Pro's for moving to SolidWorks

[deek05]

My boss has asked me to put together some sort of report/summary of why we should switch from Autocad to SolidWorks (Why should we switch? or What are the pro's to switching to 3D?). My boss is all for making the switch, but wants to have something on paper to justify it. Is there a website somewhere that I can get some ideas from. Also, can you SolidWorks users chime in and give us some insight.

Thanks,

DT

 

[dsi]

It may help if you were to provide some insight into the products you will be working with. There are several key areas that SolidWorks (or 3D in general) can improve upon.

In general, you may want to check out these threads:
thread404-1461
thread724-8159

You should also consider the hardware required to run the application. SolidWorks requires a little more system than AutoCAD does (thread559-14191).

DimensionalSolutions@Core.com
While I welcome e-mail messages, please post all thread activity in these forums for the benefit of all members.

 

[deek05]

We are an ammunition manufacturer. Currently we are using Autocad 2002. We build all of our manufacturing and packaging machines in house.

I looked at the threads you mentioned and found them helpful. We have decided on purchasing SolidWorks so software comparison is not really what I am looking for. My supervisor just wants more info on the benefits of switching to 3D just in case his supervisor requests it.

DT

 

[Timoteo]

Why dont you visit the page of SolidWorks? They have a special session that explain the largest advantages of the SW versus another CAD (except PRO-E, Unigraphics, CATIA and I-DEAS).


3D is the future. Dont stay in the past!

 

You should be considering Inventor, which is Autodesk's 3D package (competes with Solidworks). A recent review is at:

http://www.cadserver.co.uk/common/viewer/archive/2002/Jan/16/feature8.phtm

The upgrade from Acad to Inventor is priced very reasonably, and you will find that INV has advantages over SWX in terms of ease of use. Each program has advantages, you should compare them by having the vendors do a demo.

 

[SBaugh]

In my opinion for what you’re manufacturing I think SW is the better route your company should take. SW is very easy to learn. I was working in less than a week without any training. Of course that was in 1995-1996.

The best reason for switching to 3D is because it's the future of things to come. Almost all companies are making the switch, some faster than others. I'm sure most of the upper management people at your company doesn't want to fall behind on the technology of tomorrow. When using 3D you get a better feel of what it is your building. It helps to find errors before it gets to the shop floor. It can be used to in Sales as a sales tool or even an estimating tool. You take your models and run them into Cosmos and run FEA to get results of the model.

3D is the future of CAD business, plain and simple! It doesn't matter which one you use. So if your Supervisor's, Supervisor doesn't see that then, I would start wondering about him.

Is there anything Specific you want to know about 3D CAD or SW?

Regards, Scott Baugh, CSWP
George Koch Sons,LLC
Evansville, IN 47714
sjb@kochllc.com

 

[deek05]

Scott,

We have been evaluating 3D software for about 2 years. We would have made the switch earlier but had a spending freeze. Our mind has pretty much been made up in purchasing SolidWorks (SW). Our local dealer called and invited me to a 3 day hands-on training course. I thought it was a great program. We also looked at Inventor (we liked it), but thought with SW you get more bang for your buck. My main concern with moving to SW is file management and existing Autocad drawings. I was a suprised at how much better SW was at importing Autocad drawings than Inventor. You would think the opposite. One thing I think would be nice to see in SW is have the part and the detail sheets together. Maybe have different tabs like Excell. This way you would only have to update one file instead of two. Just a thought.

Thanks for the info,

DT

 

[SBaugh]

If I understand you right then that is the way SW has it's drawings set up already.

You have to go to insert\drawing sheet\ and it adds a new sheet for you and there are tabs at the bottom like excel. That way you can have the part on one sheet and the details on the next. When you print out the drawings you need to only hit the print button verify your printer and it prints all the sheets out in one sweep. Like you said "you only have to update one file " and that is the way it is.

I hope that helps clears some things up for you. I also hope I read your response correctly. ;-)

Best Regards,


Scott Baugh, CSWP
George Koch Sons,LLC
Evansville, IN 47714
sjb@kochllc.com

 

Two years ago, SWX was the clear choice. Have you seen INV 5? I don't mean to say SWX is a bad program, but if you haven't seen the latest version of INV (which just came out two yrs ago, and didn't have dwg support at first), then your company is being hasty (and foolish with its $4000).

SWX got a head start on Autodesk, but in some areas (they just released 2001+ to play catch up with some of INV's features) INV is ahead of the game. If you want "dwg" compatibility, do you really think that AutoDesk is going to let Dassault eat their lunch?

 

[3DDon]

DT,

If you want to see how IV5 fairs against SolidWorks, go visit

http://www.midrangecad.com.

The web master informs me that the inventor information is quite accurate since there have been many different people providing data.

Don Don Shoebridge
Sr. Product Developement Engineer

http://www.geocities.com/donshoebridge

 

[MadMango]

Here's a new article about IV5.

http://www.tenlinks.com/CAD/reference/reviews/inventor/cadreport1001.htm

The hard part when comparing any software is that it's very hard to compare apples and apples. Most comparisons I have seen are slanted in favor of IV5, but that's only because they are comparing to SW01 (or even SW00) and not SW01+.

