ShapeSense — Engineering intelligence that endures for Manufacturing

For 30 years, software has managed your product engineering data. Now it's time for software that understands it. ShapeSense turns decades of product engineering data into relationship intelligence — connecting CAD, drawings, specifications, PLM, and ERP into one machine-readable layer that powers reuse, sourcing, standardization, and autonomous decision-making across the enterprise.

The Engineering intelligence that endures Gap

CAD captures geometry. PLM manages lifecycle. ERP tracks cost and materials. But none of them can answer a fundamental question: how does this product relate to everything else across the enterprise? Enterprise systems were designed to manage engineering data — not understand the relationships across it. The result is redundant engineering, hidden duplication, compounding delays, and systemic misinterpretation of engineering intent across teams, suppliers, and systems.

  • Redundant Engineering: Teams repeatedly redesign parts that already exist because no system understands similarity, reuse, or historical engineering context.
  • Hidden Duplication: Duplicate and near-duplicate parts remain invisible across systems — driving fragmented sourcing, inconsistent pricing, and unnecessary complexity.
  • Compounding Delays: Critical decisions slow down when teams cannot understand downstream dependencies, reuse opportunities, or product impact across disconnected systems.
  • Systemic Misinterpretation: Engineering intent is interpreted differently across teams, suppliers, and systems — leading to defects, rework, delays, and operational risk.

This isn't a data gap. It's a relationship intelligence gap.

Capabilities

ShapeSense connects CAD, drawings, specifications, metadata, and legacy engineering records into a unified engineering intelligence layer — creating a connected foundation for reuse, traceability, standardization, and downstream operational analysis.

Engineering Drawing Analysis

Extract structured intelligence — dimensions, tolerances, GD&T callouts, surface finishes, materials, notes, and revision data — from 2D engineering drawings at scale. ShapeSense reads legacy PDFs, scanned blueprints, and modern CAD-derived drawings and converts them into machine-readable records that PLM, ERP, and quality systems can finally act on. Replaces the manual drawing interpretation that bottlenecks sourcing, manufacturing, and quality teams.

CAD Similarity Search

Find geometrically similar parts across CAD libraries using 3D shape understanding — not filenames, part numbers, or metadata. ShapeSense generates a geometric fingerprint (Product DNA) for every component so engineers can search "find parts like this one" and surface reuse candidates buried in decades of CAD history. Cuts redesign time and prevents the creation of yet another near-duplicate part.

Duplicate Part Detection

Surface exact and near-duplicate parts across PLM, ERP, and CAD systems — even when they have different part numbers, descriptions, suppliers, or units. By comparing 3D geometry plus extracted drawing intelligence, ShapeSense exposes the hidden duplication that fragments sourcing, inflates inventory, and drives unnecessary tooling cost.

Part Standardization

Group similar components into product families and consolidate dozens of variants into standardized libraries. ShapeSense clusters geometrically and functionally related parts, recommends preferred standards, and gives engineering, sourcing, and quality a single rationalized catalog to design from — reducing part proliferation and SKU sprawl.

Features

ShapeSense features include: AI-powered extraction of dimensions, tolerances, GD&T, and notes from 2D drawings; 3D geometric similarity search across CAD libraries; duplicate and near-duplicate part detection across PLM and ERP; automated part-family clustering and standardization recommendations; revision-aware change impact analysis; supplier and sourcing intelligence linked to drawing geometry; export connectors for PLM, ERP, and QMS systems.

Research & Insights

Long-form writing on systems thinking, engineering relationship intelligence, and AI in manufacturing. See all articles at Research & Insights.

Who ShapeSense Is For

ShapeSense is built for engineering, sourcing, quality, and manufacturing teams at aerospace, automotive, and industrial manufacturers — organizations with decades of accumulated CAD, drawings, and legacy engineering records that no current system can interpret or relate.

Contact

Email hello@shapesenseai.com or request a demo at shapesense.ai/contact. No commitment, 30 minutes.