawings. Faced with the planned obsolescence of systems like CADDS or Personal Designer, organizations must secure their technical archives while maintaining their future usability. This transition requires specialized solutions to convert complex proprietary formats, preserve data integrity, and maintain associative links between drawings and 3D models.

The stakes are considerable: thousands of technical drawings often critical for product maintenance, the scarcity of expertise on legacy systems, and the increasing costs of maintaining obsolete platforms. Fortunately, dedicated solutions now allow this migration to be approached in a structured and efficient manner.