Best advice is to find colleagues (not salesmen) that have been using each program for at least 3 years and get their insight. "Happy the Hare at morning for she is ignorant to the Hunter's waking thoughts."

 

[skeptic]

The spreadsheet that 3d mentions makes no attempt to capture any features that programs other than SWX may have, and doesn't address ease of use or productivity of the software in any way. (How many clicks to get the job done.)

I feel that it is biased, despite the claims to the contrary. If you want to see how INV "fairs" (fares) against SWX, do your own comparison, weighted with the features that you care about.

 

Deek was asking about moving from AutoCad to 3d. Whether the spreadsheet is biased or not, try plugging in $1500 (the upgrade price from Acad to Inv).

 

[deek05]

Scott,

Your understood me correctly. So the parts and details can be saved together in ONE file, just making sure I am clear on this? Thanks again for your input.

To the others (the IV people),

We have looked at IV5 and like I said, we liked it. We just feel SW has more to offer.

DT

 

[SBaugh]

DT,

Yes, You can have the part file and the details of that part saved in one drawing file.

Moving details to another sheet in the drawing file:
Say you want a section view. You make your cut through the part. You now have a front, right, & now a section view. Say you don't want that detail on sheet 1 but on sheet 2. Goto insert\drawing sheet\ add your new sheet. Go back to Sheet 1 cut the section view from that sheet, and paste it on sheet 2.

Your Prayers have already been heard ;-)
Hope that helps you, Scott Baugh, CSWP
George Koch Sons,LLC
Evansville, IN 47714
sjb@kochllc.com

 

[dasarge]

After using SW for 3 yrs a corporate decision has been passed down to change to INV and we have recently recieved INV training. I found many equivalent features a few that I liked better in INVENTOR. I did have a couple of areas that I had some difficuly with
1. We use revolved features with complete profiles for round parts - Complex sketches minimum features, our instructor strongly advised us to use simple sketches with a grater number of features. There were two reasons for this 1. he said that a part with more features is easier to edit (I stil do not understnd this logic) 2. and also he said that Inventor might crash more with revolved features and complex sketches.
2. Also in SW when a sldrw file is made and a sldprt is added to it the model can be opened by right clicking on a view and selecting open xxx.slprt, this is not possible according to our instructor in Inventor.
3. they also said that the one thing that they were sure of is that Inventor would crash, and it would crash more frequently if Microsoft products were opened simultaneously. this is not a problem with SW.
My obeservation after this training is that Inventor is probably capable of doing most all of what SW's is but with all the consolidation going on why should we change to a company that has been weakened and is so heavily involved in AEC. Isn't the majority of their development going to be aimed at AEC and not mechanical. I would much rather work on a product that is inovating to innovate as oppposed to innovating to save the company.

 

[krishnamurthy]

The Solidworks has more compatiblity to autocad when compared to inventor.

 

[bhorton]

We have been using SW for over a year now. We previously used AutoCrap..errr AutoCad. We had vendors in our area comein and give us demo's. We have seats of Pro/e, but management didnt even want to consider Pro..thanks goodness! We as an engineering department felt that SW had more advantages and it was more user friendly than Inventor, now keep in mind this was two years ago. We are able to find errors, fix problems, and do "what-ifs" with SW and its never been easier.

Remember~ Its a 3D world...why not design in one!

bhorton

 

[APPENG]

Krishnamurthy's right.

SW does have more comapatibility and interoperablilty with ACAD r14 and 2000. I tried opening an acad dwg in sw and it took 12 seconds to load blocks, layers, and all. the same file in Inventor took 12 minutes. Not to mention it required a lot of touch ups. for instance even simple things like a hole diameter dim on a leader... it substitutes a line and an arrow thats not even attached to the dim. By the way if you want to save a dwg OUT of inventor with layers, blocks, attributes.... FORGET IT. Anyone see that little submarine they put on the packaging? shhhhhhhhhh...twas actually designed in MDT Regards,
Jon
jgbena@yahoo.com

 

[3DDon]

Great, another "mine is bigger than yours" cat fight. I shouldn't complain, seeing how I've been in my share of scarps here as well.

First off, let me start by saying that if someone new makes a post, in this case, in the SolidWorks area, chances are he or she has a stronger interest in SolidWorks than the other MCAD packages, such as Inventor, which has its own little world. Those that take offense to this obviously try to steal (chase) these new people away by stiring up the mud so as to cloud the new persons view. Let them figure it out for themselves. Give them answers, not BS.

Hey Skeptic,

Concerning the MOAC comparison that is located at

http://www.midrangecad.com

(look for MOAC), if the information contained is biased, it's your own falut! In fact it's the fault of every that doesn't like or agree with it. If you or anyone else knows so much about all the different packages, then download a copy of the MOAC and add to it. Why don't you try and bias the information the other direction?!?! I know why you will not, because you are affraid that everyone here will find out who you are, and that you don't know Jack about any other packages on the market today, except for the one that you are currently using, of course. I've seen the list of contributors, and it is heavy on the Inventor side. So if all those people couldn't bias the MOAC for Inventor, then I doubt that Inventor is as good as people, such as yourself, try and make people believe. If this is not the case, then the numbers would have shown this very early, which is not the case.
Don Shoebridge
Sr. Product Developement Engineer

http://www.geocities.com/donshoebridge