Soildworks vs SolidEdge 1

[TAK55]

My friend is an Engineering Manager looking to switch from ACAD 2006 to a Solid modeling package.
He is looking at Solidworks and Solid Edge.

What are your unbiased opinions Solidworks vs. Solid Edge?

 

[ctopher]

We looked at both at your company. They are both good, but SolidWorks I think works better with importing and exporting files. It is also more popular. I don't know about the future of SolidEdge, but SolidWorks is going strong.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks Pro 06/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[Heckler]

Here are three past thread dealing with your question. I would suggest getting demos of both and also getting a thirty day test drive.

thread559-115577
thread559-91428
thread559-7098

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 5.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

Never argue with an idiot. They'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience every time.

 

[Theophilus]

It's going to matter whether anyone else uses the CAD package you choose. In that regard, SolidEdge seems to be faring poorly while SolidWorks is used increasingly by vendors and customers of mine. I don't know anyone using SolidEdge.

Whereas a Mac has its niche of excellence, I wouldn't use one for my business niche because of the vast array of applications available to PCs and it's far more widely compatible file types. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, new Mactels are changing that--not the point.)

Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe trumps reason.

 

[J-C]

Solidedge looks like a very capable program. When I evaulated it and Solidworks back around 1998, they were neck and neck in functionality. But personally, I believe since UG bought it, they purposely hold it back. Not in functionality, but rather in marketing and in getting it "out" there. They would rather you by UG since it costs more and thus they make more $$$.



Jason

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

 

[looslib]

You always need to evaluate interfaces with customers/suppliers when considering a CAD package.
Also, what industry does your company serve?



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

Ben Loosli
Sr IS Technologist
L-3 Communications

 

[foxbat1979]

We're running Solidworks for about five months here now, but we've gone through a six months selection process.
We started out with Solidworks, Solid Edge and Inventor. Inventor went KO in the first round, not being as user friendly and bad at data exchange.

After that we looked deeper into SE and SW with SW winning it because of the better PDM package (DBWorks) on offer, being more widely used and slightly more user friendly/easy to learn.
Added to that a major customer of ours is also using SW and with us being a small company that CAN be important.

Good luck with the selection process, and by all means: take your time and don't be rushed into a decision. The vendor will be very happy to give you that extra demo to answer that couple of questions that occurred to you.

 

[ng89]

I personally feel SolidWorks is more intuitive to learn. Also, it can’t be disputed that SolidWorks has a greater customer base and is expanding that base more rapidly than SolidEdge.

That said, it’s going to be hard to hear the opposite argument on this board since we’re all SolidWorks users and probably chose SolidWorks for the reasons we are listing.


Windows 2000
P4 2.40 GHz
Video Card -
Manufacturer: NVIDIA Corporation
Card: Quadro4 900 XGL/PCI/SSE2
Driver: 6.14.10.7184

 

[beachcomber]

In my opinion as someone who has used both -

Solid Works:
Better configuration management for parts and assemblies.
Has multibody parts
Drafting is pants
Assembly is cumbersome
Larger installed base
More add-on packages
Modelling very little to choose between SW and SE
From what I've seen/heard the support from vendors is not all they would have you believe.

Solid Edge:
Slightly easier to learn and use
Better assembly, especially large assemblies (20000+ parts)
Far better drafting
Sheet metal superior
Has specialist commands for industry specific features.
Has the same future with UG/NX as Solid Works does with Catia V5
Very good support.

 

[GoWithTheFlo]

beachcomber
''Better assembly, especially large assemblies (20000+ parts)''

Is that a typo and you meant 2000 parts or really 20 000+ parts?

 

[beachcomber]

No it's not a typo ! I mean 20,000 parts.I'm currently working on a machine that has about 18000 total.

bc

 

[smcadman]

Is "Soildworks" (Soiled works?) a typo or a stab?

Gut Check Before Picking a CAD Package [ul]
[li]What are the core functions you need to perform with your CAD package? [/li]
[li]What are your future plans—do you expect to eventually migrate to a package with more functionality?
[/li]
[li]If you need to collaborate with others in your design chain, what software do they use? [/li]
[li]How sophisticated are your engineers and designers in the use of CAD? How much technical support will they need?[/li]
[li]What CAD packages are they trained on?
[/li]
[/ul]

Pop Quiz For Your CAD Vendors[ul]
[li]How many users do you have in companies my size? [/li]
[li]Can I talk to some of them? [/li]
[li]How many licenses of your software are in use commercially? [/li]
[li]How many schools teach CAD using your software? [/li]
[li]How do you ensure the highest level of quality in your product? [/li]
[li]What constitutes technical support (for example, hotline support, periodic updates, self-serve technical information)? [/li]
[li]What are the plans for the future of your product? [/li][/ul]

http://www.designnews.com/article/CA450994.html

Flores
SW06 SP4.1

 

[GBor]

Great list, Flores, especially the "Pop Quiz For Your CAD Vendors"...ever think of putting it in an FAQ?

