NX vs. Creo

[stThree]

My present employer is considering a switch from NX (which we have been using since Unigraphics V9) to Creo. I am not real excited about the thought of this, but am curious if anyone has any pro's and con's? What does NX do better than Creo and vice versa?

Thanks

Steve
NX 8.5.3.3

 

[jerry1423]

Why is he considering the switch?
In my experience I have noticed more companies swiching to NX from CREO (or PROE or whatever they call it today)

 

[stThree]

If I had to guess it is new and shiny, and we don't know it's faults. Also I'm sure cost is in there somewhere.

Steve
NX 8.5.3.3

 

[looslib]

Creo is anything but 'new and shiny' on the inside. It is Pro/E Wildifre with a new paint job on the outside. What version are you looking at Creo 2 or the just released 3.0? My experience with PTC CAD is wait 6-8 months after initial release, about 6-8 build releases, before attempting to put it in production. We are just getting ready to roll out Creo 2 M100, as earlier builds had problems in one area or another.

I worked for a company that switched from UG2V18 to Pro/E Wildfire1. We had 35 users, all of whom received 12 days minimum of training in Pro/E. That alone is an expense to consider. Took us 6 months of training classes to get everyone through the courses. Loss in productivity for another 6 months had to be factored into the work scheduling for jobs. Management was not happy with that loss and complained. Jobs had to be managed between the UG stuff and Wildfire stuff until everyone had been trained. We only used Wildfire on new products, so that saved us some problems, but common items that we had modeled over 18 years of UG all had to be remodeled in Wildfire. How do charge that time when the design has been in production for 5 years or more and you are modeling it just to use in an assembly? Drawings had to be managed when we did a redesign in Wildfire and move the 'master' over, which we did on some parts. The UG files had to be marked so the engineers knew that the master was in Wildfire now.

It was a corporate decision that forced the change on us. As a corporation, we had a balanced mix of UG and Pro/E seats, approaching 100 of each. We were the only division to make the change at that time. Another division was in the middle of a multi-million dollar expansion of UG and TeamCenter.

Good luck with the switch, if it happens.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[CadGuy59]

Lipstick on a pig, is just that...

 

[stThree]

I think they are looking at Creo 3 but obviously we wouldn't role that out right away. Frankly is doesn't make sense to me. I think NX is one of the best CAD packages around.

Steve
NX 8.5.3.3

 

[stThree]

What can NX do that Creo can't?

Steve
NX 8.5.3.3

 

[JohnRBaker]

Since your company is considering switching from NX to Creo, wouldn't it be more proper to state the question as: "What can Creo do that NX can't?"

After all, unless PTC is giving it away for free, you need to be looking for something in return for your investment, which could certainly prove to be substantial even without including the cost of the software.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[stThree]

unless PTC is giving it away for free

I believe our user community doesn't want to switch, so we need to prove the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence. There is the obvious reason that we have everything in NX, but that doesn't seem to be good enough.

Steve
NX 8.5.3.3

 

[jerry1423]

ask them what they are looking for that they don't see in NX

 

[JohnRBaker]

It's not always an issue of what they don't see in their current software, it's that often management has NO idea what their current packages are capable of even doing and often when you hear about some 'new' capability in some other system, the tendency is to assume that these capabilities are ONLY available in the new system because they don't recall hearing about that when they first purchased their current software. They often overlook the reality that unlike 'hard' products, software is like a living organism which evolves and even morphs over time as updates are installed which include enhancements and new ways of doing things. The software changes into something it was not when it was first installed. If your company has been using NX for as long a period of time as you claim, I'm sure that there is functionality there that even the everyday users may not be aware of let alone your company executives. Yes, have them clearly state what it is that they THINK they are missing and then verify whether this capability may already indeed exist in NX or has perhaps has been implemented in a version that you have not yet upgraded to (if you've only got NX 8.5 installed, then you're already one full release behind). I'm sure that the PTC salesman is ONLY talking about the capabilities of their LATEST production version, or perhaps even the current demonstrable, but not yet released, version of Creo (if the tables were turned, I'm sure the Siemens rep would be talking to your bosses about what we're going to be doing in NX 10.0). Just make sure that you're comparing 'Apples to Apples'.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[cowski]

Bear in mind that there may be business reasons beyond the feature set of each software package...

I was involved in a large migration from NX to Pro/E because the company was bought out and the new owners mandated the move so all the various divisions were using the same software. The vast majority of users were happy with NX and saw the move as nothing but a big waste of time and money.

Perhaps Corporation X promised big contracts if they could deliver native CAD data...

Maybe they truly got a better price deal with Pro/E...

If price is the only sticking point with management, point them to some whitepapers or case studies of the real cost of changing software. Perhaps the money would be better spent on training for the existing software. I'm sure you will get lots of links if you do a web search.

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[looslib]

If management has a training budget for new software, you may be better off using it for training on your existing software and maybe purchase some additional modules that could help your company utilize the full NX suite better.

Training is not an expense, it is an investment in your people.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[Kaan01]

if my company decides change from NX to something else, i quit from this job.

 

[loki3000]

catia is quite nice.

also i don't like the new interface in creo, older was much better. (i don't mind the new layout in office, swx..., but they are better then the one in creo IMO)