Case Studies
Projects
Engineering software projects I have built, from SolidWorks automation to a light steel CAD/CAM platform. Each case study covers the problem solved, the architecture behind it, and what it meant on the shop floor.
These three case studies share a starting point: in each one, repetitive CAD work that was being done by hand — and going wrong by hand — was handed over to software. Parametrically updating the rear door frame of truck and trailer bodies, carrying design data through to production in light steel (LGS/LSF) framing, and converting 2D technical data into 3D parametric models.
The layer follows the scale of the job. Work that stayed on one desk was solved with a VBA macro; once the same work spread across a team and needed versioning, it moved to a C#/.NET SolidWorks add-in architecture — CommandManager integration, a TaskPane, licensing and configuration are all part of that shift. On the light steel side, geometry is modelled as manufacturing-aware engineering data rather than as drawing.
The common ground underneath is the SolidWorks API, C#/.NET, VBA macros, parametric design and CAD/CAM. ParametriX adds an AI layer on top: it interprets what the user is asking for, while the CAD operations themselves stay governed by the SolidWorks API and engineering rules.
The decision underneath all of this — macro, API, or add-in — is laid out in the SolidWorks Automation guide.
