TOPSOLID at a glance
A French software company, working directly with its customers
TOPSOLID is a group with over 40 years of history, historically rooted in the mechanical engineering sector. Development takes place in France, and in France, customer relations are handled exclusively by TOPSOLID employees, with no outsourcing. The group employs over 400 people, a quarter of whom are dedicated to engineering and R&D, with consolidated revenue of 72 million euros in 2025.
Internationally, TOPSOLID relies on subsidiaries, exclusive partners, and distributors. In France, five sales offices handle sales, technical support, development, and training, supplemented by a purely technical office in Grenoble.
Beyond mechanical engineering
The group serves several sectors: mechanical engineering, digital engineering (design of parts, assemblies, tooling, molds, and special-purpose machinery), metalworking (sheet metal fabrication, boilermaking, structural metalwork, and locksmithing), and woodworking (carpentry and interior fit-outs).
TOPSOLID is also active in education, with a distinctive approach: few generalist programs, but many career-oriented training courses, including those at institutions in the Annecy area.
A solution centered on technical data
The TopSolid offering is organized around a core: a database that centralizes the company’s technical data. No finance or HR—just everything related to the design office, the production planning department, and the shop floor.
Surrounding this core:
- CAD: design of parts, assemblies, and tooling.
- CAM: programming for milling, turning, mill-turn operations, multi-spindle machines, bar turning, EDM, and control of machining robots.
- Digital shop floor management: tracking of tools and programs, complete traceability of the manufacturing flow—from projects to CNC programs, and from tooling to inventory.
- ISO simulation of machine code.
- MES: real-time data feedback from machines.
- Cost estimation based on the 3D model, for more accurate estimates than trial-and-error methods.
- Metrology: creation of inspection reports, drawing annotation, and import of data from 3D machines.
TOPSOLID positions itself as a software publisher, not a distributor. In addition to the standard solutions it offers, TOPSOLID provides a custom development service (development of customized features, bidirectional connections with third-party solutions) and is a Qualiopi-certified training organization.
Why integrate TopSolid and Ellistat?
The problem: re-entering data that has already been programmed
To function, Ellistat’s CNC controller must know what is happening to the part: which face is being machined, with which tool, in what order, from which origin point, and on which fixture. Without a gateway, all this information must be entered manually, even though it already exists in the CAM program.
This re-entry has two drawbacks: it takes time, and it introduces a risk of human error.
The solution: export the job plan with a single click
Thanks to the ELLICAM plug-in integrated into TopSolid, the data from the machining plan is transferred to Ellistat with a single action:
- origins and setups;
- tools and their gauges (correction tools);
- machining conditions;
- the sequence of operations.
Result: no more re-entering data, a significantly reduced turnaround time between CAM programming and part setup in the APC, and a reliable configuration right from the start.
Important point: the CNC controller does not require kinematic modeling of the machine or ISO simulation. It inherits the topological data from the production plan. As soon as the first part is measured on the 3D machine, Ellistat knows which offsets and which tools to apply.
A concrete example: controlling two offsets on a single insert
Let’s consider the machining of a groove using an insert where we want to control both sides.
In TopSolid, you define two controlled points on the tool, which is necessary anyway since the toolpaths differ. Upon export, ELLICAM transmits the information that there are two tool gauges. When measuring the groove, ELLISTAT automatically knows which flank corresponds to which compensator.
That’s the whole point of automation: to avoid the classic mistake where you successfully probe both flanks… but associate them with the wrong controlled point. The information comes directly from the programming.
From the nominal model to the average-dimension model
Most 3D models received from customers are defined using nominal dimensions. However, the programmer must always rely on a 3D model with average dimensions to ensure that parts fall within their tolerances.
TopSolid allows you to take a so-called “dead” geometry and adapt it to production needs—even without its design history—to convert it to average dimensions.
All geometric tolerances are entered natively in TopSolid. Machining paths are then generated on this model with average dimensions.
If the STEP file contains PMI annotations, they are retrieved as information without automatically modifying the geometry.
Machine compatibility: what are the limitations?
The gateway works on all types of machines programmed in TopSolid: milling machines, lathes, mill-turn machines, and bar-turning machines.
The only real limitation comes from the CNC system: an older CNC system incapable of receiving remote corrections cannot be controlled in a closed-loop system. This is not a software issue, but rather a limitation of the machine’s capabilities.
Why is this important?
When about a hundred characteristics depend on multiple correction factors, the correction matrix remains simple for a computer to calculate but quickly becomes unmanageable for the human brain. Automating the configuration makes APC viable even when new part numbers are introduced one after another.
For interested companies, TOPSOLID and ELLISTAT organize three-way meetings to test the process in a real-world setting using the customer’s parts.
Conclusion
The CAM integration between TopSolid and Ellistat illustrates a shared conviction: data already generated during programming should never have to be re-entered. By automatically transferring reference points, setups, tools, and compensators to the APC, the gateway reduces configuration time, ensures reliable parameter settings, and brings the shop floor one step closer to a fully automated closed-loop system.
