What Is DriveWorks and Is It Right for Your Business?

DriveWorks is a design automation and Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) solution built for manufacturers using SOLIDWORKS. It automates the creation of CAD models, engineering drawings, Bills of Materials (BOMs), quotations, and manufacturing documentation based on predefined engineering rules. This helps manufacturers reduce engineering effort, shorten lead times, improve order accuracy, and accelerate production.

If your business manufactures custom or configured products, you've probably experienced a familiar bottleneck. Every new order requires engineering time to create drawings, BOMs, and manufacturing data before production can begin.

For manufacturers producing products that vary by size, configuration, or customer specifications while following established engineering rules, DriveWorks provides a smarter and more scalable approach.

What Is DriveWorks?

DriveWorks is a design automation and Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) platform developed specifically for manufacturers using SOLIDWORKS.

It captures the engineering logic behind your products and automatically generates custom CAD models, drawings, manufacturing documents, and quotations based on customer-selected configurations.

Instead of engineers manually creating drawings for every order, DriveWorks generates them automatically within minutes after product specifications are selected.

Benefits of DriveWorks

Manufacturers using DriveWorks can improve both engineering efficiency and overall business performance.

• Reduce repetitive engineering work.
• Shorten quotation and order processing time.
• Automatically generate SOLIDWORKS models and drawings.
• Produce accurate BOMs and manufacturing documentation.
• Integrate directly with ERP systems.
• Improve order accuracy.
• Reduce engineering bottlenecks.
• Scale custom product manufacturing without increasing engineering headcount.

How Does DriveWorks Work?

The foundation of DriveWorks is engineering rule capture. During implementation, a DriveWorks specialist works closely with your engineering team to identify and document the logic behind each configurable product.

This process typically answers questions such as:

• Which dimensions can change?
• Which components depend on selected options?
• Which engineering standards must always be followed?

These rules are configured once within DriveWorks. After implementation, every valid product configuration is automatically generated.

Typical workflow:

• A customer or sales representative enters product specifications into the DriveWorks configurator.
• DriveWorks applies predefined engineering rules.
• SOLIDWORKS models and drawings are generated automatically.
• BOMs, cut lists, route cards, and manufacturing documentation are created.
• Information is transferred directly into the ERP system without manual data entry.
• Production begins immediately without waiting for engineering approval for standard product variants.

For configure-to-order manufacturers, DriveWorks removes repetitive engineering work from the standard order fulfilment process.

Manual Engineering vs DriveWorks Automation

Is DriveWorks Right for Your Business?

DriveWorks is a strategic investment in software, implementation, and engineering rule development. It delivers the greatest value for manufacturers with repeatable product configurations.

DriveWorks Is a Good Fit If:

• You manufacture configurable products using consistent engineering rules.
• Engineers repeatedly create similar drawings and BOMs.
• Engineering delays affect production lead times.
• Your company uses SOLIDWORKS.
• Your sales team depends on engineering for product quotations.
• Business growth is limited by engineering capacity.

DriveWorks May Not Be the Best Fit If:

• Every customer order is completely unique.
• Monthly order volume is low enough for manual processing.
• Your business does not use SOLIDWORKS.
• Product configurations are extremely simple.

What Makes a Successful DriveWorks Implementation?

DriveWorks is only as effective as its implementation. Success depends on accurately capturing engineering rules and integrating DriveWorks with your existing manufacturing systems.

At DevWorks Automation, our implementations extend beyond standard software configuration. Depending on the complexity of the product and the existing engineering workflow, manufacturers can significantly reduce quotation and engineering processing time while eliminating repetitive manual tasks that slow order fulfilment.

Our DriveWorks implementation services include:

• Develop custom business logic tailored to your products.
• Integrate DriveWorks with ERP systems for automatic work order and BOM creation.
• Build custom automation extensions when required.
• Incorporate AI-powered recommendations based on historical order data.
• Maintain engineering rules as your product portfolio evolves.

A well-designed DriveWorks implementation improves far more than engineering productivity, it transforms the entire order-to-production workflow, reducing lead times and freeing your engineering team to focus on innovation rather than repetitive documentation.

Next Steps

The best way to determine whether DriveWorks is the right solution is to review your current engineering and order processing workflow.

If engineers spend significant time creating repeatable drawings, BOMs, quotations, or manufacturing documentation, design automation could significantly improve efficiency.

DevWorks Automation helps manufacturers evaluate, implement, customise, and integrate DriveWorks with ERP systems and manufacturing processes.

Schedule a consultation with DevWorks Automation to discover how DriveWorks can simplify custom product manufacturing and accelerate your engineering workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is DriveWorks?

DriveWorks is a design automation and Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) platform for SOLIDWORKS users. It automatically generates CAD models, drawings, BOMs, quotations, and manufacturing documentation based on predefined engineering rules.

Does DriveWorks work with SOLIDWORKS?

Yes. DriveWorks is built specifically for SOLIDWORKS and automates the creation of models, drawings, and manufacturing documentation directly from SOLIDWORKS designs.

Is DriveWorks a CPQ solution?

Yes. DriveWorks includes Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) functionality that enables sales teams and customers to configure products, generate quotations, and submit manufacturing-ready orders.

Can DriveWorks integrate with ERP systems?

Yes. DriveWorks integrates with many ERP systems, allowing engineering data, BOMs, work orders, and manufacturing information to flow automatically between systems.

Which manufacturers benefit most from DriveWorks?

DriveWorks is ideal for manufacturers producing configurable or engineer-to-order products with repeatable engineering rules. It is especially valuable for companies looking to reduce engineering effort, shorten lead times, and improve order accuracy.

What is the difference between DriveWorks and DevWorks Automation?

DriveWorks is the software product. DevWorks Automation is an implementation partner that helps manufacturers configure, customise, and integrate DriveWorks into their engineering and production workflows.