NX6 Pro & Cons 1

[Madmaxmil]

Hi All,

I have been using NX2 and NX4 for about 5 years and would like to hear from designers about what they like and dislike about NX6, as I will be upgading to this version soon.
Are there any new features that help design routing and wiring using NX6. The routing module in NX2 and NX4 is rubbish.

Cheers

Nick

 

[MickyV007]

NX6 is great , many good new features and improvements. Only one disadvantage (personal opinion of course) are the assembly constraints, you cant see the remaining degree of freedom and they list all the constraints in one list, is not easy to have an overview of which constraints are related to each other.

But in general great software.

Best regards,

Michäël.

NX4.0.4.2 MP10 / TCE 9.1.3.8_build_0711 / NX6.0.2.8 / NX7.0.0.9

Belgium

 

[hudson888]

NX-6 Pros: It has many new features over earlier versions, and is more stable on the latest hardware with regards to graphics performance when you go to 64bit architecture in particular. You'll find later versions are faster at most operations and big changes like synchronous technology, changing from mating conditions to constraints in assemblies plus several sketcher enhancements make for a more productive tool once you get used to them all.

NX-6 Cons: Well it is still lagging behind by a couple of versions. I see no reason why you wouldn't jump straight to NX-7. NX-7.5 is already here, but I usually wait for the first upgrade to avoid teething problems on any new release. We have shown under testing here recently that for some reason it is slower at extracting large numbers of faces, but that isn't something most of us need to worry about too often.

I'd get your local sales people to regale you with all of the latest enhancements they're too numerous over the several versions you've skipped to canvass here.

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum

 

[JohnRBaker]

We have shown under testing here recently that for some reason it is slower at extracting large numbers of faces...

Note that based on testing which I did in conjunction with our development group we identified what happened between NX 5.0 and NX 6.0 with respect to performance when extracting faces from a large model and have taken the steps needed to mitigate this issue, and future releases of NX will have comparable performance when performing this particular task.

But getting back to the original question, I too of course am wondering why one would stop at NX 6.0 when you should seriously consider NX 7.0 or NX 7.5. Note that the first (and only) maintenance release of NX 7.0 is already out, and the first maintenance release of NX 7.5 will be out in the not too distant future.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[Madmaxmil]

Hi Guys, thanks for all your comments. I wasn't expecting responses so quickly. Please keep them coming.

*A Little Rant*
Unfortunately many of us are tied to the customers requirements, hence NX6. Also NX6 will be tied into the PLM system our customer uses - Teamcentre Engineering.
We are in a position where almost as soon as the software has been implemented by our customer, updates stop and the version becomes obsolete.
I would love to be in the position of using up to date software but these days the CAD systems that large companies use are driven by PLM systems that are driven by boffins that are not in tune with the complexities of the design process. I have spent many hours trying to model assemblies in a manor that will synch in with the PLM system without bringing any benefit to the design process.
When I have been forced to create a CGM of my scheme / project then all that parametric genius goes out of the window.
*Another Rant or constructive criticism*
I am actually quite surprised at how many bugs in NX are found in the basic modules such as Modelling, Drafting and Sketching in NX before a new version is released. How confusing some of the warning messages are and how difficult is can be to stop a process such as update or loading parts once it has started. When I have the option of pressing stop or cancel I expect it to happen instantly not 5, 10 15 minutes later. This is where most of my time gets wasted because my computer is useless while I wait for Christmas. I presume much of this is bad coding. Hopefully many of these issues have been resolved in NX6.

I have read an interesting thread on backward compatibility, and I have very mixed opinions. I am one of many thousands that could find the requirement to import between say NX4 - NX6 - NX4 very useful. What does a company do that is in the transition between say NX4 and NX6 do. It doesn't happen over night. Some projects might be NX4 some might be NX6. Project overlap. Standard parts created in NX6 want load into NX4, etc.
Huge companies and their contractors / suppliers face this dilemma every 2 to 3 years, hence the jump of 2 versions. Update or new Version. Your thoughts?

