CASE STUDY
Global SOLIDWORKS PDM
Replication Deployment
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Preactive IT Eliminates CAD Performance Bottlenecks for WWT’s Global Engineering Teams
For any oil & gas company with distributed SOLIDWORKS teams, the investment is well worth it.”
"Before working with Preactive IT, sharing SOLIDWORKS models across locations was slow, unreliable, and risky. Our VPN frequently dropped and SharePoint missed file references, pushing users to save local copies and creating security and version-control issues.
Preactive IT handled the implementation smoothly, even across foreign IP providers and large time-zone gaps.
Now collaboration is seamless—each site accesses current files locally without connection or revision problems. For any oil & gas company with distributed SOLIDWORKS teams, the investment is well worth it."
Eric O’Neal
VP of Global Operaations
BACKGROUND
Since 1989, WWT International (WWT) has engineered innovative tools that help operators overcome some of the most challenging drilling, completion, and intervention environments worldwide. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, WWT is recognized for industry-leading solutions such as the WWT Non-Rotating Protectors™, WWT Coiled Tubing Tractor™, and the WWT FlexShoe™.
The company specializes in reducing torque and drag, improving drilling performance, and enabling greater depth and efficiency in well operations. WWT’s mission is rooted in strong customer service, deep technical expertise, and designing tools that solve real engineering challenges—from casing wear and stick-slip vibration to extended-reach depth limitations.
With a global footprint and engineering teams spread across multiple continents, WWT depends heavily on fast, secure, and reliable access to accurate SOLIDWORKS engineering data.
CHALLENGE
WWT’s international engineering teams in the UAE, Ireland, and Saudi Arabia (KSA) were accessing CAD documents through a SharePoint-based browser workflow. Due to the size and complexity of SOLIDWORKS files, overseas users experienced:
- Long download times
- Slow file access
- Reduced productivity when working with large assemblies
While WWT already used SOLIDWORKS PDM at its Houston and Anaheim locations, the lack of a globally distributed PDM environment created performance bottlenecks and hindered efficient collaboration across regions.
THE SOLUTION
To unify global engineering operations and eliminate file-access latency, WWT partnered with Preactive IT Solutions to expand its SOLIDWORKS PDM infrastructure worldwide. Preactive IT Solutions designed and executed a multi-phase deployment to extend PDM functionality to all international engineering sites while maintaining security, performance, and data consistency.
Key Features of the Solution:
LOCAL PDM SERVER DEPLOYMENT
Dedicated SOLIDWORKS PDM servers were deployed in:
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- Ireland (IRE)
- Saudi Arabia (KSA)
This enabled engineers in each region to work from a local PDM vault instead of accessing files across continents.
AUTOMATED MULTI-SITE PDM REPLICATION
A fully automated replication framework was implemented across all engineering locations, including:
- Houston
- Anaheim
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- Ireland
- Saudi Arabia (KSA)
This ensured all sites remained synchronized with the latest versions of engineering data at all times.
SECURE CONNECTIVITY ENHANCEMENTS
To support reliable replication and access across regions:
- A site-to-site connection was established between Anaheim and KSA
- A secure VPN connection was deployed for the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
These connections provided optimized, secure data transfer where traditional site-to-site links were not feasible.
CENTRALIZED PDM FUNCTIONALITY
The expanded SOLIDWORKS PDM environment now delivers:
- A centralized, secure engineering vault
- Full version control and revision history
- Automated workflows for approvals and lifecycle management
- Local performance at every site
- Global data consistency through automated replication
THE RESULTS
IMPROVED EFFICIENCY & PERFORMANCE
Before implementation, international teams faced significant delays when loading or downloading large CAD files through SharePoint. With local PDM servers in place:
- Files now open quickly within each region’s local network
- Large assemblies no longer require lengthy downloads
- Engineers can check files in and out without delays
- Replication runs automatically in the background
- All users work from the same up-to-date engineering data
These improvements have significantly reduced downtime and streamlined daily SOLIDWORKS workflows.
ENHANCED COLLABORATION
Engineering teams across the U.S., United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ireland, and KSA now collaborate within a unified PDM environment. Changes propagate automatically across all locations, eliminating version conflicts and ensuring consistency without sacrificing performance.
TIME DETAILS & SAVINGS (ESTIMATION)
Time Details & Savings (Estimation)
- Eliminated long wait times previously required to download large SOLIDWORKS files
- Reduced engineering downtime caused by slow remote file access
- Faster check-in/check-out processes across all regions
- Improved turnaround time for design changes and approvals
Overall, the solution delivered substantial time savings by allowing engineers to focus on design and innovation rather than file management.
Conclusion
By deploying a globally distributed SOLIDWORKS PDM architecture with automated replication, Preactive IT Solutions enabled WWT International to achieve fast, secure, and reliable access to engineering data across all locations.
The solution unified global engineering operations, improved collaboration, reduced latency, and provided a scalable foundation to support WWT’s continued growth and innovation in oilfield technology and engineering.
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CLIENT PROFILE
Founded in 1989 as Western Well Tool, WWT originated with the breakthrough of the first drillstring friction-reducing device. Evolving with the demands of a dynamic industry, the company became WWT International, reflecting its global reach and commitment to innovation. Notable milestones include the development of the first hydraulic Coiled Tubing Tractor in 1998 and the introduction of the WWT FlexShoe™ in 2014, which revolutionized casing running challenges.
Innovative, knowledgeable, and customer-focused employees are what set WWT International apart. WWT has employees from 20 different countries strategically located around the world to quickly respond to customer needs. People drive their success and are the reason so many operators trust WWT to provide technical solutions for the most challenging wells in the world.
WWT focuses on partnering with operators, drilling contractors, and service companies to deliver comprehensive drilling and completion solutions. The company is customer service–oriented and driven by innovation and technology.
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Charles has become a recognized authority in delivering IT support and solutions tailored for small to medium-sized businesses, particularly in the engineering and construction sectors. His vision for Preactive IT Solutions has always been to provide enterprise-level IT services to businesses that typically lack the resources of larger corporations.
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