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Mechanical product design software

Boost product design efficiency and quality with a powerful, integrated suite of computer-aided design (CAD) solutions. Remove barriers to innovation, design for sustainability and reduce development costs using our scalable, adaptable solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Accelerate mechanical product design

Customers demand complex, high-quality and sustainable products that are delivered fast. To stay competitive, you must develop and release innovative designs that meet the needs of a changing market in less time, at premium quality, with fewer issues and at competitive prices.

The problem in product design today is that many companies still use disconnected legacy design systems that do not support a holistic next-generation product design approach. To be successful, design must be fully integrated with simulation, validation, manufacturing and the rest of the product development process.

62%

History-based modeling is rigid

62% of engineers agree that history-based modeling can be powerful but inflexible. Concept design is slowed by pre-planning, imported models have to be recreated and making late-stage design changes is difficult.

49%

Rapid initial design creation is essential

49% of CAD users rank the ability to rapidly create initial designs as a significant concern, and an additional 40% say the ability to reuse existing designs is a top priority.

22%

Upstream and downstream collaboration is critical

22% of CAD users say that collaboration with internal teams or design and manufacturing partners is a top challenge.

How can you design and deliver next-generation, high-quality products to market faster?

Implement an integrated mechanical product design solution to accelerate decision making and go-to-market. Increase productivity by up to 60% by enabling collaborative, simultaneous design across the globe.

What does a mechanical product design solution offer?

As an integrated toolset, product design software supports every aspect of product development — preserving data integrity and design intent. It improves design for quality, safety and sustainability while enabling customization and optimizing costs.

Innovate with NX CAD, our product design software

Unlock the digital twin of your product. Go beyond simple modeling and documentation with integrated tools that cover the entire product development process. Our software delivers a complete, integrated digital environment from initial concept design to detailed design to streamline collaboration.

Person working with conceptual design.

Mechanical conceptual design

  • Generate ideas and concepts for a new mechanical product, system or component
  • Define the fundamental aspects and features of the product through creative exploration, brainstorming and sketching
Team working on a design.

Mechanical preliminary design

  • Refine the initial concept
  • Transform the concept into a concrete, actionable design that can be used for further product development and manufacturing
Man working on a design platform.

Mechanical detailed design

  • Create comprehensive and highly detailed plans, drawings and specifications for a mechanical product, component or system
  • Transform the conceptual and preliminary designs into a practical and manufacturable product design
Woman working on a computer.

Composite structures design

  • Design, simulate and manufacture composite structures more efficiently and accurately
NX CAD

30-day free product design software trial

Try NX CAD and discover the power of a leading mechanical product design software. No installation is needed, so you can start designing in minutes. Access preconfigured industry trials with licenses, sample models, data files and preloaded instruction files.

Woman holding a tablet.

A trusted, award-winning CAD software

The NX CAD experience goes beyond powerful software. You will be supported in your journey to success each step of the way.

See why NX CAD consistently receives high marks for:

  • Ease of use and setup
  • Versatility
  • Modeling and visualization
  • Quality of support
G2 2023 Award Banners.
Before the adoption of NX, our development cycle took 12 to 14 months; with NX, we’ve reduced our development cycle to six to eight months. This is a significant result, not just because costs have been cut proportionally, but mostly because the capacity of our product development department has increased to such an extent that we can create an additional model each year.
Matteo Tenni, Product Engineer, MET

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Deploy your way

Deployment options tailored for teams of all sizes include on-premise, a virtualized environment or a streamed service from a public cloud provider.

Access training

Get started with Siemens Xcelerator Academy. Master NX CAD to become a leading expert in mechanical product design.

Join the community

Connect with fellow designers, learn new techniques, share ideas and continuously enhance your expertise in mechanical product design.

Frequently asked questions

Mechanical product design software solutions, also known as CAD, enable collaborative and simultaneous design across global teams. This increased flexibility helps companies improve quality and time-to-market while reducing costs. It allows engineers to reuse designs, easily share data, reduce complexity and ensure sustainability. Mechanical design software also allows for easy modifications and experimentation with designs to enable smooth customization.

Mechanical product design software solutions support every aspect of product development and can help your company gain a competitive edge. These solutions allow you to reuse designs, which will help you save time and ensure quality since the designs were already approved. You can easily modify and experiment with designs, which is especially helpful if you have to make changes frequently. Mechanical product design software solutions seamlessly integrate with other solutions to provide a more seamless and efficient design process.

What is CAD?

Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computer programs to create, modify, analyze and document two- or three-dimensional (2D or 3D) graphical representations of physical objects as an alternative to manual drafts and product prototypes. CAD is widely used in computer animation and media special effects as well as in product and industrial design.

What is NX CAD?

NX CAD is a mechanical product design solution developed by Siemens that helps companies boost product design efficiency and quality. It enables the most comprehensive digital twin of the product by seamlessly connecting teams, processes, systems and data involved in the product design.

It is the first major mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD) system to be certified as an open system that provides easy integration and has a proven track record of helping customers advance their data without disruption. It is the only CAD solution to support token licensing, a highly flexible approach to delivering add-on solutions. It is now available on the cloud, as-a-service (NX X), to help you accelerate your digital transformation easier, faster and at scale.

What is Solid Edge CAD?

Solid Edge CAD is a Siemens technology that engineers, product developers and designers use to create functional, virtual prototypes of three-dimensional objects. With Solid Edge, designers can dynamically create and modify every detail of a product, part or assembly. 3D CAD software facilitates and automates other aspects of product engineering, such as simulation testing, drawing and drafting, manufacturing, data management, computer-generated animation, and more. These three-dimensional models can be used in simulation studies to predict how the object will respond to stress and environmental factors, they can be rendered to create photo-realistic images for use in sales and marketing materials and/or detailed drawings can be sent to manufacturing for production (or, in the case of additive manufacturing, the CAD file can be sent directly to a 3D printer).

Modeling in CAD

Traditionally, there are two main approaches to creating and modifying geometry in 3D CAD: history-based (also known as ordered or feature-based) modeling or direct modeling. In history-based modeling, the structure and order of features control how models react to changes or edits. This creates predictable results from edits on underlying feature sketches using precise dimension changes. Direct modeling doesn't maintain a history of features or record how a model is built. There are no sketches driving features that make up the part. Editing is done by simply selecting what you want to change and changing it.

Related products: NX CAD

3D graphic of a sewing machine next to a wireframe of the same sewing machine

Using NX CAD capabilities, which are available in three preconfigured solutions, you can find the right fit for your design needs. Each solution offers tailored functionality to meet specific product development roles, practices and processes for businesses of any size. Each NX CAD Mach bundle delivers complete capabilities for all stages of the product development process, from basic design through production.

Each solution includes everything you need to integrate with a product lifecycle management solution, enabling you to extend engineering process management tools via scalable collaboration and advanced management. NX CAD offers preconfigured capabilities for various industries and users, allowing you to leverage best practices and industry-specific workflows.

Learn more

Watch

On-demand webinar | The power of smart product generative design and simulation

On-demand webinar | CAD in the cloud with Microsoft’s Azure cloud

On-demand webinar | Next generation CAD software for heavy vehicle design

Listen

Podcast | Designing for speed using NX CAD

Podcast | ECAD-MCAD collaboration

Podcast | The benefits of designing in the cloud

Read

Ebook | An engineer's guide to cloud-based CAD collaboration & data management

White paper | Unifying ECAD-MCAD PCB design through collaborative best practices

Infographic | Common CAD challenges and how to overcome them

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