Likelihood to Recommend Codeware Compress is a very powerful ASME design tool. It is very intuitive and easy to learn. Anyone engaged in ASME related design projects will greatly benefit from investing in this software. It has tools for all types of ASME code products (pressure vessels, heat exchangers & boilers). Codeware is always improving the software. New features are included in almost all new releases. Their customer support is also great. They are quick to respond to questions. The web portal has great support tools. The ability to export the ASME design into 3D CAD formats is a huge time saver. The software can also be very handy for other types of non-ASME tank design work as well. For instance, you can use it to explore leg support structures for elevated tank designs.
Read full review I would recommend DriveWorks to a college if they have similar needs to those I am personally experiencing at my university. Above all, I would not recommend it if the user needs to allow simultaneous access to a very high number of users (as is my case) since the software does not give this possibility. On the contrary, I would recommend it if a colleague needs to use software that works in the background and generates stand-alone models and prints for time reasons.
Read full review Pros Codeware Compress has a great user interface and is a very robust ASME design tool. Compress has a very well built 3D CAD export interface module that works well with SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor. Codeware has a great user support network. Read full review Integration with other systems. Ease of use. Automation potential. Program UI. Read full review Cons Add more CAD functionality to create custom support structures and support brackets (clips, ect..) Partner with a major CAD platform (such as Autodesk, SolidWorks) for an "In CAD" solution. Which would allow quick customization of the ASME design model without leaving the native CAD environment. Read full review In some cases, the exchange of documentation between different users is not so automatic. Some operations still have to be done manually. All the variables and design parameters introduced by the user are not always visible and can be analyzed simultaneously. Sometimes changing the parameters related to the characteristics of the products is not so easy. DriveWorks allows access to a limited number of users at the same time. This issue sometimes makes the use of the software difficult for many of our students. Read full review Alternatives Considered I have only tried a brief tutorial on PV Elite so I can't provide a worthwhile comparison on features.
Read full review DriveWorks is similar to some of its competitors but there are areas where it excels in comparison. For example, DriveWorks has an easier integration with other systems in terms of automation. However, some of its competitors have an easier learning curve than opposed to DriveWorks. If a skilled user has knowledge of DriveWorks then it will not be an issue.
Read full review Return on Investment Codeware Compress is a huge part of our ability to design and release pressure vessels quickly. It has greatly reduced our engineering design cycle. We have built standards that allow us to release designs to fabrication in hours instead of days. The ability to export the 3D CAD files makes quick work of developing quotes and proposals. Codeware Compress greatly reduces the chances of errors related to meeting ASME code compliance. The software developers keep the software in sync with the current editions of the ASME code. That allows users to focus more time on the design aspects of the project and less time worrying about the actual nuts and bolts of the extensive ASME code rules. Read full review DriveWorks helped us to increase the efficiency of our work thanks to the possibility to work remotely. The easy-to-understand graphical interface has allowed us to increase the interaction between our students. The impossibility of having many active users during the same session forced us to work at different times with multiple workgroups. Read full review ScreenShots