 

[smcadman]

Solidworks vs Solid Edge: 3 threads
this one
thread559-120286
thread559-91428

Solidworks vs Inventor: 4 threads
thread559-81156
thread559-62883
thread559-33505
thread559-15930

Hopefully that link I found will help someone out before repeating the "SW vs __________"

Flores
SW06 SP4.1

 

[Beggar]

Having learned both SE and SWX with only online help and phone support I would say they're about the same in terms of learning curve.

The difficult part is killing off the AutoCAD part of your brain and learning to model in solids.

I haven't used SE for a long time so I can't comment about where it is presently but SE6 was pretty good at the time.

I echo the sentiments about SWX market share, though. It's much more likely that vendors/customers are running SWX than SE (excluding all the Pro-E/Catia/UG big boys). It's much more likely that new hires would be familiar with SWX than SE but that's a non-issue to me. Within a month of full-time use I think the cross-over would be complete.

--------------------
How much do YOU owe?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

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

 

[dogarila]

Is SE any different then SW regarding maintenance subscription?

 

[Krisztian]

I would be interested in the price different as well in between the two and of course the subscription cost.

 

[DeSimulacra]

I have for years refrained from giving my opinion, but today I’m going to stick my neck out a little, here goes.
I have been using CAD since AutoCAD release 1.3. PTC told me that I had the first operational PC based seat of Pro/E in Tennessee. After 8 years on Pro/E I went to Solid Works for 3 years. I presently use Inventor with some Pro/E and SW thrown in. I have tried in the past to find some advice as to CAD software but it was usually clouded from a point of reference that seemed different than mine. My viewpoint is hands on usage in a job shop environment engineering & designing Stand Alone Machinery, Assembly lines, Checking Fixtures, Structural Steel and Machined Parts, to name a few. Customers ran gambit from Local Farmer to Automotive Manufacturers.

First rule; Looslib got it right, check with your customers, interface can be a key issue but remember the new CAD packages do a good job of importation especially SW. This may not be the deal killer it seems, as you can’t please everyone.

Second rule; Is the CAD company going to be around tomorrow? Try not to buy software, learn it, develop files and then have to watch as it lags due to being under-supported. I like the three mentioned here, as low to mid-range options.

Third rule: Is the software good at importation and does it use familiar formats. I equate this to the Apple verses PC saga. All I heard was how much better Apple/Mac’s were than PC’s (mainly I believe due to the OS) now Apple is using Intel chips and has a small market share. Some companies want you to use their format, with the goal of making it the industry standard to the exclusion of common sense. In order Inventor and Pro/E do this.

Pro/E: Best 3D CAD software out there. The other CAD’s have been playing catch up for a long time and some still can’t do what Pro/E was doing 4-6 years ago. Expensive, the base module does not give you all the goodies and the other modules are overpriced. Harder to learn = More powerful.
SolidWorks: Very good software. SW has a history of trying to be the PC of the CAD world in that it is emulates open architecture and imports most other software’s files. Has stability problems, many releases have historically been avoided and its assembly structure is sensitive to errors. By Assembly structure I mean how you mate parts, I have been told and agree that to be certain of a trouble free model you should use planes to assemble. This often involves extra steps (read as more time).
Inventor: Good software, catching up fast with SW. Nice graphics and a huge company behind it. I’ve been told that the next Microsoft O.S. will ship with DWF support.

While any of the three are great packages my overall pick is SolidWorks. I know I said Pro/E was the best CAD software and it is with a few issues 1) it is overpriced (modules) 2) It has had and because of bad positioning will probably continue to have problems with growth. SW has positioned their pkgs. better and gives more bang for the buck. SW is still growing and has a large lead in features over Inventor.
Now before you flame me remember that I said any of the three are great software. You may decide on Pro/E because of complex models/surfaces or Inventor because you like AutoDESK products and don’t typically model complex features. I will not get into a war but wanted to state some facts without an agenda. While this is a long post I have left out much and you may have to read between the lines. I don’t want to take the time and space to offer proof but I can justify each statement above. The only weak point may be that I’m working on an old seat of Pro/E, it may well now be vastly superior to the others CAD pkgs.

Mark

 

[boffin5]

Regarding the last comment: "harder to learn = more powerful," I could not disagree more. Pro-e is very difficult to learn, but this is because it is archaic 13 year old software, and other packages, such as Dassault products, which I use, are up to date, more powerful (especially Catia V5), and much easier to use. Our management forced us to change from V5 to Pro-e, and we are in a state of shock.

 

[ctopher]

There is always some shock switching from one to the other.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-05)