Company moving from 2D to 3D, help choosing

[christo76]

We are looking to move from Autocad to a 3D package.

There is no complex geometry. Mainly steel frames, driven&idler rolls will be designed, with belts, pulleys and motors added into assemblies.
Here is a pages with several pics of some of the smaller individual units:

http://www.faustel.com/products.cfm?id=3

We also design our own sheetmetal electrical enclosures.

Hoping some of you can help point out some pros and cons of the packages you have used.

I think the choice is going to come down to Pro/E, SolidWorks, Inventor, or just staying with Autocad.

Any input would be appreciated.

Chris

 

[hydromech]

I cannot say that there is one package that is better than the others.

Pro E does the job but occasionally crashes for no apparent reason...

Inventor is also good, but I found it lacked some of the functionality that you can get with other packages...but it is more user friendly than most.

SolidWorks...Catia...Ideas...Solid Edge...plus others.

I don't think that any of them tick all of the boxes.

Tell them all that you are in the market and tell them you want a good deal. It's a buyers market at the moment...;-)

Let the price decide which to go with

Hydromech

 

[PeterStock]

I have used both Pro/E and Solidworks. Either would meet your needs. I would make sure to get any options for sheetmetal.

Peter Stockhausen
Pollak Switching Products

 

[davidinindy]

If I recall, Solidworks includes sheetmetal functionality... Regardless, watch out for the bait and switch. Make sure the prices you're looking at include any "modules" that you need. I've found that Wildfire won't do some of the things I'm used to doing in Solidworks, because we don't have the add-ons. Basic mechanical motion for example. Like opening and closing a lid.
I've used both Solidworks and Wildfire sheetmetal, and both are comparable. Very similar, and did everything I needed them to do.

David