Inv 11 vs Solidworks 2007 28

[Randy1111]

3 years ago when I was last in a postition needing to evaluate and decide on a 3d cad package, the choice was quite easy. 3 years ago solidworks had the tools needed, and inventor was playing catch up. Now 3 years later I'm once again tasked with deciding, but the race seems a lot closer.

My company makes pulleys. The assemblies are small. A typical assembly may only have 8 parts. (adding bearings may bring this up to 50) The variety of sizes of each of those parts is almost endless. Each part we manufacture has almost infinite sizes. Each purchased part like bearings, is one of a hundred or so variations.

I like to automate as much as possible. Every style will be pre done as an assembly with all drawings. When a new job comes in we change every part parameter in an assembly, and have the already done drawing update. Clean it up, and print. (with solidworks this would be done with a design table at assembly level controlling a skeleton sketch and all parts drawn in contect and constrained to the skeleton)

Inventor used to lack configurations. Now it has them.
Soliworks used to lack drawing functions. Now it has them.
Solidworks still lacks good equations and global variables.
Inventor still lacks in some tools it has.

I guess both are able to do the job for me. Inventor has caught up quickly. Will it pass solidworks in the next few years?
Any comparasin I've read in the last couple months while researching has always been versions of a few years ago. Back when the biggest points were configurations and design tables. Now that distinction appears gone.

To anyone who is familiar with both in their current state, do you have any insight that might sway me one way or another?

How is autodesk vault compared to pdmworks?

Jarery


-------------

Randy

 

[65Roses]

Current Autodesk users who love using AutoCad products and have used only it over the course of the career are probably going to want to use Inventor. Everyone else (those who have used various products)know better and will choose something else with the majority choosiing SW. I would use SE long before I ever selected Inventor. I don't think Inventor will ever catch 100% up. SW had too much of a headstart for that to happen.

 

[J-C]

It is my understanding that Inventor still lacks configurations. I think there are assy configs now...but not part configs.

Also..you assume that Inventor is adding features faster than Solidworks is. That I don't know for sure but Solidworks hasn't been sitting still.

Also you mentioned you are doing pulleys.....swx 2007 has added some tools for doing belts/chain type features with pulleys. You can do this from a conceptual standpoint with sketch blocks and a new belt/chain relation...or in the assembly with a belt/chain command.

Videos of it here:

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/products/SolidWorks_2007/SolidWorksOfficePremium2007.html

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP4.0 on WinXP SP2

 

[jlcochran1]

We are making the same comparison. Eliminated Alibre (too light weight) and Solid Edge (no VAR or training in our state) although otherwise good product. Down to Inventor which we have had since R8 and Solidworks which we have had since about 2001. Both are just now getting useable for us. Our final product is translating back to a .dwg for our customers.

SW seems to be more mature in most areas having more options and have better sketching, modeling, assemblies, and especially mates.

IV has better frame generator (by far) , better content center (vs SW lacking toolbox) and better weld symbol generator. Like some aspects of drawing mode of IV better. Drawing translation back to .dwg better in Inventor so far.

We work with welded parts and standard pipe and flanges in larger assemblies. I had training in IV, another person in SW. I find more training available in SW (about 18 courses compared to 3 for Inventor). Even though my training was in IV I can usually achieve what I want easier in SW.

Have not got to Vault vs. PDMWorks yet.

I agree IV seems to be adding more features at a quicker rate and catching up, at least over the last few years. IV much lower initial investment by about 1/2 as we can trade up from expiring ACAD Mechanical. Still many things in IV take extra steps to generate and the labor savings can quickly offset initial investment. Example SW can generate variable pitch coil with thin wall extrusion. IV requires generating 3 seperate coils as surface then thickening and mating together. We project to surface a lot, SW can find the surface, IV requires projecting the surface then hiding it. So far we can accomplish what we need in IV, but we do require the extra steps. We use SW thin wall often for revolves and extrudes to create our heads and shells with IV this requires an extra step.

IV does come out with some features before SW. For example IV was the first to allow limiting section cut depth to a specific distance which is a huge time saver for what we do. In the SW forums at sdotson.com you can see a few other features in SW 2007 that are "catching up" to IV. Generally though SW is more feature rich.

Right now I would say we are leaning toward SW in spite of price difference, but will have more input over the next few weeks as we are finally actively reviewing both products again. Your needs are completely different though so you may come to a different conclusion. Hopefully you have current versions of both products and are putting them through the paces.

 

[Randy1111]

Thanks for the replies.
Yes we are evaluating both versions. But my own opinion is biased since I have several years experiance with SW and only a few weeks with IV. I know that most frustration and wasted time disappears once one has a year of use with an app and knows the best practices, and the fast workarounds for its shortcomings.

My lack of experiance with inventor is my reason for posting. I wanted to get opinions from those with more experiance in IV. So far it looks like SW would be the best overall. More expensive up front, but a thousand or 2 is quickly made up in time and frustration.

I just wanted to give IV full consideratin, and those more familiar with both may be better at guestimating the apps a few years into the future.

-------------

Randy

 

[toffeet]

It's a simply choice between Solidworks and Solid Edge. Everyone else is playing catch-up.

Solid Edge V18 SP6 on WinXP SP2

 

[Ratso]

As I am a committed Inventor user my bias leans towards the Autodesk products. To come up in defence for Inventor, the component generators are state of the art (this is a comment from a SW customer of mine) which for pulley design should do the trick nicely for you. Get your Autodesk reseller to demonstrate that feature to you - the plus is that you mostly do not even have to go through the creation of sketches to achieve what you want. I assembmled a 6 gear system with 3 shafts and associated bearings fully in the assembly mode without having to do a single sketch - all in about 15 to 20 minutes. It does help if you have the requirements of the design beforehand but you are going to need that anyway.

