One of the main topics when exploring Electrical CAD is whether to use a standalone product or an add-on to an existing CAD system. There are many reasons why I believe a standalone product is the way to go.
First of all, let's look at the history of a CAD software company like AutoCAD. I don't mean to pick on it, but it is the standard for CAD. CAD was originally designed for mechanical and structural diciplines, and they found many new uses for CAD, specifically electrical schematics. Many companies went on to create add-ons to AutoCAD for electrical purposes.
Several of those companies, created parallel standalone products while developing the add-ons. After some time, it was realized that with the add-on product, it became difficult to enhance the software any further. The add-on product was abandoned, and the standalone product remained, to be developed further. If there was ever a reason to believe the capabilities of an add-on product are limited, this is it. How much more sense does it make, to use a product that was created for Electrical CAD at the very beginning?
The second important factor is the commitment to AutoCAD. One must realize that when you purchase your software to go on top of AutoCAD, you are also committing to AutoCAD itself. If you want to go this route, you are likely stuck with an add on that will require updates to both AutoCAD and the add-on. Your yearly budget for total updates and/or service contracts will be higher.
I've seen scores of companies changing over to AutoCAD compatible products, to the various versions of software from the IntelliCAD consortium, including a product I have, called progeCAD. It boasts a selling price of 1/10th the price, with full compatibility.
In future blog posts, I will be getting further into the various companies that offer Electrical CAD, specifically those from different parts of the world.
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