Design Automation for Manufacturers

Faster quotes.
Fewer errors.
Software built
for your products.

Faster quotes.
Fewer errors.
Software built
for your products.

LightningCAD puts your design rules, product constraints, and pricing logic into a browser-based tool your whole team can use. No CAD training. No bottleneck.

Let's Talk

No pitch before we understand your business.

Does This Sound Familiar?

Your process works. It just doesn't scale.

1

Every quote waits on an engineer

Your sales team identifies a design. A customer wants a number. Before anything moves, it routes to the engineer or draftsperson who's already behind on other work. The expertise is there. The throughput isn't.

2

Your estimates live in a spreadsheet

Spreadsheets hold a lot of knowledge. They also break, get out of sync, live on one person's desktop, and produce different answers depending on who runs them. Every revision starts a new version. Every new version creates risk.

3

Your design rules live in one person's head

There's someone on your team who knows every product combination, every constraint, every exception. When they're available, work flows. When they're not, it stalls. That knowledge is an asset. It's also a fragile one.

4

Your design process sets the ceiling on your growth

You can add salespeople. You can add territory. But if every deal runs through the same design bottleneck, growth compounds the problem. The constraint doesn't go away. It gets more expensive.

What LightningCAD Does

Not a CAD tool. Not a CPQ system.
A design automation framework.

Built around your products and rules, delivered in a browser your whole team can run.

Intelligent output as you design

Accurate estimates, parts lists, and 2D and 3D visuals generated in real time. Not after the design is done. As it happens. The information your sales team and shop floor need, produced in the same step.

Delivered in a browser, no CAD required

Your sales team, your dealers, your distributors. Anyone can run a design without CAD training or dedicated software. Accessible tools are the ones that actually get used.

Built to your business, not a template

Your products, your engineering constraints, your pricing logic, your workflow. The system knows your business because we built it to. Not a platform with preset configurations.

0+ years

Since 2015, RoleModel has invested over $2 million building the LightningCAD framework. A foundation that compresses development timelines, reduces investment risk, and gets your team working in custom software faster than building from scratch. You are not betting on unproven technology.

Let's Talk
"Quoting times have been drastically reduced from about 4 hours to 30 minutes. Our quoting consistency has vastly improved and the guys are absolutely over the moon about it. Using the configurator to 'bypass' the drafting team and go directly to manufacturing has reduced production lead times by 3-4 days. The ROI on our current use of the software internally is massive—at least 80%."
Rodney Pudney, Design Engineer — Kattsafe
"We've seen a significant improvement in efficiency and productivity. There has been an approximately 50-75% improvement in the labor productivity for the designing of the various guides and appliances, therefore significantly lowering our cost while greatly improving our overall capacity limit."
John Ballard, COO — Absolute Dental
0:00 / 0:00

Is LightningCAD a Fit?

Right for some manufacturers. Not for others.

Not a good fit when:

Every job is fully one-of-a-kind with no repeatable rules or constraints

Every job is fully one-of-a-kind with no repeatable rules or constraints

Every job is fully one-of-a-kind with no repeatable rules or constraints

Your work requires full engineering-grade CAD for complex structural analysis

Your work requires full engineering-grade CAD for complex structural analysis

Your work requires full engineering-grade CAD for complex structural analysis

You are looking for a pre-built, off-the-shelf product. LightningCAD is built to your business.

You are looking for a pre-built, off-the-shelf product. LightningCAD is built to your business.

You are looking for a pre-built, off-the-shelf product. LightningCAD is built to your business.

Good Fit When

Your designs follow patterns: constraints that always apply, combinations that work, configurations that don't. If your engineering team can describe the rules, LightningCAD can encode them.

Your designs follow patterns: constraints that always apply, combinations that work, configurations that don't. If your engineering team can describe the rules, LightningCAD can encode them.

Quoting takes too long, depends on too few people, or produces inconsistent results. The cost shows up in longer sales cycles, missed deals, or shop floor errors.

