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Production-ready models and drawings, checked for cost and fit before tooling
Send your sketches or models. Get a roadmap to a buildable design.
A concept or a rough model is not a part a supplier can quote. CAD design services turn sketches, legacy drawings, and early models into clean 3D CAD and production drawings. Tolerances, materials, and assembly are worked out before anyone cuts metal.
When the CAD is rushed, teams pay for it in one of two ways. Some send loose drawings out and pay for the questions, quotes, and rework that follow. Others find the clash, the missing tolerance, or the part nobody can machine at first article. By then, every fix costs a tool change.
PPS engineers create production-ready CAD alongside our engineering consulting services, DFMA services, and product development services. You get a design that suppliers can quote, make, and assemble without guesswork.
✓
Suppliers send back questions, not quotes
Drawings leave too much open to guesswork.
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Parts that don't fit at assembly
Tolerances and interfaces were never checked together.
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Legacy drawings nobody can update
Paper or 2D files block every change until you convert legacy drawings to 3D CAD.
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Features that are costly or impossible to make
The model looks right, but the shop can't make it.
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A concept that looks good but isn't engineered
Industrial design and engineering never met.
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Extra material and tight tolerances everywhere
Cost you pay for on every part, every order.
Cost you carry
Decision it lets you make
Result
Unit cost
Material & weight
Decision
Set tolerances, materials, and features to what the part needs, then remove the cost it doesn't.
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Result
A part that costs less to make and still fits.
Development
Prototypes & testing
Decision
Check fit, clashes, and assembly in CAD before parts are made, and use prototypes to confirm.
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Result
Fewer prototype loops and faster supplier quotes.
Tooling
Rework & redesign
Decision
Find the feature a supplier can't make and fix it in the model before tooling is ordered.
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Result
No redesign after first article; tooling is made once.
After launch
Field failures & warranty
Decision
Release complete drawings and models with revision control your team and suppliers can follow.
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Result
Fewer supplier questions and a design you can defend.
01
A design that meets your loads at the lowest total cost, delivered as production-ready CAD and drawings
02
FEA results and margins you review and approve at each gate, before anything moves to prototyping.
03
You own the IP by default, set in your contract.
04
If we missed it in our QC, we fix it. If your supplier can't make the part within three years, or supply dries up, we fix that too.
You send
What we need to start
CAD, native or STEP
Loads and operating conditions, or how the part is used
Material specs or test data, if you have it
Targets: weight, cost, life, or code
Failure history, if a part already failed
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You get
What you hold at the end
The optimized design: CAD and drawings ready for production
Models and results you reviewed and approved
Documented margins or code compliance
Test correlation, when testing is in scope: a partner lab or yours
A roadmap for what comes next, and a team that stays with you
We price to the value we deliver, not the hours we log. If the value isn't there for you, we'll say so in the assessment.
We review your project scope and the data you have, and screen the risks. You get: a free assessment.
Scope, targets, and gates, from where you are to where you need to be.
CAD models and drawings, with analysis and prototypes when needed. You get: data to approve.
The design, drawings, and models, second-checked in our QMS.
We stand behind the design through production and supply issues.
PPS engineers run CAD, FEA, and DFMA as one loop. The model is checked for strength and cost as it takes shape. Drawings follow, and suppliers see a design they can quote. The part you approve is the part that ships.
Shape first, details later
Or tighten tolerances until it does
Tooling and test article paid for
The problem shows up at first article
New geometry, new prototype, new test
Which features drive cost and fit
Tolerances, materials, assembly
Geometry refined to real margins
Second engineer verifies the model
Build once, to confirm
Every prototype loop you fund is margin lost. Get a free roadmap.
Get Your Free RoadmapBrackets, housings, and assemblies modeled to the tolerances and documentation flight programs need.
Lighter parts, proven.
Applications
Brackets
Housings
GD&T
Assemblies
Housings, brackets, and interior parts designed for the process your suppliers already run at volume.
Built for high volume.
Applications
Castings
Plastics
Stampings
Assemblies
Heavy frames, guards, and wear parts redrawn and updated so field fixes become permanent design changes.
Stop costly downtime.
Applications
Frames
Guards
Wear Parts
Legacy CAD
Fittings, housings, and structures modeled with materials and tolerances suited to salt and vibration.
Built for harsh duty.
Applications
Fittings
Housings
Corrosion
Structures
FEA, CFD, CAD, DFMA, and testing under one roof. Engineering is a team sport, and you get the whole team.
One team, every skill.
Under One Roof
FEA
CFD
CAD
DFMA
Testing
Veteran-owned SDVOSB status gives defense and federal buyers a set-aside path to proven engineering.
Verify our SDVOSB status.
Credentials
SDVOSB
VOSB
CAGE 8ZK73
NAICS 541330
Missed something in our QC? We fix it. Supplier can't make the part within three years? We fix that too.
Support for the long run.
We Fix
Our QC Misses
Supplier Gaps
Supply Chain
We price to the value we deliver, not hours logged. You buy a design that works, not more iterations.
