How Does SWOOD Design Improve the SOLIDWORKS Workflow?
Written by: Adam Humphries
Published: Nov 14, 2025
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Designers and woodworkers can improve SOLIDWORKS modelling workflows with SWOOD Design.
SWOOD Design builds on the 3D CAD capabilities of SOLIDWORKS Design to streamline woodworking modelling techniques using additional, dedicated tools and simple drag-and-drop interaction. Read on to explore the core offerings of the design module of this powerful woodworking software solution.
This manufacturing software solution is fully-integrated within SOLIDWORKS so you can design wood products quickly and easily.
What is SWOOD?
SWOOD is a modular software solution tailor-made for woodworking professionals. It complements your skills, speeds up production, and gives you the tools to compete in a fast-paced, quality-driven market.
Simplifying Panel Design with SWOOD
SWOOD Design projects utilise ‘panels’ – these are SOLIDWORKS components with unique custom properties associated, allowing the software to easily read information such as length width and thickness automatically.
While SOLIDWORKS provides the operating power, SWOOD Design brings a new toolset and workflow along with a customisable material and laminate database that accurately reflects real-world boards.
As projects grow, and teams generate new panels, carcasses, and connectors, these libraries can expand to minimise rework and enhance productivity through re-use.
Alongside material application, SWOOD Design also provides the user with the added benefits of being able to specify stock extensions, specify grain direction, and apply further processes such as edge banding, without leaving the familiar SOLIDWORKS interface.
Why not try SWOOD for free and see how it can transform the way you approach design? Get a Trial
Assemble Efficiently with the Connector Library and SWOOD Boxes
SWOOD Design offers libraries of pre-built features and models that help streamline your workflow by minimizing the need for repetitive modelling in each project.
Standard & Customisable Connectors
The pre-configured connectors library utilises quick drag-and-drop application to speed up fixture designs.
A library of standard connectors comes with SWOOD Design that new, customised connectors can be added to. The connectors library accounts for standard connectors such as cams and dowels whilst offering the flexibility of modifying and creating custom connectors entirely from scratch, using any CAD model.
Encourage Design Re-Use with SWOOD Boxes
SWOOD Boxes are ideal for frequently used complex geometries.
These versatile subassemblies are easily inserted into models and are often used to represent assemblies of shelving, drawers, and hardware, encouraging re-use.
Rapid Room Fitting with SWOOD Layouts
Layouts for entire rooms can be quickly developed with SWOOD Design.
By harnessing the power of SOLIDWORKS assemblies and simple sketches, SWOOD enables complete rooms to be fitted easily for rapid visualisation and review.
Add and modify units easily through a simplified interface, and any changes made in the top level automatically populate throughout the entire model – so modifications only need to be actioned once.
Maximise Reporting Efficiency with SWOOD Reports
Getting the correct data to the shop floor doesn’t have to be difficult. SWOOD Design can generate panel and stock lists rapidly for automatic export of data to common report formats.
The report interface can be made fully customisable allowing cut lists and labels tailored to suit your workflow.
With SWOOD Design, the accurate documentation, reporting, and labelling of manufactured parts is made simple and efficient, so designers can focus on designing, instead of chasing down spreadsheets and missing PDFs…
Summary
SWOOD Design is a powerful tool for teams designing furniture and frame-based products, aiding the creation of fully-configurable file sets and layouts quickly and efficiently.
Want to learn more about SWOOD and how it can benefit your business?
Book a demonstration and we can help you to discover how to streamline your design process by expanding the functionality of SOLIDWORKS.
Start Designing with SWOOD
Through our in-depth training courses you will quickly be able to adopt the most efficient workflows and best practises to ensure you maximise the benefits SWOOD can bring to your Business and your Design and Manufacturing processes.
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