How to migrate from AutoCAD Electrical to GorkyCAD: a migration plan

Why migrate

AutoCAD Electrical is a powerful but expensive and complex tool. For residential and commercial building electrical design, 80% of its functionality is redundant, and project time is 5-10× longer than in a specialized tool like GorkyCAD.

Migration shouldn't be painful. Here's a proven plan.

Phase 1: Project audit (1-2 days)

List all project types you do in AutoCAD Electrical: apartments/houses, offices, small commercial, industrial (if any). For each: time per project, repetitive operations %, manual work %.

Result: understanding which projects can immediately move to GorkyCAD.

Phase 2: Data export and preparation (2-3 days)

DWG/DXF drawings: GorkyCAD reads them directly. Typical floor plans load as underlay. Import quality: layers, blocks, dimensions preserved.

Block libraries: Map AutoCAD Electrical blocks (outlets, switches, lights) to GorkyCAD intelligent objects via the "Library Import Wizard" — one-time setup.

Panel schematics: Single-line diagrams don't auto-transfer (different logic). But parameters (MCB ratings, cross-sections, lengths) can be exported via Data Extraction to Excel and imported to GorkyCAD.

Phase 3: GorkyCAD template setup (1-2 days)

Create project templates matching your AutoCAD templates: floor plan template, panel configuration template, BOM template, calculation methodology template. One-time investment, pays off on every subsequent project.

Phase 4: Team training (2-3 days)

• Day 1: interface, project creation, plan import, electrical point placement
• Day 2: groups, calculations, panel, BOM, export
• Day 3: real project under mentor guidance

After 3 days, engineers work independently in GorkyCAD.

Phase 5: Pilot project (3-5 days)

Run a typical project (50-70 m² apartment) in GorkyCAD parallel to your normal process. Compare: time (25-35 min vs 3-5 hours), error count, output quality, engineer satisfaction.

Phase 6: Full transition (1-2 weeks)

After successful pilot: move all new residential/commercial projects to GorkyCAD. Keep AutoCAD Electrical for industrial only. Set up BOM export to ERP/CRM integration. Assign template/knowledge base owner.

Economic effect

Typical design bureau (3 engineers):

• Time saved: 15-20 hrs/engineer/month
• License savings: $7,500-15,000/year (3 seats)
• Error/redo reduction: ~40%
• Migration payback: 1-2 months