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What you need to know ...

It's NOT about more symbols

Time and time again we encountered Electrical CAD software that claims to have thousands of symbols, and yet in our user studies, we found that generally, a user requires no more than 50. When you have thousands of symbols, you find yourself searching for symbols rather than designing circuits and generating profits.

Many packages also increase symbol count by including symbols with subtle differences, complicating selection and organization. No matter how well they are organized, most of them are not organized your way.

It's about what YOU want

Some users wants the text to be exactly 5 pixels away from the symbol, while others like some space and it's both OK. A package like Electra® encourages and makes it easy for you to set up your symbols YOUR way. Arranging symbols in a stencil is only a matter of drag and drop.

Everybody have their favourite symbols and that's great, make sure your package can import and export them with ease. Electra®, being Visio® based, import and export with no fuss, major formats (.dwg, .dwf) supported.

Eventually, you would have to create some symbols yourself, make sure the package you are purchasing, let you create symbols easily. In Electra®, you draw how the symbol looks like graphically and we takes care of the rest. Create only one symbol and have it usable on both horizontal and vertical drawings with automatic text positioning.

 

It's the cost that counts

There are a number of costs that you must consider when implementing a software solution in your company. The three most important factors are the initial cost of the software, the cost of training, and the cost of support. Visio® offers considerable advantages over traditional technical drawing software in all of these key areas. In contrast to specialized CAD software, Visio® is priced consistently with other mainstream Windows applications. In many cases, Visio® is only one-tenth of the cost of high-end CAD software, together with Electra® it is only one-fifth of comparable solutions. This allows wider deployment and considerable cost savings over other solutions.

One of the most important (and often overlooked) costs is the training required to ensure that personnel in your company can effectively use the technical drawing software you choose to implement. CAD software typically requires specialized training, and can take three to six months to learn. In contrast, most people are effectively using Visio® and Electra® in just a few days due to its unparalleled ease of use. This means one thing - increased productivity. Visio®, which is part of Microsoft® Office® operates just like your standard Office® application - lowering training and support cost, more time for better design.

 

The Platform is everything

For many companies, the cost-effective creation and distribution of technical drawings is a mission-critical component in their plans to become more competitive. The ability to efficiently create and manage technical drawings can have a direct impact on a company’s bottom line. Surprisingly, many companies are still using inefficient and costly methods to create and manage the technical drawings that are a key part of their businesses. While they typically have implemented a new generation of Windows business applications, technical drawing software has often lagged behind. This is resulting in higher support costs, lower productivity, and technical drawing that are only accessible to a few people in your organization. The fact is, technical drawings are an invaluable resource, and they should be accessible to every desktop on your organization.