DriveWorks vs. Designcenter Solid Edge

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.

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Well Suited for:

• Integrated designs performed by multiple designers simultaneously (designs requiring a Product Lifecycle Management system);
• Designs requiring a high degree of parameterisation;
• Large companies where specific standards and best practices are applied to all models and drawings created.

Not Well Suited for:

• Personal use in designing one-off models and drawings;
• Small business use where very few of the expensive features are actually used.

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• Integration with other systems.
• Ease of use.
• Automation potential.
• Program UI.

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• It has very good user interface in classic or ordered environment.
• In 2D or drafting, you can give any Geometric tolerancing and symbols to any dimension. There is a wide range of options available.
• You can convert any files in step file (.stp) and can open it in other designing applications easily.
• After converting 3D drawings in 2D you can make changes in 2D drawing by converting it in the draft. You can also add details like cross-sections and detailed view.
• You can directly make threads without creating holes.

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• 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.

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• Being used to 2-key and 3-key commands from the keyboard, it would be nice if this was more robust in Solid Edge. The capability of programming keystroke commands exists in Solid Edge, but it would be more user friendly in that regard.
• Editing hatches can be a challenge.
• I'm not a fan of the ribbon bar, but that seems to be a feature across software platforms in Windows.

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As mentioned previously, Siemens Solid Edge is not the most user-friendly of products at all. It requires intense training to make sure that the basics are understood, and after that, there are numerous other training interventions needed to be able to perform expert-level CAD functions. The GUI is not intuitive, as many other packages are, and the features built-in are not well defined. The process to use many of these features is counter-intuitive and requires a mind-shift.

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I have been involved with support and training of Solid Edge for 24 years. Given that I based my business model on support, and have been successful for all these years, I know excellent support. Siemens support for Solid Edge, "GTAC", is the definition of support for a product in every aspect.

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.

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FreeCAD is often better than Solid Edge 2021 when converting files, but I hope this changes with 2023 NX is overall more powerful, but that is to be expected (and you cant add it above because it is too short for whatever reason).

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• 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.

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• It took about 20 hours of use to get the basics of Synchronous Technology, and with just a basic competency I was able to make useful changes to the design. One of those changes was impossible to do our other CAD program.
• My use lately has mostly been on personal time and self-driven, so learning other aspects and features of Solid Edge has been slower. Creating a drawing for a part required a few hours to learn and do the first time, but luckily there were YouTube videos for examples. With practice, I would expect the time to reflect what it takes in SolidWorks (about 30 minutes).

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Independently Invited by TrustRadius

A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info