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Unigraphics NX vs. SolidWorks 1

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JPM73

JPM73

Mechanical
Oct 12, 2007
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Hi CAD Users,

I'm trying to figure out the current CAD or job trends between Unigraphics NX and SolidWorks, such as, but not limited to:

1) Job Comparison of companies seeking candidates with UG
or SolidWorks experience

2) Average cost differeences between the 2 CAD applications

3) Any current CAD trends

It would be nice to see this graphically & broken down regionally, but whatever data can be provided would be great.

Does anyone have this or can direct me to it?

Thanks


Jason M.
Unigraphics NX & SolidWorks Designer
 
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Hi TheTick,

That's good tip & there's some validity to your statement, but I am going to need more valid data than this.


What I am really seeking is some graphical data that presents current CAD trends between various CAD packages, but most particularly between UG & SW, such as job trends, costs, etc.

Does this type info. or metrics exist? If so, where?

Thanks


Jason M.
Unigraphics NX & SolidWorks Designer
 
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I worked with UG in an environment where it was near-impossible to keep up with changes using parametric modelling. Design inputs came from industrial designers who absolutely ruled the roost. We needed to work from models that were generated in Alias and Vellum. The integrity of the boundary definitions of these models made it so that knit surfaces would come apart at the seams like a fat man's shirt buttons.

There are tools in the UG toolbox that make it possible to manage such things without the need for parametric modelling. The ability to move, delete, resize, and replace faces was good enough to handle most of the changes.

Surface definitions could be changed by the defining points. Users had full access to knot points and poles. B-surface degree definition could be changed in both u- and v-directions. This was essential, as most of the input surfaces were 5th degree in one direction and 3rd degree in the other, and we HAD to match.

UG could handle cutting and pasting swatches of large models and still recognize organic faces as the same, so boolean operations would knit with no patches.

UG allowed access to the tolerance parameters of the parasolid kernel. This made it possible to work on very large models that had very small details without unravelling. 12 years ago, this was a big deal.

More???

[bat]Honesty may be the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.[bat]
-SolidWorks API VB programming help
 
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1) UG is almost nowhere. The only place I hear it mentioned is @ places like Ford or GM and (apparently) Boeing. Solidworks is popular among alot of small startups because it's cheap, usable, and is just as good as Pro|e for most things.

2) I would guess SW is cheaper, but don't really know.

3) We recruit @ RPI which recently (for political/sponsorship reasons) started teaching their students UG instead of SW. It's a giant disservice. As far as I can see, SW is more popular, Pro|e next, and some Inventor.

Pro|e is still best for know though... :)

Chris Loughnane - Product Design

 
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Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the feedback thus far. As for UG, which I am a long time UG user myself, it does seem to be fading away. This is due to a number of factors, but some of the common factors seems to be the following:

* Costs - Compared to SolidWorks, it's estimated that it's 1/2 to 1/4 of the costs - Due to this, SW is increasingly becoming more popular amongsts small to mid-size companies.

* SW is giving UG & other major CAD appicatinos, such as Catia & Pro-E a run for its money. Depending on companies needs, most CAD features are similar between the various CAD applications & some instances, may be more powerful. Of course in other instances, not as powerful either.
It's a toss up between teh cost-benefit analysis.


At least these are a couple CAD trends that I see between UG & SW. I was hoping to find more factural statistics, metrics or graphical data, but I guess there is none.

Thanks....

Jason M.
Unigraphics NX & SolidWorks Designer
 
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Jason,

I don't have much for cost information on NX vs SW but Indeed is a great place to find job trending data. If you haven't used Indeed.com before it's a meta-job search engine, meaning, it scrapes all the jobs sites out there and compiles them into one searchable area.

Here is a link to the 'trends' portion of the website where you can key in a couple of keywords and see the history of postings.

