CAD CPQ: Configure the Product, Get the Drawing, CAD Files and BOM
CAD CPQ connects configure-price-quote software to CAD, so every valid configuration produces its own drawing, CAD files and bill of materials without an engineer redrawing it. In Ignitionary, configured products export a true-scale STL model built from the same geometry that priced them, and the tubular heater in the live demo also exports a DXF fabrication profile and a spec-sheet PDF with its BOM. Driving your own SolidWorks, AutoCAD or Inventor models from those rules is added as a CAD automation project.
Built for VP Engineering and design leads whose team is the bottleneck between a quote request and a drawing. Try the exports in the live demo, no signup.
What CAD CPQ looks like in practice
A real screen from the live demo: the configuration on the left, the 3D preview it drives on the right, and the STL, DXF and spec-sheet exports above
What does CAD integration do for your engineering team?
It takes routine, rules-driven drafting off engineering's plate, so your engineers work on genuinely new designs instead of redrawing the same product at slightly different dimensions for every quote.
Drawings without an engineer in the loop
A configuration that passes your rules produces its files straight away, so a standard configured order never waits in the engineering queue for someone to redraw it by hand.
Rules gate the geometry
The same engineering rules that validate a configuration set its dimensions, and the exports stay locked while a manufacturability rule is failing. Impossible geometry never reaches the shop as a file.
Drawing, BOM, and quote agree
The files, the bill of materials and the price all come from one configuration, so the shop floor builds what was quoted and nobody reconciles three separately maintained documents.
3D from the same geometry
The 3D preview is built from the same centerline and dimensions as the STL and DXF, not a marketing render, so what the customer approves is what the files describe.
What ships in the platform, and what is CAD automation
Two levels of CAD output. Most manufacturers start with the first and add the second when the volume of drawings justifies it.
Built in, every plan
- STEP solid model built on a real CAD kernel from the same geometry that prices the part, for every product in the demo: true arcs, real holes and one closed solid, in STEP AP214, the exchange format every major CAD system imports.
- STL model in true millimeters, a single closed mesh, for viewing, fit checks and printing.
- DXF drawing (R12) with true arcs, separate layers for centerline, outline, dimensions and notes, overall dimensions, and a flat pattern for formed sheet parts. It opens in AutoCAD, LibreCAD, Fusion and most CAM tools.
- Your customer's CAD file as the starting point: STEP, IGES, DXF and STL uploads are measured (size, thickness, holes, drawing notes) to fill a configurator or start a new one.
- Spec-sheet PDF set up per product line, with the configuration, dimensions, engineering results and bill of materials.
- Bill of materials and routing on every configuration, flowing into the quote.
- Live 3D preview and an AR view on the quote.
CAD automation (Scale, or add-on)
- Ignitionary drives your own parametric models, so the output is your title block, your drawing standards and your native files.
- SolidWorks through its API, design tables and global variables.
- AutoCAD through dynamic block parameters and the .NET API, producing DWG.
- Inventor through iLogic parameters and the Inventor API.
- Released drawings, native models and STEP files returned to the quote and your PDM or ERP.
Scoped and priced per project; included on Scale, an add-on on Growth. See pricing.
How CAD CPQ works, step by step
From a sales configuration to files the shop can build from
Configure
A rep, or the customer on your website, picks options. The configurator only offers combinations your rules allow.
Validate
Engineering rules check the result: dimensions, ratings, bend radii, clearances, whatever your product needs. A failing rule names the rule and the numbers, and blocks the files.
Generate
The validated parameters produce the 3D model, STL, DXF and spec sheet, or, with CAD automation, rebuild your SolidWorks, AutoCAD or Inventor model and its drawing.
Quote and release
The files, BOM and price travel together on the quote, and on order the BOM and routing go to your ERP.
When CAD CPQ is worth it
CAD CPQ pays off when the same product family is drawn again and again at different sizes: heating elements, conveyors, tanks, enclosures, racking, valves. If engineering spends hours per quote redrawing a known design, those hours come back. If every order is a genuinely new design, CAD automation helps less, and engineer-to-order work still needs an engineer.
It is also the part of CPQ that most generic tools leave out. Many CPQ products stop at a price and a PDF; CAD-first tools such as DriveWorks start from the model and leave pricing to you. If you are comparing, our buyer's guide to CPQ software and DriveWorks comparison cover the trade-offs.
For the measured result of rules-based quoting, see the heating element manufacturer's story: quoting fell from 30 to 45 minutes to 3 to 5, with 200+ engineering formulas encoded and zero calculation errors since go-live.
