What’s New in SWOOD 2026

Focus on workflow automations

Every year at EFICAD, we collaborate closely with woodworking professionals to refine and expand SWOOD according to the real-world needs and challenges users encounter daily.

SWOOD 2026, now available, is a result of this ongoing innovation and engagement. The new version helps users design, manufacture, and automate their woodworking projects with greater fluidity, control, and precision, building on the strengths of previous releases while introducing meaningful improvements.

Here’s a comprehensive overview of what’s new in SWOOD 2026.

SWOOD Design improvements

1.1- SWOODBox manages non-cubic natively

SWOODBox “out of the box”

The SWOOD Box is a key element of parametric design, enabling quick integration of hardware and intelligent components directly into your projects.

With SWOOD 2026, the SWOOD Box evolves to support even more creative and complex designs.

You can now work seamlessly on non-cubic projects.

Thanks to the introduction of Points as a new parameter type, the SWOOD Box can be positioned and aligned with precision across any angle in your project. Simply drag and drop your component and connect its reference points to the desired angles.

Typical use cases:

• Under-stairs storage
• Van’s interior
• Custom furniture for sloped ceilings

Introducing points in the SWOOD Box opens up possibilities, such as fast and easy alignments in your layout projects.

For example, this project shows an under-sloped cabinet, created frame by frame. The SWOOD Box 2026 easily aligns the handles with one click.

All components remain fully parametric, ensuring that any modification automatically propagates throughout your project, maintaining consistency and saving valuable time.

What this brings to your workflow:

• Greater design flexibility
• Faster integration of components
• Consistent parametric behavior across all projects

SWOODBox Free Machining

SWOOD Design 2026 introduces Free Machining, a powerful new feature that allows machining operations to be defined by their sketch plane orientation rather than being projected onto the standard faces of the SWOODBox. This approach allows machining to be applied to any orientation and naturally follows your design intent.

Key advantages:

• Perfect adaptation to angled and complex geometries
• Precise control over machining directions
• Seamless integration with advanced design shapes

Mixing these two features offers you endless design capabilities.

1.2- SWOODBox Collaboration

SWOOD 2026 enhances teamwork across international environments with SWOODBox Translation.

This feature allows you to customize the language of your SWOOD Box parameters. Display any language in the SWOODBox and enable easy collaboration for all users or subcontractors worldwide.

Your libraries automatically adapt to the user’s language.

Benefits for your organization:

• Smooth collaboration across teams
• Harmonized libraries
• Faster adoption for new users

Of course, we haven’t missed the Library Installer, which will come with translated SWOOD Boxes as well! 

SWOOD CAM improvements

2.1 – Advanced machining automation

SWOOD CAM continues to build on its intelligent shape recognition system, now enhanced with even more control and flexibility.

CAM Filters: intelligent and flexible machining strategies

With the introduction of CAM Filters, users can define machining rules directly within the operation interface.

This enables highly adaptable and precise machining strategies.

This feature, designed for shop-floor processes, lets you tweak your machining strategies by customizing automatic shape recognition.

You can:

• Identify geometries based on multiple criteria such as: Geometries, Context, Machines (Post Processors), SOLIDWORKS Custom properties, Machining attribute, Material
• Split the automatic shape recognition result into logical subgroups
• Assign dedicated machining operations automatically to subgroups

What you gain:

• Streamlined programming
• Increased consistency
• Greater adaptability to project variations
• Greater control over advanced production automation
• Customize machining automation based on your shopfloor machine composition

Relations: structured and intuitive workflows

SWOOD CAM 2026 also introduces a powerful concept of relationships between operations, extending the full potential of the filtering system. Once geometries have been filtered, users can define how subsequent operations interact with the results of previous operations, creating a logical, structured machining workflow.

Instead of redefining additional filters for each operation, it becomes possible to directly reference the geometries that were either processed or excluded by a prior operation. This approach not only simplifies rule creation but also significantly reduces setup time and error risk. By linking operations in this way, users can build complete, reliable machining sequences with greater consistency, while maintaining full control over each step.

This feature enables more advanced, adaptable machining strategies, pushing beyond the traditional geometry recognition and making automation both more intuitive and more powerful for everyday use.

Example:
Clamex connectors can be automatically split across different machining strategies based on their positions, ensuring an optimized, organized machining process.

What is available in SWOOD 2026:

• Drilling
• Grooves
• Clamex connectors

Additional machining entities will be integrated in the next major version, SWOOD 2027.

2.2- Integrating machining-specific options

Machine contour: flexible toolpath generation

In SWOOD 2026, we are introducing a new Machine Contour operation. The objective of this operation is slightly different. Instead of exporting a complete toolpath, it exports machining data that can be interpreted directly by the machine.

For example, it can export:

• approach data
• machining profiles
• additional parameters required by the machine

This allows the machine itself to optimize the toolpath.