There is obviously tremendous pressure to have the next best feature from a marketing point of view. However most of us still use the same modelling, sketching and drafting modules and just wish the features were designed better in the first place.

I would like to know how the designer becomes involved in the evolution of future releases and how often the development team have a good look at what they have and how practical NX is to use for a new user. After all the new user will potentially market the software. It will sell itself it is well made!!!

Apologies about the rant. Would be nice to have a bigger dialogue box to write it in

 

[ewh]

While there are solutions to the customer requirements problem, I won't go into that.
As for "all that parametric genius goes out of the window", that is only true if you never go back to the parent file. Why wouldn't you? We have had customers that used the same version of NX as us that we would only send parasolids and cgm's to. None of that design effort was lost, as we continued to maintain the parent files.
While there may seem to be a large number of bugs being fixed, I have rarely had my workflow effected by them as workarounds abound in the software. NX is a fairly complex beast, and I would rather keep working with what is given than to have to wait until it was perfect. Things really are getting better all the time.
I do agree however with the point made about not being able to stop processes in a timely manner. When running UG on UNIX, it was a simple matter to stop the current process without having to close the part or session. I think the software has actually regressed in that area, or at least not kept up with operating systems.
As far as project overlap, it is important to not save in a recent version if more work in a previous version is necessary. Any subsequent modifications are to be done in the latest version it was saved in. While this may cause a logistical headache for IT, it is easily achieveable with the proper infrastructure. I don't think I'll even be alive if and when backward compatibility in high-end CAD becomes a reality, and have learned to accept and work around that fact.

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[hudson888]

Madmaxmil,

I empathise with your problem, having seen what happens when the situation gets entirely out of hand. At some point technology goes beyond being merely obsolescent and becomes functionally obsolete. I have seen what occurred in my experience with a large OEM where seven thousand seats of CAD (another system) had not been migrated from a much earlier version and the technology upgrades had stagnated as a result. As time went on the steps required to upgrade became more and more onerous not to mention costly. Their system, their workflow, their methods and their work ethic were all locked into a very unproductive mode of operation that they simply couldn't progress beyond. The company was also undergoing change and an industry downturn and most of the facility in question was closed down as a result.

People like CAD system administrators do have a responsibility to their companies to respond to progress or face the reality that they'll be overrun by it. I don't think that is just the doing of software developers. It is an industry reality.

The question of backwards compatibility has always been an interesting and occasionally frustrating one, but at the same time it would be a sad indictment of the software if newer version were not better then their predecessors. I don't think that there is much in the last several versions by way of change that would have us argue that, or to even to say that hardware demands have been particularly onerous. NX-7 runs as well or better on my most aged hardware than NX-3.

When it comes to bugs and development directions there are things that I would prefer to prioritise that don't get the attention that they perhaps deserve and others that have enabled me to steal quite and advantage over users of any other cross platform technology. Synchronous Technology or more importantly Direct Modelling as its predecessor are the upside. Yet I still despair that under some circumstances bending still loses continuity between segments or that planar faces and b-surfaces are treated differently. I would have asked for the latter and never even thought to ask for the former. Had that happened I might well have been worse off, but I can still wish for both I guess .

Best Regards

Hudson

www.jamb.com.au

Nil Desperandum illegitimi non carborundum

 

[wmalan]

I would add a similar example as Hudson. I've seen users of older versions get really good with that version. In their mind, upgrading to the latest will only impede their productivity. The cam user side of NX is very much that way. I've seen two shops in the last couple years go under as well. One of the common threads (among others) was no need to upgrade the version as it will only create problems.

Now I'm looking at an opportunity join a company that's on NX4 to help them with manufacturing process improvements. I asked the lead programmer why he's still on NX4 and was told he didn't see any need to upgrade. Bear in mind he's never had formal training and has only worked at that company his working life. On top of that, the managers have no idea what NX really can do for them. I think I'll have my hands full. <g>

--
Bill