Which CAD, PDM, PLM, and ERP Systems Does CADTALK Support? A Complete Integration Guide

The short answer: Pretty much all of them. But that's not really what you're asking, is it?

The real question is whether your specific combination has been done before—and how well. Because "we support SolidWorks" means nothing if you're running SolidWorks to NetSuite and the vendor has only ever done SolidWorks to SAP.

So let's get specific. This guide breaks down every integration we offer, organized by system and industry. Whether you're hunting for a SolidWorks to Business Central integration, an Inventor to IFS connector, or a Windchill to NetSuite BOM sync, you'll find the details here.

At a Glance

10+ million BOMs processed annually. We've been doing this since 2006 for manufacturers on six continents. So yeah—we've probably seen your setup before.

The Core Problem We Solve

Here's the thing. Engineering BOMs and manufacturing BOMs are not the same thing. Not even close.

Your CAD system shows every screw, washer, and sub-assembly exactly as designed. But your ERP? It needs kits, phantoms, make-vs-buy flags, and routings organized for production. Manually transforming one into the other wastes engineering time and—let's be honest—introduces errors that shouldn't happen in the first place.

That's where our rules engine comes in. You define the transformation logic once ("if part type equals 'fastener' and quantity exceeds 100, roll it into a hardware kit") and every BOM transfer applies those rules automatically. No more stare-and-compare. No more re-keying data.

The rules engine transforms an engineering BOM (with individual fasteners, sub-assemblies, and documents) into a manufacturing-ready BOM (with hardware kits, routings, work centers, and make/buy designations).

Our Core Specialties

We integrate with a lot of systems. But we've built especially deep expertise on five platforms—these are our highest-volume implementations, most refined workflows, and strongest partnerships.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Business Central is one of the fastest-growing mid-market ERP platforms, and we've built a solid integration supporting both production BOMs and assembly BOMs.

Common CAD pairings with Business Central:

• SolidWorks to Business Central (this is the big one)
• Autodesk Inventor to Business Central
• Autodesk Revit to Business Central (modular construction folks, we see you)
• Creo to Business Central

Who's using it: Packaging manufacturers, pump and fluid systems companies, food processing equipment builders—basically mid-market discrete manufacturers who want their engineers to stop being data entry clerks.

What we support: Items, BOMs (production and assembly), routings, revisions, document attachments, custom property mapping.

Oracle NetSuite

NetSuite is the go-to cloud ERP for high-growth manufacturers, and we provide native BOM integration for companies scaling fast.

Common CAD pairings with NetSuite:

• SolidWorks to NetSuite
• Autodesk Inventor to NetSuite
• Creo to NetSuite
• Arena PLM to NetSuite

What we support: Items, BOMs, assemblies, routings, revisions, custom field mapping. And yes—we handle NetSuite's multi-subsidiary architecture for manufacturers with multiple business units.

IFS Cloud

This is our flagship. With 70+ IFS Cloud customers worldwide, we have more active deployments on IFS than any other ERP platform.

Common CAD pairings with IFS Cloud:

• SolidWorks to IFS Cloud (most popular)
• Creo to IFS Cloud
• Windchill to IFS Cloud
• Siemens Teamcenter to IFS Cloud
• Autodesk Inventor to IFS Cloud

Who's using it: F1 race car manufacturers, billion-dollar defense shipbuilders, blade manufacturers with global operations, industrial machinery companies—you get the idea. If you're running IFS, there's a good chance someone in your industry is already using CADTALK.

What we support: Items, BOMs, routings, revisions, document attachments, engineering change orders. Our integration covers IFS Engineering, IFS Manufacturing, and IFS Project Deliverables modules. Both Apps 10 and IFS Cloud, with full SSO support.

Infor CloudSuite Industrial (CSI)

Infor CSI (you might remember it as Syteline) serves manufacturers in automotive, aerospace, industrial equipment, and high-tech. We support both cloud and on-premise deployments.

Common CAD pairings with Infor:

• SolidWorks to Infor CSI
• Autodesk Inventor to Infor CSI
• Creo to Infor CSI

What we support: Items, BOMs, routings, revisions, document attachments, engineering change orders.

Arena PLM

Arena gets a special mention because it's a PLM, not an ERP—but it's become the system of record for a lot of manufacturers, especially in electronics, medical devices, and consumer products.

We're Arena's go-to CAD-to-PLM integration solution.

