A system for collaborating on a component according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a first multi-user CAx environment including a data module and an import module. The data module is configured to access a database relating to a component design. The component design relates to a group of function-based commands. The import module is configured to cause an external data entity relating to at least one feature of the component design to be imported into the first multi-user CAx environment, and is configured to cause the data module to store data relating to the external data entity in the database. A method for collaborating on a component design is also disclosed.