Category: CAD Mngmt

How did you learn SolidWorks?

In a previous article, I recently asked for the opinions of others about the best methods to train new employees for SolidWorks.  So far, the response is split between “on the job training with a mentor” and “VAR taught introductory courses”.  This is a bit of a surprize given the emphasis placed on VAR based training these days.   Do others question of the value of VAR training?  Is it effective?  Or, is VAR training just not worth the costs or the time away from work?  My own experience is that VAR training classes do not necessarily give the best benefit to new users.

The responses made me curious about something else.  How did current SolidWorks users learn the software?

How did you first learn the SolidWorks application? (Pick the primary method)

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

SolidWorks Labs: Watchit Widget

Watchit!Watchit!SolidWorks doesn’t just make CAD software.   They also make Yahoo! Widgets.   One cool widget from SolidWorks Labs is Watchit Widget.   This widget tracks when changes to watched files.   When Watchit detects a change, it populates its window with information about that file.   This is useful in environments where two or three CAD users are sharing files in a single network folder.   I think this is the intended use.   As a bonus, this widget is also good for CAD Administrators who want to make sure network locations for support files are kept intact, as it not only tracks files, but also whole folders.   The admin can track if additions are placed into the Materials Database folder (say from materials downloaded from Matweb.com).   Such notification would allow the admin to then take that file and incorporate it into the company’s material database.   It would also allow the admin to detect if some user has “accidentally” modified the SolidWorks template file.

Note, it might seem that this sort of application works best if placed in a corner in the “second” monitor of a dual monitor computer system.

Future of Enterprise PDM

DS logoIn a recent article, I expressed concerns about the current state of PDM, especially for SolidWorks. There were particular questions posed regarding the long term outlook for Enterprise PDM.  The concern is that Dassault Systemes’ plan for PDM solutions may be different than SolidWorks Corp.  If that is the case, the Enterprise PDM may not be viable long term solution.

My worries where not allayed in a recent presentation by Noam Ktalav of Dassault Systemes (DS).  He was asked about where Enterprise PDM fits into the DS product offerings.  His answer didn’t fully address the question.  Instead, he talked about Enovia and its scalability.  Needless to say, official word regarding Enterprise PDM from DS is very mixed.

Jeff Ray offers insight on this topic

Jeff RayThis prompted me to contact SolidWorks Corp for a clearer picture, as least from their perspective.  Jeff Ray, CEO of SolidWorks Corp, was able to provide some interesting insights.  He exclaimed that statements from DS about Enterprise PDM are mixed.  Ray did offer hope that something is being done about this.

[There is a] very intensive effort between SolidWorks and Enovia for a clear road map.

SolidWorks Corp is working hard to lay out a clear plan for its customers. Ray discussed the need for a long term strategy.  SolidWorks Corp does not want to force a decision on customers that may eventually lead to a dead end.  This would bad for SolidWorks Corp, bad for reputation of individuals who relied on the solutions offered by SolidWorks Corp, and bad for the companies that implemented those solutions.  Instead, Ray declared,

We need to give people a scalable answer.

Ray then stated that he wants to optimize the user experience and “hide the plumbing” of the software.  He doesn’t want to let technology get in the way of the user experience.  He elaborated that users shouldn’t have to be IT experts or even require extensive reliance upon IT departments just to manage their data.

So, a solution that will address Enterprise PDM’s place in the DS universe is coming.  As to the when and in what form?  Answers will be forthcoming soon.

And what of SolidWorks Workgroups PDM?

During my interview with Ray, I also asked about SolidWorks Workgroups PDM (aka PDMWorks).  He clarified that development of the application has hit the limits of the technology behind it.  It is not worth the effort to continue to extensively develop the application further.  He stated that SolidWorks Corp will continue to support Workgroups PDM and any customers that choose to use it, but that the limitations of the application need to be clearly explained.

Jeff Ray and CATIA/SolidWorks translator

Jeff Ray, CEO of SolidWorksJeff Ray recently commented about SolidWorks/CATIA relationship in an interview with Ralph Grabowski (seemingly misquoted by Deelip Meneze in his article):

Customers are fed up with not being able to share data between Catia and SolidWorks.

Grabowski then predicts, “at some point, a translator will be delivered.”  But this apparently is not a comment made by Jeff Ray himself.

