How the Onshape-Arena Connection Accelerates Future-Ready Product Development for Three Growing Companies

Product teams are overwhelmed with disconnected information, outdated processes, and legacy technology. Not only is it all costing them time and money, it’s also inhibiting them from gaining a competitive edge.

Integrating cloud-native computer-aided design (CAD) and product lifecycle management (PLM) platforms is becoming the foundation for growth-minded companies who need to control complexity, accelerate product launches, and drive collaboration across every phase of the product development lifecycle.

Here are three innovative companies who’ve found success and solutions in identifying process gaps and optimizing design and development workflows to unlock measurable business results.

Onshape-Arena Connection Provides Efficient Business Enablement

Bioprocess Development Without the Bottlenecks

Culture Biosciences revolutionizes life science R&D with cloud-connected bioreactors that automate and scale bioprocess development. The company provides end-to-end upstream support, integrating process analytics, cloud-native hardware, and information-driven solutions for biopharma and synthetic biology innovation.

Business Challenges

As the company scaled and shifted from offering bioprocessing as a service to developing and selling hardware and software products, operational complexity grew significantly. Managing hardware development, quality assurance, compliance, and manufacturing required more structured processes. The transition also introduced challenges in handling detailed product information such as bills of materials (BOMs), sourcing, and engineering change orders (ECOs) while reliance on manual processes and disconnected systems made it difficult to maintain efficiency, accuracy, and coordination across teams.

Onshape-Arena Connection

Transforming services into products requires more than vision; it demands the infrastructure to bring that vision to life. Trying to make do with manual processes, disconnected systems, and siloed information using sunset technology typically leads to missed deadlines, errors, rework, and additional costs. The engineering and operations teams at Culture Biosciences knew they needed to address these demands, especially as this service-to-product transition brought new challenges.

Culture Biosciences turned to the Onshape CAD and Arena PLM Connection. This was a real game changer. The Connection offered seamless synchronization between engineering and operations and the ability to manage compliance while providing a foundation for a scalable future.

Benefits of the Connection

With the Onshape-Arena Connection, the company keeps all hardware product information, change orders, BOMs, and sourcing details organized in Arena, automatically updated from Onshape models. Since connecting Onshape and Arena PLM, Culture Biosciences is not only delivering measurable outcomes but achieving efficiencies that include:

• Synchronization and accuracy
• Improved change management
• Streamlined training and documentation

Closing Operational Gaps With Modern Product Development

4AG Robotics develops advanced robots that automate mushroom harvesting, reducing the labor demands of farming. After refocusing on mushroom-picking robots in 2020, the company has grown globally, supplying leading farms in Ireland, the Netherlands, the U.S., Australia, and Canada while driving efficiency and sustainability in agriculture.

Business Challenges

The company struggled to scale complex hardware in a regulated, global industry without a unified development system. After pivoting to mushroom-farming automation in 2020, teams used disconnected tools and scattered documents, lacking centralized control. Rapid product changes and a global supply chain caused bottlenecks in version control, change tracking, and communication. Without structured PLM and QMS systems, these gaps created major operational risks.

Onshape-Arena Connection

4AG Robotics adopted Arena PLM to structure product development without slowing progress. Integrated with Onshape, its cloud-native CAD tool helped design data flow seamlessly into the PLM system, easing adoption and reducing friction. Arena became the central hub for product information across engineering, supply chain, and field services.

Benefits of the Connection

4AG Robotics achieved immediate ROI with the Onshape-Arena Connection by automating manual tasks, streamlining data synchronization, and accelerating change management across workflows. The integrated platform reduced errors, simplified engineering workflows, and centralized product data, essential for supporting global, 24/7 operations. With the adoption of CAD-PLM, 4AG delivers measurable outcomes along with benefits that include:

• Increased bottom-line and time savings
• Enhanced change management and fewer errors
• Smoother workflows
• Established the groundwork for regulatory compliance
• Aligned strategy for the future

Setting New Standards for Scalable Manufacturing

Atomic Machines is redefining fabrication with a groundbreaking approach to manufacturing. Operating in stealth mode, the company is developing advanced machines focused initially on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), addressing the constraints of traditional silicon-based fabrication. Their work is paving the way for a fundamental shift in how complex microscale systems are built.

Business Challenges

Despite deep expertise in aerospace and defense, medical, and energy industries, Atomic Machines struggled to scale advanced design tools without proper structure. CAD and PLM duties were split between engineers and buyers, limiting integration and optimization. Lacking dedicated process management, version control issues, manual ECOs, and inconsistent documentation slowed progress. Engineers relied on workarounds for missing documentation, leaving key processes inefficient and digital tools underutilized.

Onshape-Arena Connection

When a new CAD and PLM specialist joined the company, they transformed product development by unifying Onshape and Arena into a streamlined, cloud-native workflow. The integration enabled collaboration, shared visibility, and efficient data management while a new engineering change request (ECR) framework added structured, scalable change reviews and approvals.

Benefits of the Connection

In six months, Atomic Machines transformed collaboration across engineering and operations. Documentation now lives in Arena, linked to parts, assemblies, and changes, replacing tribal knowledge and Slack messages with transparent, repeatable processes everyone can follow. With the Onshape-Arena Connection, the company has been able to:

• Reduce manual rework and miscommunication
• Streamline collaboration with automatic design versioning
• Resolve potential problems before they reach manufacturing

The Future of Integrated Product Development

The success of Culture Biosciences, 4AG Robotics, and Atomic Machines demonstrates how cloud-native CAD-PLM integration is transforming the way modern companies innovate, collaborate, and scale. By uniting design and development in the Cloud these companies have replaced manual processes with connected systems that improve accuracy, accelerate change management, and strengthen cross-functional alignment. CAD-PLM integration is no longer just a competitive advantage; it’s the new standard for building smarter, scalable, and future-ready manufacturing operations.

Ready to innovate faster? Discover how you can get started with the Onshape-Arena Connection.