INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY

Create breakthrough innovations with Autodesk

Increase development agility, streamline collaboration, and enhance manufacturing flexibility with integrated solutions for industrial equipment manufacturers.

Meeting in design and engineering office to discuss industrial equipment development process
Dataset courtesy of GARANT-Filter.

Unlock agility for machinery business growth

Machine design companies must bring new designs to market in a competitive timescale, against headwinds of disruption in the supply of materials and components and the hiring (and retaining) of skilled labor. Digital transformation offers new opportunities–using connected and collaborative software, companies can increase agility to better respond to the fluctuating market.  

Autodesk empowers industrial equipment manufacturers to create smarter, more reliable machinery with integrated solutions that streamline development processes and cover the entire design, validate, and manufacture lifecycle from concept to customer.

Why industrial machinery manufacturers choose Autodesk

Connect data, disciplines, and processes

Engineers inspecting machine design on shop floor

Get your best ideas to market efficiently

Create innovation capacity by streamlining everyday design and engineering tasks with automation. Integrated tools for machine design help you make well-informed decisions earlier during the design phase to accelerate your ideas and transform insights into smarter products and diversified offerings.

Engineer reviewing bill of materials on computer

Collaborate better with connected data

Seamlessly collaborate with your colleagues, clients, and supply chain using tools that connect your data and processes. Real-time access to reliable data helps reduce project risk and enhance decision making while fast-tracking machine designs from prototype to product.

Manufacturing engineer adjusting details on tablet in front of CNC machine

Improve operational efficiency

Unlock the full potential of your industrial machine designs by implementing innovative solutions that increase manufacturing efficiency and flexibility. By integrating advanced CAM and additive technology, you can focus on better ways to make your products on time and on budget.

Software for industrial machinery manufacturing

Get Inventor + AutoCAD + Autodesk Fusion + more—Professional-grade tools for product development and manufacturing planning.


Professional-grade product design and engineering tools for 3D mechanical design, simulation, visualization, and documentation.


Cloud-based 3D CAD/CAM/CAE software for product design


Product data management software—available as Vault Basic, Vault Professional, Vault Office


Cloud PLM to enhance workflows and improve collaboration across teams, partners, and suppliers.


2D and 3D CAD tools, with enhanced insights, AI-automations, and collaboration features. Subscription includes AutoCAD on desktop, web, mobile, and seven specialized toolsets.


Cover of report produced by HBR, "Leveraging artificial intelligence and automation for return on investment in innovation"

Innovation capabilities are essential in today’s marketplace

Discover how industry leaders drive growth with AI-driven generative design and automation.

Resources for industrial equipment manufacturers

Cover of report, "2024 State of Design & Make"

REPORT

Digitize for resiliency

Design and manufacturing experts are optimistic about the global landscape. In the latest State of Design & Make report, learn where manufacturers are investing to drive growth.

Cover of e-book "The difference between PDM and PLM (and why you need both)"

E-BOOK

Grow PDM value with PLM

Product data management (PDM) keeps teams organized during development, but adding PLM connects data, people, and processes, enhancing collaboration and control.

Industrial equipment being designed in Autodesk Inventor shown on computer monitor

WEBINAR

Accelerate design processes

Discover how automated workflows can streamline your design process and eliminate repetitive tasks that come with modeling standard features or configuring custom products.

Cover of guide book, "The buyer's guide to 3D CAD for machinery and product design"

BUYER'S GUIDE

Choose tools for agility

Creating more innovative products and responding to customer needs quickly is key to accelerating growth. Learn how to select design software that delivers the capabilities you need.

Explore related industrial machinery topics

Design automation and configuration

Automate repetitive tasks. Capture and reuse engineering knowledge with a custom product configurator. Work more efficiently and create time to focus on innovation.

Product data management (PDM)

Secure and control your intellectual property. Collaborate with your internal and external colleagues. Manage and track decision-making to automatically maintain your audit trail.

Product lifecycle managment (PLM)

Manage the many moving parts of your product lifecycle with PLM. Connect people, processes, and data to increase development agility and get to market faster.

Simulation

Improve the performance of your industrial equipment with virtual testing before anything is sent to manufacturing. Predict, validate, and optimize your designs with accurate, trusted analysis.

Tolerance analysis

Save time and money by avoiding high-precision tolerances that add unnecessary costs and effort to your CNC machining strategy. Stay on budget while ensuring the fit and function of your assembly design.

CAD interoperability

Exchange CAD data seamlessly, from virtually any source, while maintaining data integrity. Reduce wasted engineering time spent repairing translation errors and eliminate downstream problems.

CNC machining

Simplify and automate the creation of high-quality machine code while maximizing the use of your CNC machines. Put your design and manufacturing data at the center of everything you do to make more informed decisions. 

Sheet-based fabrication

Transform sheet and plate-based fabrication with automated nesting software. Save time with associative CAD/CAM tools that automate the flow from 3D design to 2D nests and automatically update when your designs change.

Production system & work cell design

Minimize risk and maximize efficiency with specialized tools for production system and work cell design, from point cloud scanning and clash detection to production line simulation and installation sequencing.

Transform your development process with Autodesk

Autodesk design and manufacturing solutions adapt to your needs with a wide range of capabilities that provide cross-discipline, cross-industry, interoperable workflows that support your processes.


Complete the form to talk to Autodesk Sales about solving your most challenging problems.

Image courtesy of Feige FILLING.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about industrial machinery manufacturing

What is industrial machinery and equipment?

Industrial machinery is equipment used for processing, production, and distribution in industries such as energy, liquid & gas processing, mining, construction, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, machine tools, industrial robots, and building services equipment.

What are examples of industrial machinery?

Examples of industrial machinery include:

  • Heavy equipment (e.g. diggers, bulldozers, and tractors)
  • Raw material processing machinery (e.g. furnace, forging, casting extruder)
  • Production line and processing machinery (e.g. injection molds, assembly machines and robots) 
  • Material handling equipment (e.g. hand trucks, forklift trucks, conveyors, AGV's and cranes)
  • Building services equipment (e.g. escalators, elevators, generators, and air conditioning)
  • Machine tools (such as a mill, lathe or sheet metal press)

What are different types of manufacturing equipment?

The different types of manufacturing equipment can be categorized by industry, process, size, or method of operation:

  • By industry: mining, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, process and power, water and waste, food, transport, pharmaceuticals 
  • By process: safety, raw material processing, part and component manufacture, surface finishing, assembly, quality and testing, packaging, logistics and maintenance
  • By size: portable (less than 20kg/45lbs), light duty (less than one tonne), medium duty (1 to ten tonnes) and heavy duty (above ten tonnes) 
  • By method of operation: manual (hand-operated), semi-automated (CNC) and fully automated (production lines and robots)

What kinds of software are required in the manufacturing industry?

Software is used in the manufacturing industry for design, simulation, data management, process management, project management, inventory and supply chain management, quality and safety management, and the control and monitoring of machinery. 

  • CAD (Computer aided design) is used to design industrial machinery and equipment. 
  • Simulation software is used to analyze and optimize products and processes, while reducing the need for physical prototypes and destructive testing. 
  • CAM (Computer aided manufacturing) is used to turn CAD data into CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) data, to drive production equipment. 
  • PDM (Product data management) manages engineering and design data including CAD, simulation and CAM files.
  • PLM (Product lifecycle management) manages the data and processes required to bring the product to production.
  • MES (Manufacturing execution software) is used for production planning, workforce management, and scheduling manufacturing operations. 
  • ERP (Enterprise resource planning) software is used to manage business processes, such as accounting, payroll and procurement. 
See more FAQ