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 MicroStation is THE program to use for roadway and corridor modeling. Most departments of transportation and municipalities in my region require that the models be delivered in the dgn format, so it is MicroStation or bust. It is an absolute pain to use some of the add-in features though. Things that are easy in other programs like making smart tables that update with the latest information usually necessitate the use of
Axiom or similar outside programs/add-ins. I design storm sewer systems, and it takes us 6 months to train up new hires on this software, because it is NOT intuitive. You need to know which buttons to press, since it is not designed to be easily command-based like AutoCAD
Civil 3D .
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 Plethora of design alternatives to choose from right from design to completed models Detailed approach towards parametric, mesh and surface modelling Well integrated modelling workflows Intelligent parametric components with 2D and 3D designs 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 Some of the more complex models have had a few issues exporting. We've struggled with external consultants using the custom Autocad engineering tools, and it plays nicely with MicroStation. Read full review Usability MicroStation is very hard to use for our newest employees. It is not intuitive, and you need to know where to find the buttons to perform the commands you would like to perform instead of typing in the commands like other similar modeling programs. Also, it has no good traffic turning add-ins. We continue to run ALL our turning in Autoturn, since this is not a usable feature with MicroStation.
Read full review Support Rating We haven't had to use it for many years, so not able to comment.
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 The only general purpose CAD program that you can compare MicroStation with would be
AutoCAD . MicroStation, in my opinion, is a superior product in every way but one. That one issue is that there are just more people who have and know how to use
AutoCAD than there are ones who know MicroStation. This makes
AutoCAD easier to get up and running for most firms.
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 MicroStation usage is primarily necessitated by our major client who also uses the program. Without using MicroStation there would be many times where we would not be able to provide our clients with what they need. Therefore, MicroStation has had an incredibly positive impact on the business I work for as its usage has continued to secure contracts. Read full review ScreenShots