Quoting takes too long, depends on too few people, or produces inconsistent results. The cost shows up in longer sales cycles, missed deals, or shop floor errors.

Most partners start by solving the internal quoting bottleneck. The same system extends to dealer networks and, for some, to a self-service platform. The foundation matters.

Most partners start by solving the internal quoting bottleneck. The same system extends to dealer networks and, for some, to a self-service platform. The foundation matters.

The Framework at Work

Different products. Different rules.
Same framework.

From fall protection to dental surgery. The rules are different. The result is the same.

Manufacturing

2D/3D configuration tool to accurately design fall protection systems without a draftsperson

Manufacturing

2D/3D configuration tool to accurately design fall protection systems without a draftsperson

Landscape Services

Estimating/takeoff for landscaping industry. Mobile/tablet 2D file markups with Javascript

Landscape Services

Estimating/takeoff for landscaping industry. Mobile/tablet 2D file markups with Javascript

Dental and Orthodontics

3D design tool to create custom surgical guides for complex dental surgery in less time

Dental and Orthodontics

3D design tool to create custom surgical guides for complex dental surgery in less time

See All Case Studies

How It Works

Every solution starts the same way.

We learn your business before we write a line of code.

1

Strategize together

Before any code is written, we deeply learn your business: your products, your design process, and where the bottleneck costs you most. Process first, software second.

1

Strategize together

Before any code is written, we deeply learn your business: your products, your design process, and where the bottleneck costs you most. Process first, software second.

1

Strategize together

Before any code is written, we deeply learn your business: your products, your design process, and where the bottleneck costs you most. Process first, software second.

2

Customize your solution

We build your LightningCAD solution on the framework, around your products and rules. Not a configuration of someone else's platform. Not a template with your logo on it.

2

Customize your solution

We build your LightningCAD solution on the framework, around your products and rules. Not a configuration of someone else's platform. Not a template with your logo on it.

2

Customize your solution

We build your LightningCAD solution on the framework, around your products and rules. Not a configuration of someone else's platform. Not a template with your logo on it.

3

Customize your solution

What starts as an internal quoting tool can grow into a dealer network tool, a partner- facing platform, or an integrated part of your ERP and CRM. The foundation is built to last.

3

Customize your solution

What starts as an internal quoting tool can grow into a dealer network tool, a partner- facing platform, or an integrated part of your ERP and CRM. The foundation is built to last.

3

Customize your solution

What starts as an internal quoting tool can grow into a dealer network tool, a partner- facing platform, or an integrated part of your ERP and CRM. The foundation is built to last.

Start with a conversation.
We will ask about your products, your current process, and where design is slowing you down. Then we will tell you honestly whether LightningCAD is the right fit. No pitch before we understand your business.
Start with a conversation.
We will ask about your products, your current process, and where design is slowing you down. Then we will tell you honestly whether LightningCAD is the right fit. No pitch before we understand your business.
Start with a conversation.
We will ask about your products, your current process, and where design is slowing you down. Then we will tell you honestly whether LightningCAD is the right fit. No pitch before we understand your business.
Start with a conversation.
We will ask about your products, your current process, and where design is slowing you down. Then we will tell you honestly whether LightningCAD is the right fit. No pitch before we understand your business.

Purpose-Built for Your Industry

Proven solutions for three industries.

If yours is one of them, you are already closer to a solution than you think.

Purpose-built for railing manufacturers. Configure posts, panels, and hardware to spec, generate accurate material takeoffs, and produce customer- ready drawings without CAD.

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Purpose-built for railing manufacturers. Configure posts, panels, and hardware to spec, generate accurate material takeoffs, and produce customer- ready drawings without CAD.

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Design and quote complete dock systems in minutes. Encode your product configurations, access restrictions, and pricing into a tool any salesperson can run from a browser.

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Design and quote complete dock systems in minutes. Encode your product configurations, access restrictions, and pricing into a tool any salesperson can run from a browser.

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Turn deck specifications into accurate material lists and design documents automatically. Built for deck manufacturers who need to close deals faster without adding engineering headcount.

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