PRO/E vs Inventor
PRO/E vs Inventor
(OP)
WE currently use Autocad.
We would like to change to 3D to improve our designs and do changes more easily. We make structures, from small garages to very larges buildings. We have around 5000 different parts in stocks and many assemblies will have 1000 & more parts. Lot of sheet metal and tubes. Our designs change continuously. We would like to do some parametric things and been able to generate different structure width, height, lenght etc...
Which one would be the best...
We would like to change to 3D to improve our designs and do changes more easily. We make structures, from small garages to very larges buildings. We have around 5000 different parts in stocks and many assemblies will have 1000 & more parts. Lot of sheet metal and tubes. Our designs change continuously. We would like to do some parametric things and been able to generate different structure width, height, lenght etc...
Which one would be the best...





RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
There have been a number of threads on this subject, the consensus is that Pro-E is good at large assemblies.
We use Pro-E for parametrics, running indirectly from Excel, it is very good if produced correctly.
As others say, try and get an evaluation period for both packages, at the end of the day, you are the ones using it, having to pay for it.
There are other packages as well. Solid Edge, Mechanical Desktop to name but two.
----------------------------------
Hope this helps.
----------------------------------
maybe only a drafter
but the best user at this company!
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
That's my opinion for what it's worth.
Jeff
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
I favor SolidWorks because the ease of use and functionality is built in without needing to buy extensions. But like most software packages they do have limitations. For Example, If I were doing complex surfacing I would go with Pro/E 2001 or CATIA. Although, SolidWorks has come along way since the early days and has become a key player in the highend CAD market.
But after spending two solid years with Pro/E 14, 2000^2 and 2001 I really like it's functionality. Although, I refuse to upgrade to Wildfire, like Ben said "Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic." PTC, needs to rethink Wildfire's direction in industry because from what I see and read it looks like a version of SolidWorks.
I personally would stay away from Inventor. I stumbled across Inventor because I was helping a friend complete a project and his customer wanted it modeled in Inventor. That was six months of hell, Inventor, in my humble CAD opinion is two years behind the curve.
I guess the bottom line is ask the reps hard questions and stay away from those cook-book demos. Trust me I use to be a Pro/E demo Jockey....canned demos will not give you a feel. Do a thirty day evaluation from each software company. But also remember their is a learning curve and a change in thought process that has to be overcome so keep that in mind. Best of Luck
Vince
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
May you tell me what's the problem with PRO/E Wildfire..
PAT
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
Synthesis Engineering are gurus with Pro/E Eldon has written some articles regarding Wildfire. Based on his opinion and others I have kept Wildfire on the shelf for now. But do some research and formulate your own opinion. Best of luck
Vince
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
Inventor is great of less complex parts, if you are new to parametric modeling, or switching from Autocad to parametric modeling. I would lean towards Inventor, because the learning curve for Wildfire is a lot higher.
My decision would be to go with Wildfire though, 2.0 not 1.0. 1.0 has had 3 or 4 revisions so far and still not fixed all of the bugs out. While 2.0 has some added features that help out a lot, as well as bug fixes.
Aaron Banik
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
According to your experience what size of assembly can manage PRO/E Wildfire
10000 parts , 20000 or more...
I talk about very simple parts (tubes, sheet metal) around 750 different parts but repeating many times...
simple design but very large scale...
Regards
PAT
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
If you want parametrics and family tables pro/e is king. If your designs change alot don't skip a pdm system like intralink.
ProEpro
www.whitelightdesign.com
Pro/E FAQ www.whitelightdesign.com/servicestips.htm
RE: PRO/E vs Inventor
if you do a lot of tubes etc. in your assemblies you should look at Pro/Es Expert Framework Extension EFX.
This is a special extension for structural design.
There are customers who made assmeblies >10000 parts with EFX.
You can get some opinion on this module at the following links
http://www.proecentral.com/portal/forum/msgDetail.asp?msg_id=2937&for_id=15
If you like to test it send me an E-mail to stefan@buw-soft.de, I can give you a trial version as I am from the company who develops EFX for PTC.
Stefan