Common CAD pairings with Arena PLM:

• SolidWorks PDM to Arena PLM
• EPLAN to Arena PLM (electrical)
• Autodesk Inventor to Arena PLM

What we support: Items, BOMs, revisions, change orders, document attachments. For companies using Arena as their source of truth, we make sure engineering data flows seamlessly from CAD through PLM and into whatever ERP lives downstream.

Complete ERP Integration List

Beyond our core five, we integrate with a whole lot more.

Enterprise ERP Systems

Mid-Market ERP Systems

Regional and Specialized ERP Systems

CAD Systems: Full Integration Catalog

We connect with all the major CAD platforms, each with its own integration approach tailored to how engineers actually work.

SolidWorks Ecosystem

SolidWorks is our highest-volume CAD integration. The CADTALK add-in embeds directly in the SolidWorks ribbon, so engineers can push BOMs to ERP without leaving their design environment.

• SolidWorks (3D mechanical): Industrial equipment, consumer products, machinery
• SolidWorks Electrical: Control panels, wiring systems, electrical enclosures
• SolidWorks PDM: Integrated vault-to-ERP workflows with revision control

Typical manufacturers: General industrial equipment, custom machinery, consumer products, automotive components, medical devices.

Autodesk Portfolio

Autodesk Inventor is popular among machinery and industrial equipment manufacturers. We integrate as an add-in within Inventor.

• Autodesk Inventor: Machinery, industrial equipment, tooling
• Autodesk Fusion 360: Startups, product development, rapid prototyping
• Autodesk Revit: Modular construction, prefabricated buildings, MEP systems
• AutoCAD: 2D drawings and legacy systems
• AutoCAD Mechanical: Mechanical systems with 2D documentation
• AutoCAD Electrical: Electrical schematics and panel layouts
• AutoCAD Architecture: Prefabricated construction components
• Autodesk Vault: Data management with full revision tracking

Typical manufacturers: Industrial automation, modular home builders, commercial construction, machinery OEMs.

PTC Portfolio

Creo (formerly Pro/ENGINEER) serves aerospace, defense, automotive, and other industries with complex parametric modeling needs.

• Creo: CAD for complex assemblies, advanced surfacing, aerospace structures
• Windchill: Enterprise PLM with full BOM synchronization

Typical manufacturers: Aerospace and defense contractors, automotive OEMs, complex machinery manufacturers running engineered-to-order and configured-to-order operations.

We connect to Windchill via a standalone application that pulls data directly from the Windchill server—no CAD client required for BOM transfers.

Siemens Portfolio

• Siemens Solid Edge: Mainstream 3D design with strong sheet metal capabilities
• Siemens Teamcenter: Enterprise PLM for large-scale manufacturing

Typical manufacturers: Large enterprises with 100+ engineers, automotive suppliers, aerospace tier suppliers. At that scale, automating BOM transfer saves hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in engineering time.

Specialty CAD Systems

Running multiple CAD systems? Happens more than you'd think. A road construction company using Tekla for structural design and Inventor for mechanical components can push BOMs from both systems through CADTALK—each with its own transformation rules, but unified in the rules engine.

PDM and PLM Systems

PDM and PLM systems often serve as the "source of truth" for engineering data. We integrate with them in two ways:

1. Direct CAD-to-ERP (bypassing PDM for BOM transfer)
2. PLM-as-Master (PLM is the source, we sync to ERP)

Supported PDM/PLM Systems

• SolidWorks PDM
• Autodesk Vault
• PTC Windchill
• Siemens Teamcenter
• Arena PLM
• Aras Innovator
• Oracle Agile
• Selerant

PLM-as-Master Workflows

Here's a common scenario: you maintain engineering BOMs in your PLM and want manufacturing BOMs in your ERP. But the two structures are completely different. Engineering shows every screw and washer; manufacturing needs kits, phantoms, and routings.

This EBOM-to-MBOM transformation is exactly what our rules engine handles. Define the logic once, and every BOM transfer applies it automatically—converting the engineering BOM into a manufacturing-ready structure while maintaining full revision traceability between systems.

Example: An agricultural equipment manufacturer uses Windchill as their engineering master and IFS as their manufacturing system. We transform their engineering BOMs into production-ready structures automatically.

Integration Combinations by Industry

Different industries tend toward specific CAD-ERP combinations. Here's what we see most often.

Industrial Machinery & Equipment

Common Stack: SolidWorks → CADTALK → IFS Cloud or Business Central

Custom machinery, often engineered-to-order. These manufacturers need robust revision control and the ability to handle both standard products and one-off configurations.

Aerospace & Defense

Common Stack: Creo + Windchill → CADTALK → IFS or SAP

Full PLM governance with strict revision control, document attachments, and change management workflows. No shortcuts here.

Automotive & Motorsports

Common Stack: Multiple CAD systems → CADTALK → IFS Cloud

Automotive manufacturers often have multiple CAD platforms across different engineering groups and need a unified path to ERP.

Electronics & High-Tech

Common Stack: Altium + Arena PLM → CADTALK → NetSuite or SAP

Specialized PCB design tools with tight PLM integration for revision control and compliance documentation.

Food Processing Equipment

Common Stack: SolidWorks → CADTALK → Business Central or Infor

Sanitary design requirements and FDA regulations make BOMs particularly detailed. We handle material specifications and finish requirements as custom properties.

Modular Construction & Prefab

Common Stack: Autodesk Revit → CADTALK → Business Central

Modular construction brings manufacturing practices to building. Design in Revit, get production BOMs in ERP.

Packaging

Common Stack: SolidWorks → CADTALK → Business Central

High part counts and frequent design revisions. Automation eliminates the bottleneck between design release and production scheduling.

Pumps & Fluid Systems

Common Stack: SolidWorks or Inventor → CADTALK → Business Central or IFS

Configured products with multiple options require rules-based BOM transformation.

Questions to Ask Your Vendor

Look, we can tell you we support your systems. But here's how to actually verify it.

1. How many active customers use this exact CAD-ERP combination?

Experience matters. A vendor with 70+ customers on a specific ERP has seen edge cases you haven't imagined yet.

2. Can you demo with our specific systems?

Generic demos are easy. Demonstrations using your CAD system, your ERP environment, and your sample data? That reveals real capability.

3. How do you handle version upgrades?

Your CAD and ERP vendors release updates. Will the integration break? We keep compatibility tight—usually within 1-2 months of major releases. This comes up constantly as a deciding factor when customers evaluate integration solutions.

4. What's unique about this combination?

Every ERP handles revisions differently. Business Central's API differs from IFS Cloud's. SolidWorks configurations require different logic than Inventor iProperties. Vendors with deep experience know these nuances.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can CADTALK handle multiple CAD systems in one environment?

Yes. Plenty of manufacturers run SolidWorks, Inventor, and Creo simultaneously across different engineering groups. We provide separate connectors for each CAD system, but they all feed into the same rules engine and ERP connector. One set of transformation rules, not three.

What about CAD systems not on your list?

If it can export to a standard format (CSV, XML, or SQL), we can typically work with it. We've integrated specialty systems like Ship Constructor (for shipbuilding) by partnering with the CAD vendor to establish a data pathway.

Do you integrate with cloud-hosted ERP systems?

Yep. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, IFS Cloud, Oracle NetSuite, and Acumatica are all cloud-native systems we integrate with via secure API connections.

How do I know if my PDM should be involved in the integration?

If your PDM/PLM is your "single source of truth" for engineering data—meaning released revisions live there—then yes, we should pull from PDM/PLM. If engineers release directly from CAD and your PDM is primarily file storage, direct CAD-to-ERP integration may be simpler.

What if we're migrating ERP systems?

Good news: our rules engine is ERP-agnostic on the transformation side. If you're moving from QAD to Business Central, your CAD workflow and most transformation rules stay the same—only the ERP connector changes.

How secure are these integrations?

All integrations use secure API connections to your CAD, PDM/PLM, and ERP systems. We support role-based access control, single sign-on (SSO), and provide full audit trails for compliance requirements. No data is stored in transit—we transform and pass data directly between your systems.

Next Steps

The fastest way to validate your specific combination? See it live with your actual systems and sample data.

→ Request a Demo — See CADTALK with your CAD-ERP combination

→ Calculate Your ROI — Quantify time savings for your engineering team

→ Explore Partnership — For ERP resellers and systems integrators

We've been automating CAD-to-ERP integration since 2006. Our configurable rules engine transforms engineering data into manufacturing-ready formats—without custom development, without vendor lock-in, and without breaking when your systems update.

Most modern integrations connect via APIs that already exist in your CAD and ERP systems. No custom coding into your source systems. No data stored in between. Just intelligent transformation from point A to point B.