Don't throw away Inventor - it has surpassed SW as the highest installed base internationally.

 

[J-C]

Highest installed base...care to back that up with some facts? Autodesk claims they have shipped more seats than Swx but go do a monster or career builder job search....there 3x the number of swx jobs than IV.

It helps to claim that number of seats when they give a free copy of IV to every Mech Desktop and Autocad Mechanical user. Also I've heard from Swx vars that Autodesk is steeply discounting IV by half or more. A company with number one sales don't usually discount their product like that......unless they have some big need. My guess is they are losing alot of Autocad users to Swx and they doing everything they can to stop the hemmoraging.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP4.0 on WinXP SP2

 

[ctopher]

We have all here at our company. SolidWorks is catching up and taking over the Inventor seats here. Inventor will stay a while for the die-hard ACAD users.
I prefer PDMW over Vault, because I think it has more options and I'm used to it. We will be implementing Vault for the die-hard facilities ACAD users, mainly because most of them do not understand any kind of PC file management and we got a good deal. ADESK is not clear on the future of Vault. PDMWorks works well for solid modeling users, especially for rev control.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[rich942]

The one overwhelming, indisputable fact in all of this, is that Autodesk is by far the largest and most successful CAD software developer, and has dominated the market for as long as it has existed. This means, as in any other industry, that they can recruit the best and brightest programmers and analysts available. Their products reflect this superiority, and their enormous customer base confirms it. 'Nuff said about that !

I personally have grown to appreciate truly advanced features that directly enhance my ability to preform my job duties, much faster and more effectively than my long-suffering co-workers.

For the record, Inventor's Design Accelerators provide a level of functionality unique in the CAD software domain, and Vault is a truly integrated PLM package, not a manually driven add-on.

Much of what has been written here clearly indicates a lack of direct exposure to Inventor, idle speculation and supposition, based on marketing hype and hearsay. I am at this moment sitting in front of a workstation with both Inventor 11 and SolidWorks 2006 installed. There is no confusion in my mind as to which is the superior product !

 

[ctopher]

Interesting where Autodesk would be without 3D Studio Max and Maya. I would be interested in looking at the sales volume of all of them.
Just curious.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[rich942]

3D Studio and other animation products are relatively recent acquisitions for Autodesk, they were dominant in the engineering CAD market many years before expanding in that direction. Accurate and indepentantly compiled sales figures are available from Daratech and Dataquest. These are subscription services, for those of us who seriously track the industry, and participate in it as well. I've never really understood the unreasoning resentment by some, of Autodesk and their success. Its similar, I suppose, to Microsoft bashing, mildly interesting but futile ...

 

[ewh]

How many major (and minor) aerospace firms rely solely on Autodesk products? I think your statement that Autodesk "has dominated the market for as long as it has existed" is a bit broad.

 

[J-C]

And go check out some other forums....there's quite a few disgruntled IV users and some converts that say Solidworks is better. It really depends on what you need from the software.....Solidworks does things better than IV does and vice versa....but superior....please.

Autodesk only dominates the market from it's Acad user base....which is converting to 3d...and which Autodesk finally realized they needed a decent product and came with IV late in the game. Only their deep pockets and loyal Acad users saved them losing out.

And if there were more IV users out there...then why does a Monster job search under the engineering catagory turn up 761 swx jobs....and Inventor turns up 222? 3.5x the number of IV jobs.......

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP4.0 on WinXP SP2

 

[ctopher]

Our company has, don't remember exact number, hundreds of ACAD/Inventor users. A lot of them are slowly being taken over by SolidWorks. Our main CAD is CATIA.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[65Roses]

I believe rich942 has wondered off into la la land again.
Always going to be a few like him out there. I guess that is what makes each and everyone of us unique in our own sense. With all that said Inventor will eventually lose out in the end to all the other MCAD players.

 

[rich942]

Last time I checked the top of this page, it was a forum for Inventor users. Makes me wonder why so many people with an axe to grind against Autodesk spend so much time browsing and posting here. Curious about what the best-selling product has to offer, perhaps ? If you want to really understand the various applications available, do what any good engineer would do, examine the source, and the qualifications of the people who produce them !

When someone with more than 21 years of CAD experience, and in excess of 32 years in engineering, with published credentials in the CAD software market, tries to convince me otherwise, I'll gladly listen. My current session of Inventor has been open and running for over a week, since I last rebooted the machine, and I've got work to do ...

 

[J-C]

Last time I looked....this guys question was regarding Inventor "And" Solidworks.

And I hang around "other" forums cause I like to see what other cad programs have to offer. They all have their strengths and weakness....some have more than the other though.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP4.0 on WinXP SP2

 

[ewh]

I have no axe to grind, but after 21 years of CAD experience in the aerospace industry, I have yet to work for a company that actually uses AutoCad. That leaves me wondering where your numbers are coming from.
I am in this forum for the same reason as Jason, to expand my CAD horizons.

 

[65Roses]

Rich someone with that much experience is out of date. No wonder you like the same old, same old of Autodesk products. Get with the times!

Oh by the way then why have you started two threads on the SW forum yourself? Sounds like to me you are scared to death your beloved ACAD is going down the tubes.