The Challenge
Designing complex electrical systems often involves organizing dozens of schematic views into formal engineering drawings. The manual process is complex and extremely time consuming to optimize the views spacing. One of our automotive OEM clients faced exactly this challenge. Their internal tool for drawing layout had been built using Visual Basic and was showing its limitations. Engineers had to manually search for module views, select them one by one, and place them on drawing sheets while constantly adjusting layout for space.
Every new drawing batch became a labor-intensive routine. Processing just 51 drawings required over 20 minutes and frequently ended in software crashes, forcing engineers to start over. Because the Visual Basic tool lacked layout logic, electrical views were poorly spaced, leading to the generation of more sheets than necessary. These issues not only wasted time but introduced inconsistencies and delays during engineering reviews and documentation approvals.
It was clear the process needed to be reimagined and rebuilt from the ground up using tools capable of native CATIA integration, intelligent logic, and robust performance.
The Solution: A Native Automation Tool Using CATIA CAA Programming
Goken’s automation team responded by developing a fully integrated drawing optimization application using CATIA CAA programming, Dassault Systèmes’ official C++ development architecture for enterprise-grade CAD automation. CAA (Component Application Architecture) is the same internal framework Dassault uses to build its own CATIA workbenches. Unlike Visual Basic macros or EKL scripts, which operate at the surface level, CAA applications run closer to CATIA’s core, allowing for high-performance, low-latency interaction with the platform’s geometry, drawing, and document engines.
The new solution completely removed the need for manual view selection and placement. Engineers no longer had to search for module views or rearrange them manually. Instead, the CAA-based tool automatically read all relevant drawing modules, pre-processed metadata using a “Get Modules Info” function, and applied advanced width-and-height based sorting algorithms to calculate the most efficient layout across available sheets. The final drawing packages were more compact, cleaner, and required fewer sheets than ever before.
More importantly, the application was built to scale. It could process large drawing batches without crashing or degrading performance, even under high-volume conditions. Because it was written in C++ using CATIA’s CAA toolkit, the solution was both stable and fast and capable of completing complex layout operations in seconds.
Delivering Real Results: Speed, Efficiency, and Accuracy in Electrical Drawing Automation
The impact of this automation tool was immediate and measurable. What previously took engineers over 20 minutes was now completed in less than three minutes. The drawing set of 51 views, once a cumbersome task, was processed in just a few clicks. Electrical views were intelligently placed, minimizing gaps and making full use of the drawing area. As a result, the total number of drawing sheets required was significantly reduced. This not only saved paper and PDF processing time, but also simplified documentation for downstream teams, making the engineering package leaner and easier to review.
Equally important was the elimination of manual intervention. The new tool enabled true CATIA electrical drawing automation, removing human error from the equation and freeing engineers to focus on actual design work. Review cycles were accelerated, quality improved, and confidence in documentation grew across both the electrical and mechanical teams.
