Advanced CAD Interoperability for the Digital Thread

The Franco-German software pioneer CoreTechnologie (CT) is diversifying its product range with a new CAD converter called 3D_Feature in order to meet the increasing demands placed on product data conversion. By spinning off the feature technology into a separate product, the tool becomes more independent and quicker to adapt in terms of customer-specific customisations and CAD system update cycles. The new technology significantly improves the conversion of feature-based CAD models by preserving design history trees, parameters, sketches, and features as well as feature sketches, so that converted models can be modified and further edited in the same way as in the original CAD system.

Seamless Data Flow

With 3D_Feature, CoreTechnologie enables the automated conversion, validation, and repair of complex CAD data while preserving valuable engineering intelligence. Geometry, product structure, metadata, and the complete design history including features and their associated parameters can be transferred reliably to other CAD systems and downstream engineering processes. As a result, traditional data exchange is transformed into a controlled and intelligent building block for seamless product data workflows.

This creates a reliable Digital Thread for CAD migrations and collaboration between customers, suppliers, and development partners, connecting product data throughout the entire product lifecycle from initial design and simulation to manufacturing, quality assurance, service, digital twin applications, and long-term archiving. The goal is a continuous, traceable flow of product information, regardless of the CAD system in which the data was originally created.

In industrial practice, this end-to-end consistency is one of the greatest challenges.

Product data is often stored in different CAD system formats, versions and quality levels. Added to this are supplier data, legacy systems, neutral exchange formats, as well as increasing requirements for Product Manufacturing Information (PMI), metadata, geometry quality and automation.

Quality Standards for the Digital Thread

A functioning Digital Thread is not created solely through Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), cloud platforms, or digital twins. It begins much earlier with the quality, integrity, and reusability of 3D product data.

In today’s global development environments, OEMs, suppliers, and engineering partners rely on a wide range of CAD systems, including Catia, NX, Creo, and Solidworks. The new 3D_Feature software from CoreTechnologie ensures seamless interoperability by preserving not only geometry, but also design history, features, parameters, product structure, and metadata during native CAD conversion. This eliminates manual rework, reduces engineering errors, and accelerates product development.

Rather than simply translating geometry between CAD systems, 3D_Feature preserves the engineering intelligence required for downstream processes, transforming conventional data exchange into a reliable foundation for an end-to-end Digital Thread. The result is a continuous, traceable flow of product information across the entire product lifecycle from design and simulation to manufacturing, quality assurance, service, digital twins, and long-term archiving.

Further information on the new 3D_Feature software is available at https://coretechnologie.com/products/3d_feature/.