Examples:


Tony Greising-Murschel
Windows XP SP3 x86 (Don't ask)
Core i7 870 - 4GB
Nvidia Quadro FX 580
SolidWorks 2010 SP2.0
 
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takedownca:
We were in the same place, I'll bet we worked for many of the same people. I was there 1998 & 99. iMac, 17" & 21" monitors, G3 powerbook, Cinema Display. Went back to Midwest to raise kids far away from CA schools.

[bat]Honesty may be the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.[bat]
-SolidWorks API VB programming help
 
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Hi mx2street & Others,

Thanks for the info. That's the type of info. that I'm looking for. I was hoping to find more specifics though, but it doesn't appear to be any, after doing a bit of research.

But, this is a good start.


Jason M.
Unigraphics NX & SolidWorks Designer
 
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I think it's fair to say that Solid Works, Solid Edge and Inventor are most used in smaller companies with a few CAD seats.
Catia, UG/NX and Pro/E tend to be the big companies that have tens or hundreds of seats, such as the major Aerospace and Automotive companies. I can't see those companies using Sold Works, Inventor or Solid Edge because they just wouldn't handle that amount of data.
In the UK Rolls Royce Aero use NX, Bombardier (Rail) use Catia.
I work at a small company that does small rail projects and we use Solid Edge. Another similar company uses Solid Works.

bc.
2.4GHz Core2 Quad, 4GB RAM,
Quadro FX4600.

Where would we be without sat-nav?
 
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Here's something to try - search Monster and other job sites using 'SolidWorks' as a keyword, then rinse, lather and repeat using Pro/E and NX.

In my area (Massachusetts) Solidworks is now the most used software by companies that are actually hiring. It has become the standard at the biomedical device makers, and is also used, as noted, by most smaller firms. Pro/E is still used by the larger firms that got into CAD in the '90s. NX is used by Bose and other firms in this area that interact with the automototive sector.

My own personal experience includes 14 years of Pro/E thru Wildfire 4, 3 years with NX thru version 6, and 1 year with SolidWorks. The companies I have worked for create complex prismatic parts (castings and injection moulded parts mostly), so I personally don't have much experience with surfacing technology.

Again, speaking only from my own experience, NX and Pro/E have many tools available to help deal with very large assemblies. SolidWorks, on the other hand, has not impressed me with its large assembly performance. I regularly worked with assemblies with thousands of components on a 2 GB Win32 box with NX and Pro, but SW chokes unless you go to Win64 and 8 GB or more of memory. Even with that, my Quad-core Dell system performs very sluggishly with large SW models.

Having said that, SW is very very easy to learn, especially coming from Pro/E. I'm not sure the same is true in the other direction.

Sorry for getting off track, but it's my opinion that you need to know SW if you want to work around here. Small companies are usually the growth engine during periods of ecomonic recovery, and they tend to be going with SW.

Echoing what Tick said, NX has introduced some very powerful direct-face modeling that could usher in a major shift in how we think about CAD. PTC is following suit with its acquisition of CoCreate (who have been doing direct modeling for 15 years). SW is definitely lagging in this area. I think this technology is not going to replace feature-based design for a while, but it is certainly intriguing.

Ed
 
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Budgets are tighter and SW is cheaper, but NX is not completely out of it yet. The major jet engine manufacturers such as Rolls Royce and Pratt & Whitney use it effectively, as does the military division of Boeing. While I don't know how long Boeing will use it, I know that many skunk projects still do.
That said, if you don't need the power that The Tick refers to (even better now with Synchronous Technology), go SW.

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]
 
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I did a cotract stint at a woodwind instrument manufacturer. SW could no accurately model the tractrix curve that is the basis for end bells and horns. I can see why advanced speaker manufacturers would need more than SW can offer. Likewise true for optics and very sensitive aero- and hydrodynamic surfaces.
 
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Just an update - From what I can gather from my inside sources, Boe*ng military is dragging it's feet in adopting Catia, but that is apparently where they are headed. Hat's off to ctopher!

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