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Top 10 CAD Automations That Save Engineers Hours Every Week ​

MinuteView delivers significant time savings across common CAD workflows — eliminating repetitive, manual processes like exporting PDFs, synchronizing data, or rebuilding models.
Below are ten of the most popular automations used by engineering teams every day, with a quick back-of-the-napkin ROI for each.

1. Automated PDF Generation from CAD ​

Automatically generate PDF outputs from CAD files upon approval or check-in events. This eliminates the need for designers to manually open, export, and save each file — saving 5–10 minutes per drawing while ensuring consistent, standardised results.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per action (manual): ~8 minutes
  • Frequency: 10 drawings/day per engineer
  • Team size: 10 engineers
  • Savings: ~13 hours/day → $1,040/day, $20,800/month, $250,000/year

2. Automatic Insertion of Reviewer and Approver Signatures ​

Embed reviewer and approver signatures into title blocks automatically upon approval. No need for manual edits in CAD software — signatures appear instantly for compliance and traceability.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per action (manual): ~5 minutes
  • Frequency: 5 approvals/day per engineer
  • Savings: ~4 hours/day → $320/day, $6,400/month, $77,000/year

3. Automated Creation of Machining Files (STL, STEP, DXF) ​

Upon approval, generate required machining exports automatically and store them in the correct folder or ERP system. Ensures suppliers always receive the latest versions.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per action (manual): ~7 minutes
  • Frequency: 8 times/day per engineer
  • Savings: ~9.3 hours/day → $744/day, $14,800/month, $180,000/year

4. Cross-System Document Synchronization ​

Sync key design deliverables automatically between Vault, SharePoint, and OpenText. Engineers no longer waste time manually copying files for downstream teams.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per action (manual): ~10 minutes
  • Frequency: 6 per day per engineer
  • Savings: ~10 hours/day → $800/day, $16,000/month, $192,000/year

5. Nightly Navisworks Model Publication ​

Automatically rebuild and publish the latest Navisworks (NWD) model every night, keeping project teams fully up to date without anyone manually aggregating models.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per manual publish: ~30 minutes
  • Frequency: once per day
  • Savings: ~5 hours/day → $400/day, $8,000/month, $96,000/year

6. Scheduled Revit IFC Export ​

Schedule IFC exports overnight for coordination or client delivery. Ensures external teams always have current models without waiting on manual updates.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per manual export: ~15 minutes
  • Frequency: 5 times/day
  • Savings: ~12.5 hours/day → $1,000/day, $20,000/month, $240,000/year

7. Overnight Inventor Model Updates ​

Automatically rebuild large Inventor assemblies overnight so that every morning, users start with fully updated master models. Removes long morning delays for every designer.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per manual update: ~10 minutes
  • Frequency: 1 update/day per engineer
  • Savings: ~1.6 hours/day → $128/day, $2,500/month, $30,000/year

8. Automated Drawing Release Notifications ​

Notify manufacturing or procurement automatically when drawings are released, ensuring downstream teams always act on the latest version.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per manual notification: ~3 minutes
  • Frequency: 8 times/day per engineer
  • Savings: ~4 hours/day → $320/day, $6,400/month, $77,000/year

9. Automated BOM Extraction and Upload ​

Extract and upload Bills of Materials directly into ERP systems like Dynamics 365 or SAP when drawings are released — eliminating double entry.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per manual entry: ~15 minutes
  • Frequency: 3 times/day per engineer
  • Savings: ~7.5 hours/day → $600/day, $12,000/month, $144,000/year

10. Automated Archive and Version Clean-Up ​

Archive outdated file versions and move released data to storage automatically, keeping Vault and servers lean and compliant.

ROI Estimate:

  • Time per cleanup (manual): ~20 minutes
  • Frequency: once/day per engineer
  • Savings: ~3.3 hours/day → $260/day, $5,200/month, $62,000/year

Summary ROI (Approx.) ​

Across all automations, teams typically save 80–100 engineering hours per week, equivalent to $6,000–$8,000/week, or $300,000+ per year in efficiency gains — not including secondary benefits like reduced errors and improved collaboration.

Tentech 2024