Pay for the result only.
Collections
Gold
Platinum
Diamond
When should I use outside CAD design services?
Use outside CAD design services when the design holds up the program, not just the drafting. Watch for five signs. Suppliers answer with questions, not quotes. Parts don't fit at assembly. Legacy drawings block every change. The shop can't make a feature. Or a concept was never engineered. Each sign costs time on every order, not just the first. Loose drawings invite guesses, and guesses become scrap. ASME Y14.5 sets the rules for dimensions and tolerances, so a drawing means one thing to every shop. When drawings skip those rules, each supplier reads them its own way, and parts that should fit don't.
PPS reviews your project scope and requirements in a free assessment and tells you what the design needs. Many programs need both a clean-up and new design for the gaps. Industrial design services, such as form and ergonomics, run with the engineering, not after it. If your team only needs extra hands, we say so. When the part must cost less, our DFMA services work from the same model.
Which CAD software do you use?
Our CAD design services work in the major CAD systems, so you get native files your team can open and edit. We model in SolidWorks, Inventor, Fusion 360, Creo, NX, and CATIA. We also deliver neutral formats, such as STEP, IGES, and Parasolid, for suppliers. Files in the wrong format cost more than they seem to. A supplier who can't open your model redraws it, and errors creep in along the way. A team that gets only a dead STEP file can't make the next change. ASME Y14.41 sets practices for digital product definition data, so the model and the drawing always agree.
We match your system and your suppliers' needs. Drawings follow ASME Y14.5 practice, with exploded views, part lists, and the notes suppliers need to quote. Legacy paper or 2D drawings are rebuilt as 3D models, with a clear revision history. Existing models can be cleaned up and repaired. Every file follows one clear revision scheme. When you need parts early, our prototyping services work from the same files.
What do you need from us to start?
To start CAD design services with PPS, send what you have, in any format you use. That usually means sketches, legacy drawings, or CAD files. Add the requirements for function, loads, and environment, your targets for cost, weight, or volume, and the suppliers you use today. Missing data is the most common reason engineering projects stall. A model built on guessed inputs gives a guessed answer, and the guess shows up later as rework. That is why we don't start the work until every data set is in. For gaps in material data, NIST material measurement data is a good first stop for test values.
Once your data is in, the first step is a free assessment of your project scope and data. We confirm what the work can and can't answer, and tell you what is still missing. Then we send a roadmap proposal with scope, targets, and approval gates. Every project is scoped on its own, so the roadmap sets the schedule, not a stock promise. NDAs are available before you share files.
Who owns the design and the models?
You own the IP from your CAD design services project by default, as set in your contract. That covers the design, the drawings, and the models. Some firms keep the models or license them back to you for a fee, so every later change sends you back to them. That locks your product to one vendor. It also makes design reviews harder, because your team can't open the evidence behind each decision. Export rules add risk. On defense work, the State Department's ITAR rules control who may see technical data, and loose file handling can break them. Your data deserves the same care as your design.
At delivery you receive the native CAD, the drawings, any analysis model files, and the documented results. Your engineers can check the work, make the next change, or hand the package to a supplier. We sign mutual NDAs before any data is shared. Files stay in controlled project folders. If export-control or customer data rules apply, we set up data handling to match. Nothing is held back.
What happens if a prototype fails in test?
If a prototype fails in test, we find out why and fix the design with you. With CAD design services from PPS, you approve the data at each gate. So each test result is checked against predictions you have already seen, not a black box. Hard engineering carries unknowns on any project. Real loads, material lots, and assembly effects never match a model perfectly, however careful the work. A failure in test is data: it shows which assumption was wrong and why. NASA's standard for models and simulations treats verification and validation as part of judging whether a model can be trusted.
When testing is in scope, we plan the test to confirm the fits and margins that matter most. Then we correlate the model to the results. If the miss was ours, because something slipped through our QC review, we fix it. If the test uncovers a condition nobody knew about, we scope the change with you and update the roadmap. Either way, you get a clear path forward.
How are CAD design services priced?
We price CAD design services by the value of the result, not by the hour. Hourly billing rewards extra iterations, and you pay for each one. So the cheapest quote often becomes the most expensive project once tooling, rework, and field failures show up. Federal buyers flag the same risk. FAR 16.601 says a time-and-materials contract gives the contractor no positive profit incentive for cost control or labor efficiency. Our incentive runs the other way: get the design right the first time. We engage by fit, not as a ladder. Gold is never required, and some clients start at Platinum or Diamond.
Gold (from $35K): you have one project and need help with it. Platinum (from $15K/mo): you have recurring work at a steady rhythm. Diamond (from $800K/yr): you have a long development program, often multi-year. These are starting points, not quotes; your roadmap sets the price. We price to the value we deliver, not the hours we log. If the value isn't there for you, we'll say so in the assessment.
Not sure your drawings are ready? Send them. Get a free roadmap.
Send your sketches, models, or drawings. We review your project scope in a free assessment and reply within one business day with next steps.
On-site assessments that require travel are quoted separately.
