To AutoCAD or to AutoCAD OEM

Over the past three decades, AutoCAD has become the standard software for designers around the world. With its large user base and continued development, it offers  a solid CAD platform used in so many industries.

PROCAD has utilized AutoCAD as its CAD platform since AutoFLOW software was released in 1991. As an add-on to AutoCAD, PROCAD software applications made it easy for customers to be very productive.

However, many potential customers were unable to afford the cost of acquiring AutoCAD + PROCAD’s piping and electrical software solutions. In 2010, and after many years lobbying for an OEM version of AutoCAD, Autodesk  came through with their OEM program to help third party software developers offer a complete CAD solution. PROCAD jumped on this opportunity and within months, released its first product in 2011; PapriCAD 2D with included AutoCAD OEM. This was followed by PapriCAD 3D and SpoolCAD in 2012.

We have had many questions as to the advantages of getting AutoCAD OEM included in our plant design solution? To answer these questions, here are some of the benefits of introducing CAD platform inclusive software:

  • For companies that couldn’t afford to AutoCAD, they now have access to plant design software at a reasonable price
  • For customers who already own PROCAD’s AutoCAD add-on software, they can get significant savings when ordering additional seats of PROCAD software
  • In addition to savings, the new products with included CAD platform benefit from a single point of sale, support and upgrades.
  • Both products save in DWG file format making information portability a non-issue
  • PROCAD’s add-on products and products with included AutoCAD OEM are identical.
  • Smaller companies are better able to compete by using highly productive plant design software

So what are the disadvantages with PROCAD’s software with included AutoCAD OEM? It’s a known fact that when you get some, you also lose some:

  • AutoCAD OEM comes with reduced features vs. the full (expensive!) version of AutoCAD
  • No other add-ons can be connected to the AutoCAD OEM engine. So if you have other than PROCAD applications running, this is not a suitable solution
  • Customized routines and programming cannot be run on AutoCAD OEM

Having two identical products with or without a CAD platform gives customers more options to select from, whether it’s due to price-point advantage, or simply to deal with a single vendor to make the software easier to maintain.

Ask us if our products with included CAD platform are the right solution for you. We’ll give you the straight facts.