A CAD API you can call today
The live demo exposes the engineering rules and CAD exports of all nine of its products over REST at https://demo.ignitionary.io/api/v1/cad (GET /products lists them; pass product to choose one). The examples below are real responses from it for the tubular heater.
| Method | Path | What it returns |
|---|---|---|
POST | /validate | Check a configuration against every engineering rule; returns each rule with its value, limit and pass/fail |
POST | /models | Store a configuration and get an id |
GET | /models/{id} | The stored configuration and its evaluation |
GET | /models/{id}/preview | Centerline geometry in mm for your own 3D viewer |
GET | /models/{id}/bom | Bill of materials and routing |
GET | /models/{id}/properties | Developed length, volume, surface area and mass, with the density source |
POST | /export | STL or DXF, byte-identical to the demo's download buttons; refused while a rule fails |
Validate a configuration
curl -s -X POST https://demo.ignitionary.io/api/v1/cad/validate \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"shape":"hairpin","shapeDims":{"legLength":450,"legSpacing":30},
"powerW":2000,"voltage":240,"sheathOD":8,"sheathMaterial":"304SS",
"coldZoneMM":50,"application":"liquid"}'
{
"isValid": true,
"checks": [
{ "id": "dim.legLength.positive", "value": 450, "limit": "> 0", "unit": "mm", "pass": true },
…
],
"perf": { "developedMM": 947.12, "heatedMM": 847.12, "bendRadiusMM": 15, "resistanceOhm": 28.8, … }
}A failing rule blocks the file
# Same heater at 9,000 W: the export is refused, exactly as the UI greys out its buttons
curl -s -X POST https://demo.ignitionary.io/api/v1/cad/export -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"config":{ … "powerW":9000 … },"format":"stl"}'
HTTP 422
{"error":{"status":422,
"message":"Config fails DFM validation; export refused (the configurator disables STL/DXF while rules fail)",
"errors":["Watt density 42.27 W/cm² exceeds 12 W/cm² limit for Liquid Immersion"]}}This is the demo instance: no key needed, 60 requests a minute per IP, and every response carries an X-Ignitionary-Instance: demo header. Only the tubular heater is exposed, and only STL and DXF are exported; DWG, STEP and native SolidWorks, AutoCAD or Inventor files come from CAD automation of your own models. Exposing your own product lines the same way is scoped as part of implementation. The watt density rule the API enforces is also available as a free watt density calculator, alongside a heater wattage calculator.
CAD platforms we automate
CAD automation is built against the tools your engineers already use
SolidWorks
Parts, assemblies and drawings
- • SolidWorks API
- • Design tables and global variables
- • Configurations and suppression
- • Drawing and BOM export
AutoCAD
2D layouts and fabrication drawings
- • .NET API
- • Dynamic block parameters
- • Layers and title blocks
- • DWG and DXF output
Inventor and Fusion
Autodesk parametric modeling
- • iLogic and Inventor API
- • User parameters
- • Autodesk Platform Services
- • STEP and native output
Other CAD
CATIA, NX, Creo and others
- • Scoped per project
- • STEP and IGES exchange
- • PDM and PLM hand-off
- • Ask us about your stack
CAD CPQ questions
CAD CPQ is configure-price-quote software connected to CAD, so a configured product comes with its own drawing, CAD files and bill of materials as well as a price. The goal is that sales can quote a sized or customized product without waiting for engineering to draw it.
Configured products export a true-scale STL model. Products with a 2D profile, like the tubular heater in the live demo, also export a DXF fabrication profile with a notes block, and a spec-sheet PDF with dimensions, engineering results and the bill of materials. The files come from the same geometry that drives the 3D preview and the price, and they stay locked while a manufacturability rule is failing.
With CAD automation, SolidWorks through its API and design tables, AutoCAD through dynamic blocks and the .NET API, and Inventor through iLogic and its API. Configuration parameters are mapped to your model's driving dimensions and suppression states, and a rebuild produces the drawing, native model and BOM. Other systems are scoped per project.
For configurations that fit the rules and templates you have set up, yes. Requests that fall outside those rules still route to engineering, so engineers spend their time on work that needs design judgment rather than on redrawing a known product at new dimensions.
Both are generated from the same configuration in one pass, so the bill of materials matches the files and the quoted price. There is no separately maintained BOM to drift out of date.
Yes. The live demo exposes a REST API at demo.ignitionary.io/api/v1/cad for all nine of its products, from the tubular heater to gears, springs and valves: validate a configuration against its engineering rules, store it, and get its preview geometry, bill of materials, physical properties, and STEP, STL or DXF files. Exports are refused while a rule fails, and the files match the demo's download buttons.
The built-in STL, DXF and spec-sheet exports are part of every plan, from $1,500 a month. CAD automation of your own models is included on the Scale plan and is an add-on on Growth, scoped against your models and drawing standards. The pricing page has the detail.
Ready to Connect Your CAD System?
Bring one product family and your CAD models; we will show you the drawings and BOM it produces