GrabCAD or Alternative PLM

[asid61]

We use it with Solidworks after trying Dropbox and SVN in years past. It is absolutely amazing; making conflicted copies is nigh on impossible, and anybody can be taught to use it in a matter of minutes. Plus, the online repository and sharing is good too, with its integrated CAD viewer.
It has very few features, making is easy to learn with, but it also can't do things like locking assemblies and the like. However the version control is great.
The infinite file storage really sold it for me. We can store other stuff right along with just CAD files, like info PDFs about the files and renders.

EDIT: The SW plugin crashed some stuff for us when we started using it late last year. They may have fixed it by now.

[Chris Endres]

Ahhh, GrabCAD is amazing, we started using it last year, and it is a godsend. SVN worked, but had troubles with multiple revisions, edit history, user rewrites, ghost-locked files, corrupt files, etc. The SolidWorks plug-in is also really helpful, makes it really easy to upload and download the latest version of files. Separate projects allow the admins to give access to certain people, and you can have previous year's robots at your fingertips if you choose.

[RoboMo786]

GrabCAD is absolutely fantastic. We're currently using OCCRA to test drive it. It's very fast and easy to use, so beginners can catch on quickly. We love the online viewer as well, since we don't need to be on a computer that has and/or can handle CAD. Of course file organization and naming is on you, but once that is done, GrabCAD keeps every version on record and all files up to date. It's easy to find and restore previous file versions if needed as well.

Originally Posted by asid61

EDIT: The SW plugin crashed some stuff for us when we started using it late last year. They may have fixed it by now.

I'm glad to know we're not the only ones. It crashes for me as well. GrabCAD workbench has been an effective way around, but I would love to know how and why the crashes are happening.