TraceParts Collaboration: Integrating the TE Connectivity catalog into the Electrical Content Portal (ECP)

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What is the Electrical Content Portal?

In today’s fast-moving world of electrical and mechatronic design, data quality and consistency are the foundation of innovation. Electrical engineers rely on accurate, structured, and connected component data to design efficiently, collaborate effectively, and deliver products that are right the first time.

The Electrical Content Portal (ECP) is the dedicated library for SOLIDWORKS Electrical, providing all the essential data engineers need for complete electrical design.
Each component available in the ECP includes:

  • Electrical data and properties for schematic definition,
  • Symbols for line diagrams and detailed electrical schematics,
  • 2D footprints for accurate cabinet and panel layouts, and
  • 3D models that enable seamless integration with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D and CATIA Electrical environments.

By connecting this rich electrical content across both schematic and 3D applications, the ECP ensures design continuity and data synchronization — forming the basis for a true virtual twin of the electrical system. This enables teams to move from schematic design to 3D layout and manufacturing documentation with complete accuracy and confidence.

 

Strength in Partnership: Collaborating with TraceParts

To accelerate the growth and quality of this content ecosystem, we have established a strategic collaboration with TraceParts, a global leader in 3D catalog and data management solutions.

Together, we have defined a robust workflow and data strategy that connects manufacturers directly to the Electrical Content Portal.

This partnership enables us to:

  • Collect and validate electrical component data directly from manufacturers
  • Adapt and enrich this data to match ECP standards
  • Extract and structure all necessary attributes, including electrical properties, symbols, 2D footprints, and 3D models
  • Deliver content in the correct formats supported by SOLIDWORKS Electrical and CATIA Electrical

This collaboration ensures that designers benefit from an ever-growing library of manufacturer-certified components, while manufacturers gain a powerful channel to make their products available within the tools engineers use on a daily basis.

First Milestone: TE Connectivity Joins the ECP

Our first large-scale project within this initiative was successfully delivered in collaboration with TE Connectivity, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of connectivity and sensor solutions.

Through this partnership, we have published tens of thousands of fully detailed electrical components in the Electrical Content Portal, covering a wide range of product classes, including connectors, terminal strips, contactors, and more.

Each TE Connectivity part includes:

  • Complete electrical properties and terminal definitions
  • Line diagram symbols for use in schematic and wiring designs
  • 2D footprints representing all seven faces of the component for accurate cabinet layouts
  • 3D models for seamless use within SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D and CATIA Electrical

This means every TE component is a fully functional virtual twin, combining electrical intelligence with 2D and 3D representations to support design from concept through to manufacturing.

➡️ Availability:
The TE Connectivity catalog will be available in the Electrical Content Portal as of the 2026xSP01 FD01 release in February 2026.

 

Delivering Value to Customers and Manufacturers

The integration of high-quality manufacturer data into the Electrical Content Portal (ECP) delivers tangible value for both designers and manufacturers, bridging the gap between digital design and physical production.

For Customers and Designers

By providing virtual twin data that exactly matches the real-world manufacturer parts used in production, the ECP ensures that what engineers design is what they can actually build.
Each component in the portal contains verified electrical properties, connection definitions, and 3D geometry — eliminating discrepancies between schematic, layout, and real components.

This accuracy translates into:

  • Error reduction: Fewer mismatches between design intent and manufacturing reality.
  • Optimized costs: Engineers save time and reduce rework, while customers purchasing the datasets gain maximum value from pre-validated, manufacturer-certified data.
  • Design confidence: Every symbol, terminal, and 3D model reflects a real product that can be sourced, purchased, and assembled exactly as designed.
  • Faster development: Ready-to-use content allows teams to focus on design innovation rather than manual data creation or verification.

In short, customers benefit from a complete, trustworthy digital representation of real components, ensuring accuracy from concept through to manufacturing.

For Manufacturers

For manufacturers, the ECP offers a powerful marketing and distribution platform inside the tools engineers use every day.
By publishing their components in the Electrical Content Portal, manufacturers can:

  • Promote their products directly within SOLIDWORKS Electrical and CATIA Electrical — where design decisions are made.
  • Ensure correct usage by providing validated, application-ready data that reflects true product specifications.
  • Strengthen customer relationships through trust and transparency, ensuring that engineers work with the right components for the right use cases.
  • Expand visibility to a global community of designers and OEMs actively developing new systems, panels, and machines.

This collaboration transforms manufacturer data into actionable, high-value design assets — turning product catalogs into connected, intelligent content that supports both engineering precision and market reach.

 Looking Ahead

Following this successful first release, we are now working — once again in close collaboration with TraceParts — to integrate additional major manufacturer catalogs into the ECP.

These new catalogs will follow the same high-quality standards established with TE Connectivity, providing complete electrical data, schematic symbols, 2D footprints, and 3D models for use in SOLIDWORKS Electrical and CATIA Electrical. They are planned for integration progressively throughout 2026, expanding the library available to designers worldwide.

An Open Invitation to Parts Manufacturers

As we expand the Electrical Content Portal (ECP), our goal is to create the most trusted source of virtual twin electrical data — built in collaboration with the manufacturers who design the real components engineers use every day.

By joining this initiative with Dassault Systèmes and TraceParts, manufacturers can make their products directly available inside SOLIDWORKS Electrical and CATIA Electrical, reaching engineers at the moment of design.

The benefits are clear:

  • Greater visibility and adoption of products within daily design workflows.
  • Guaranteed data accuracy for the right product and correct usage.
  • A simple, efficient way to promote and deliver digital-ready products to a global community of designers and OEMs.

We welcome all electrical manufacturers to collaborate with us — to connect their real products with their digital twins and help shape the future of smart, connected electrical design.

Get in touch with us here to learn more about how you can be a part of this initiative.

TraceParts: The Premier Content Partner for Dassault Systèmes

A SOLIDWORKS Solution Partner since 1998 and a CATIA Partner since 2001, TraceParts provides unmatched product catalog integration within the Dassault Systèmes ecosystem.

As a pioneer in rich content delivery for Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronic CAD Engineers, TraceParts has been a key 3DContentCentral Content Partner since 2007 and remains the sole content partner for the SOLIDWORKS Electrical portfolio application.

Today, TraceParts stands as the premier product content provider for the 3DEXPERIENCE PartSupply Platform powered by the TraceParts API, providing 24/7 data indexing and CAD instantiation for over 46 million part numbers from over 2,000 product catalogs.

Chloe Fitzgibbons

Chloe Fitzgibbons

Chloe Fitzgibbons is a Brand Offer Marketing Specialist at SOLIDWORKS, focusing on the SOLIDWORKS Electrical portfolio and supporting the brand's overall visual design needs.