A member of staffs scans a young couple to make 3D-printed figurines at a newly-opened 3D printing gallery in Chongqing, Southwest China's municipality, June 3, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's manufacturing sector requires more 3-D computer-aided design, or CAD, software products as it moves up the value chain and competition intensifies, said Zi Yingkun, general manager of the 3-D division of ZWCAD Software Co Ltd, a major domestic CAD software developer.

The Guangzhou-based ZWCAD made its foray into the 3-D market in 2010 after acquiring VX Corp, a US company that focuses on 3-D products.

Special: 3D printing reshapes manufacturing

"The number of our 3-D clients has doubled every year since then," Zi said.

In the domestic market, ZWCAD has more than 500 clients, including those in the workholder, lock and machinery parts industries and mostly in the manufacturing-heavy Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta areas. The number represents 3,000 authorized licenses.

"People are talking about the manufacturing upgrading process in China, to have proprietary products instead of merely processing products. But how can we do that? Design is key and 3-D software will provide strong support to that process," Zi said. "The demand for 3-D software is increasing rapidly and accelerating in the domestic market. We see clients transferring to 3-D from 2-D every day. 3-D represents the future of industrial design."

R & S Machinery Equipment Ltd, a Hong Kong-owned machinery manufacturer in Guangzhou, which sells its products at home and abroad, started to use 3-D CAD software six months ago, said deputy general manager Zhang Weihua.

"An increasing number of our clients, many of which are top international players, want us to provide 3-D designs because their systems are 3-D," Zhang said.

3-D designs make it more convenient for clients to change tooling molds, she said.

3-D software enables R & S to design its products in a more visual way, especially for products with unique design.

It also facilitates the data transfer process, she said.

3-D software allows designers do their work in a more macro way, such as when they design a system with a number of interrelated parts, said Yang Yongqiang, a professor at the School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering of the South China University of Technology.