Selecting a 3D CAD System

[Baltistan]

Hello all,

First post, so please forgive me if I miss out on some of the forum etiquette (if it exists)

The company I work for is looking to upgrade it's CAD system, due in large part to myself. I am recently graduated from college where I was taught CAD using Unigraphics NX (I believe it was NX6 or 5, it would have been current in 2007) . I found the software to be very agreeable and was able to create and adjust my models with ease.

Day 1 of work rolls by and I am asked to start using the drafting software, which I am dismayed to learn is autocad 2009. Now instead of adjusting a constraint when I want to move a hole, I have to find creative ways to trim and adjust half the model.

Luckily Management is sympathetic to my plight, and interested in purchasing a new 3D CAD system. I'm looking to collect information on the most recent versions of the big CAD vendors to see which would be most appropriate for the company. We are a small to mid sized firm which specialized in torque products, lots of slightly varied small assemblies and a multitude of individual pieces.

I am considering NX because it is what I have used and enjoyed, but I am aware it is high end and expensive. I have also heard many good things about programs like Solidworks and Pro-E but I have never used them. I have searched for information on these products elsewhere on the internet but the information is often old, and relates to now obsolete versions of which ever company's software

Any information and links you could provide to assist in my decision would be greatly appreciated.

PS: I am aware that I can request information directly from the software vendors, but I am looking for less biased opinions at the moment.

[DMF_TomB]

i would look for 3 things

1) cost, Solidworks is reasonable and if you get a yearly subscription you would have latest every year. last i checked subscription was about 1/3 the cost of buying it each year but who wants to use anything over 3 years old anyway

2) check the quantity of books on it. usually popular software has many more books written for it. check job posting or want ads. normally there is more demand for people who can use Solidworks and Mastercam

3) CAM software. many CAM software like Mastercam will work in Solidworks. this can save some time when CAD model is changed and it is easy to go back and forth from CAD to CAM software

i use Unigraphics NX5 too. it is ok and it can also do CAM if you get the licenses. NX5 can do so much that often people take twice as long trying to figure out all the options available. UG NX5 and other versions have in my opinion not very good help files and it can take awhile to look something up when stuck. But in my opinion Solidworks is easier and faster to use and it's help although not perfect i believe is better. And Solidworks is easier to figure out while using it. if that makes any sense.

[BurrMan]

NX WOULD be siemens higher end software, but they do have a "mid range" product too. It's called SolidEdge. Maybe because you started with NX you should look at it? I would say the only reason to purchase the full NX is you would be working in an all out PLM environment with several others using the same package. SolidEdge would give you personally the same power.

[Mike 1948]

Originally Posted by Baltistan Hello all, First post, so please forgive me if I miss out on some of the forum etiquette (if it exists) The company I work for is looking to upgrade it's CAD system, due in large part to myself. I am recently graduated from college where I was taught CAD using Unigraphics NX (I believe it was NX6 or 5, it would have been current in 2007) . I found the software to be very agreeable and was able to create and adjust my models with ease. Day 1 of work rolls by and I am asked to start using the drafting software, which I am dismayed to learn is autocad 2009. Now instead of adjusting a constraint when I want to move a hole, I have to find creative ways to trim and adjust half the model. Luckily Management is sympathetic to my plight, and interested in purchasing a new 3D CAD system. I'm looking to collect information on the most recent versions of the big CAD vendors to see which would be most appropriate for the company. We are a small to mid sized firm which specialized in torque products, lots of slightly varied small assemblies and a multitude of individual pieces. I am considering NX because it is what I have used and enjoyed, but I am aware it is high end and expensive. I have also heard many good things about programs like Solidworks and Pro-E but I have never used them. I have searched for information on these products elsewhere on the internet but the information is often old, and relates to now obsolete versions of which ever company's software Any information and links you could provide to assist in my decision would be greatly appreciated. PS: I am aware that I can request information directly from the software vendors, but I am looking for less biased opinions at the moment.

I don't know if you'll find unbiased opinions but:
I do product and tool design for the Diecasting and Injection mold arenas. I left the 2D enviroment in 2007 to make the switch to Solidworks. I originally looked at both Solidworks and Solidedge, but finally settled on Solidworks. I have never looked back. The software is very intuitve and "relatively" easy to learn in comparison to systems like Pro-E. I would recommennd certified training not just the tutorials.
You can select add ons to suit your needs and budget.
The Base packge I believe is $3995.00 and $1495.00 per year maintainece.
Download a eval copy and give it a try. I think you will find it "similar" to NX and maybe easier to use. IMOA

Mike

[derek]

You may also want to check out Spaceclaim.

Derek

[WIRE CUTTER]

¨We are a small to mid sized firm which specialized in torque products, lots of slightly varied small assemblies and a multitude of individual pieces."

Have you, or anyone else thought of Alibre Design for an application like this which does not look complicated? In theory you could get 4 seats or more of Alibre Design for the price of one mCAD package such as SW, SE or IV. I would like as many opinions as possible on this alternative because for small mechanical design companies this may make a big difference !!!

[Mike 1948]

You also might want to check with your suppliers, vendors, customers. See what they are using, its all about ease of communication, communication and communication.

Mike

[krap101]

Autocad is quite outdated, and to my knowledge, is only really used in architecture in school (at UIUC at least). (Even autodesk says to use inventor over autocad)

For ease of use and speed, I'd say Autodesk Inventor is the best there because of the interface. Solidworks is similar, but slower, but has much better post-processing capabilities. Pro-E is the most powerful of the three, but is very slow compared to the other two (for me at least). What I think I'll end up doing is cad in inventor and export in stp or something like that, import to whatever I need, and finish it up in that program. In some cases this might not work, but Inventor is such an easy program to learn, and the interface makes it very quick.

Finally, the support base for inventor is excellent. The forums and the youtube videos really make it a snap to pick up, although I'm sort of biased.

[patriqq]

I have SpaceClaim, and I've spent some time with NX and Solid Edge. If you are used to adjusting constraints and plan to model with that strategy, you will not like SpaceClaim.

Assuming you want to keep your modelling strategy, I second the recommendations for Solid Edge. You can download a trial without salesman interaction and try it yourself. You can also get SpaceClaim trials (and trials of most/all other packages) but you'll need to jump through a few hoops.