Lunch with Jeff RayIn the discussion that Jeff Ray had with the bloggers at the Blogger Event in early August, there was a hint that a translator between SolidWorks and CATIA isn’t good enough. Does this mean that SolidWorks needs to be able to natively use CATIA files (and vice versa)?  Is something really coming that will address this long standing issue?

Deelip MenezeMeneze, in his article commenting on the Grabowski interview, goes on to list several reasons why making a translator between SolidWorks and CATIA is doable right now.  Meneze does this in the context of his statement,

Dassault Systems has made laughing stock out of SolidWorks and its customers.

Matt LombardThis was followed up by Matt Lombard who proposed,

This is of course a business decision, not a technical decision, ratcheting customers toward Catia rather than toward SolidWorks. Just like the version incompatibility ratchet.

Well, I’m not sure these are entirely accurate statements.  I’m under the impression that Dassault Systemes is aware they are losing business because their two major 3D CAD applications do not fully communicate.  Some large customers (who will not be mentioned here…but there’s a clue here) have standardized with CATIA for the high level 3D CAD work, but continue to use a Ralph Grabowskilist of other 3D CAD applications that does not include SolidWorks.  One likely reason is that SolidWorks cannot use CATIA files, where their competitors can, as Lombard rightfully points out in his article.  So, Jeff Ray is right.  Something has to be done to correct this issue.  Thank you to Grabowski for stirring the pot.

Ya’no, if Microsoft ran their business like this, we’d still see Lotus 1-2-3, Word Perfect, and Netscape lining the shelves at the local computer store.  Why as Dassault Systemes allowed this gaping hole in their product line to exist for so long?

SWW09: Focus Groups (Drawings and Sheet Metal)

As previously mentioned, I attended two focus groups (also called roundtable discussions) this year.  These are generally held on Sunday before all the major SolidWorks World activities begin on Monday.

Sheet Metal

The first group I attended was for sheet metal functionality.  Though attendence was very light, the number of different methodologies and opinions was high.  My own interest in the topic is the problem with being forced to use assemblies to fully document sheet metail parts with inserts.  This is an issue because if you start a drawing of a part, you cannot later replace that part with an assembly.  So, if you create a sheet metal part with no inserts and then you need to add inserts on some later revision, you are forced to recreate the drawing practically from scratch.  This is a horid time and resource sink.

Others in the group talked about using K-factors to determine the material used by the sheet metal part (for flat patterning), while others disregarded K-factors in favor of bend reduction techniques.

One request that seemed to get common acceptance is the idea of creating a table of all the bends of a part with their full characteristics, with the ability to highlight each bend by clicking on it within the table.  When this table is on a drawing, it was suggested that details be added to a specific layer.

The session  also revealed that some used work arounds to use the SolidWorks model to instruct sheet metal tooling to perform certain actions (either via direct or translated input).  Some use alternative features which do not match the final design in order to instruct a tool to produce the feature desired in the final design.

One work around solution did come out of this session.  Right now, the material mass number changes from bent state to flattened state.  Although this difference is minor, over a large quality of parts, the error multiples and can create issues in part handling.  Use a non-configuration custom property to link to the the material property (of a specific configuration?).  Use this custom property as the source for the mass regardless of the configuration or part state.

Drawings

A large portion of the drawings discussion revolved around printing and saving issues with Drawings.  It seems many people are experiencing similar problems.  When saving as a PDF, views randomly disappear.  When printing as a PDF, text locations get shifted.  Also, changes to parts at lower levels of an assembly may cause errors and view changes in higher level assembly drawings; meaning the the company has to open up all levels of a product’s assemblies to make sure that any change did not affect the drawings in unexpected ways.  It seems more people are having these kind of issues that I originally thought.  Many of the problems are magnified by use of PDM’s.

The meeting also focused on DimXpert and how to handle its dimensions.  One comment is that it should place dimensions per current standards within the model.  Another comment noted that datums and feature frames should drive the model.

I voiced my other major concern as well.  Symbols from the Gtol.sym library file should be stored within a drawing.  Right now, I cannot give native drawings to others outside of my organization because they will not be able to see symbols that we employ.  When a symbol is used within a drawing, it should be included in that drawing’s file and not require editing of any other user’s Gtol.sym file.