Both approaches — traditional toolpath generation and machine-driven toolpaths — have their advantages.

The goal of this new feature is to give machine operators greater flexibility.

They can adjust parameters directly on the machine before launching production, for example:

• changing tools
• adjusting machining parameters
• modifying the machining sequence.

Since this is a completely new operation, it will require a post-processor update for any current SWOOD user.

Lamello Clamex P16 integration

The new machining operation, Lamello Clamex P16, is now available in SWOOD 2026. Benefit from the latest Lamello connector innovation by using the component in your design right from the SWOOD libraries.

SWOOD CAM will automatically recognize the machining shape and adapt its toolpath to the Lamello-referenced shape, including the latest available reference (Clamex P16) operation and tool.

All you need to know about Lamello’s connector in SWOOD

• Available in design libraries
• Automatically recognized in CAM
• Associated machining operations are applied instantly

A fully integrated workflow from design to production.

2.3- Toolpath performance enhancements

3DFinishing: efficiency and precision combined

From the last version of SWOOD, we introduced the 3D Finishing that we have today. This year, we have continued working on this topic and completed the types of trajectories available in the feature using the projected patterns toolpath.
All these new toolpaths aim to give greater control over the 3D machining configuration and enable precise, accurate machining even on complex parts.

3D Finishing in short:

• Supports 3-axis to 5-axis machining
• Includes dedicated strategies for undercuts
• Offers new projection patterns:
  • Spiral
  • Spiral alternated
  • Circular Zigzag
  • Pocket

  Optimize the machining cycle and surface finish quality with these new toolpaths.

3D Roughing: optimized material removal

The new 3D Roughing operation prepares your parts efficiently before finishing.

Benefits:

• Efficient material removal
• Improved machining flow

2.4 – Nesting workflow flexibility

SWOOD 2026 introduces advanced nesting management options.

Users can now reopen an existing nesting assembly  while keeping their previous manual modifications safe. To achieve this, we have introduced 2 levels of protection. The Nesting lock, which is applied only to the Nesting optimization, and the nesting Freeze, which will keep optimization and CAM modification as well.

By choosing between Lock Nesting and Freeze Sheet, you can safely update parts or add new ones without overriding the manual work already done on validated boards.

What this brings to your workflow:

• Protect validated sheet configurations
• Maintain manual adjustments
• Update projects while preserving your work

A more secure and flexible nesting workflow, perfectly suited for iterative production processes.

Automation improvements

3.1- PTX Export for Beam Saws

Building on the “Cutting Pattern” feature introduced in 2025, SWOOD Report 2026 now includes direct export to the PTX format (versions 1.21 and 1.14). This feature is designed to bridge the gap between design and manufacturing for users equipped with beam saws (such as HOMAG or SCM) based on non-customizable optimization.

This enables seamless integration with beam saws from Homag, SCM, or any other manufacturer that supports PTX files.  Go from beam saw to CNC machine with SWOOD.

3.2- Batch document generation

Continuing with document generation improvements, The SWOOD System Report allows users to create customized views of their data tables (such as specific panel lists, hardware summaries, or cutting patterns).

With SWOOD 2026, you can now configure a Batch Export. This new feature allows you to pre-configure which tables and views should be exported, and generate all these files with one click from the system report interface..

This greatly simplifies data extraction workflows.

Save time and ensure consistency across all your production documents.

3.3– Simplified configuration with SWOOD Properties

SWOOD 2026 improves access to operation configuration properties inside SWOOD CAM. These parameters, which were previously inaccessible, are now directly available in the SWOOD CAM options dialog.

This allows users to modify the default values of automatic machining recognition more easily, without having to make changes to every new automatic machining. By making these properties available directly in the interface, configuration becomes faster, simpler, and more reliable for everyday use.

Benefits:

• Faster configuration
• Greater usability
• Improved reliability

3.4– Advanced Post-Processing automation

One major aspect of SWOOD is the Data generated by the SWOOD Report. We know this data is key to your organization and production, which is why we have provided the ability to post-process the SWOOD Report Data with one Application (.exe), allowing any external application to interact with the report generation process.

For example, the workflow can now be:

•              generate the report inside SWOOD Design / SWOOD CAM

•              produce the system report

•              then automatically send the report data to an external application

This external processing can be really useful for companies that would like to share data between several company systems, like ERP systems, integrate SWOOD data into other information systems, or even create custom files.

 The objective is to keep SWOOD open and flexible, allowing easy integration within your workflows.

Conclusion

SWOOD 2026 introduces significant enhancements across the entire workflow, from parametric design to machining automation and data output. This version embeds key features that help you to step up your processes from design to manufacturing through automation.

These improvements make it easier to integrate SWOOD into existing manufacturing environments and optimize workflows across multiple machines and teams.

In short, SWOOD 2026 enables professionals to work smarter, deliver faster, and maintain precision at every step of the process.

Watch the complete presentation video on YouTube here: