CAD automation delivers faster product changes for a Thomastown site van manufacturer

Reducing design time, improving accuracy, and speeding up customer approvals

In manufacturing, speed and accuracy matter. When product changes take too long, approvals slow down, production is delayed, and teams feel the pressure. This was exactly the challenge faced by a site van manufacturer based in Thomastown, Victoria, until CAD automation changed the way they worked.

Company background

In 2023, Efficentrix partnered with a well-established site van manufacturer to review their design-to-production workflow. The business specialised in custom site vans and had built an extensive library of furniture assemblies over many years.
While the library itself was strong, the process of updating 3D CAD models for each customer request had become a bottleneck. Every variation required manual changes, slowing approvals and tying up valuable design resources.

The challenge

Customisation was not the issue. The design team already had all the required CAD files and furniture assemblies. The problem was the process. For each project:

• Furniture replacements took 30 to 45 minutes per model
• Swapping left-hand and right-hand layouts took up to five hours
• Designers repeated the same steps again and again, increasing fatigue and the risk of errors

Even with the right tools, the manual workflow was holding the business back.

How Efficentrix approached the solution

Efficentrix began by analysing the full furniture replacement and swap process inside the CAD environment. Identifying which steps were common, repetitive, and time-consuming.

The analysis revealed:

• The effort required to locate the correct furniture assemblies within the library while preserving the integrity of the final 3D model.
• The furniture swap process included the entire replacement process
• Replacement involved steps 1 to 17
• A full swap required 197 individual steps

With this insight we designed a structured automation solution that handled both scenarios.

The automation process

Rather than introducing external systems, we developed a custom CAD add-in tailored to the manufacturer’s existing software and workflow.

The solution included:

Decoding customer orders to highlight the most relevant furniture assemblies
A simple user interface allowing designers to select replacement or swap options
Automated execution of steps 1 to 17 for replacements
Automated execution of all 197 steps for full furniture swaps

The result was a streamlined, repeatable process that removed manual handling without changing how designers worked day to day.

The results:

The impact was immediate and measurable:

Furniture replacement time reduced from up to 45 minutes to just 4 minutes
Full furniture swaps reduced from five hours to 19 minutes
Faster customer approvals due to quicker design updates
Reduced designer fatigue and fewer opportunities for human error

Most importantly, the business gained a scalable CAD workflow that supported growth without increasing headcount.

Why this matters for manufacturers?

Australian manufacturers are under increasing pressure to deliver customised products faster while managing labour shortages and rising costs. CAD automation and workflow optimisation provide one of the strongest ROI opportunities available.

By automating repetitive CAD tasks, manufacturers can:

Increase productivity without hiring more staff
Improve consistency and quality
Speed up approvals and production timelines
Free skilled designers to focus on higher-value work

How Efficentrix can help:

Efficentrix specialises in CAD and CAM workflow automation designed for real manufacturing environments. Our solutions are practical, tailored, and focused on measurable results.

If your design team is spending too much time on repetitive CAD tasks, there is a smarter way.

Curious what automation could do for your manufacturing workflow?
Get in touch for a no-pressure consultation and see where time savings are hiding in your process.