DriveWorks Design Automation & Product Configurator software, from the company of the same name in Thelwal, is for companies where designs or orders are the ‘Same but Different’. DriveWorks software is used to automate repetitive tasks in the design process and to streamline the generation of design, manufacturing and sales documents (Pricing &Quotes) and data. It aims to help users create custom designs in minutes, not days, on any device desktop, mobile or tablet by engineers, sales teams or…
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SketchUp
Score 8.7 out of 10
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SketchUp is 3D modeling software with an emphasis on usability. SketchUp is a Trimble product.
$119
per year
Pricing
DriveWorks
SketchUp
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Free
$0.00
per year
For Schools (free with G Suite or Microsoft education account)
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.
Real estate is not really the most likely use for Sketchup, since it has so many choices and possibilities. But, it is an innovative way to differentiate yourself from the competition. The program is very well-suited to the myopic seller or buyer who can't visualize future changes and their effect on value.
Quickly exploring solutions in 3D: We get a lot of "what if" and "what would that look like" questions. While hand-sketching and hand-drafting can be fairly quick, SketchUp allows me to quickly create 3D and 2D views of a detail or solution, change dimensions and materials in a flash, and show a client or installer the plan in minutes.
Creating professional design documents in LayOut: Projects of any scale need good documentation. Using a combination of SketchUp and LayOut, I can create a Design Intent Set, plans for permitting, a set for mechanical trades to mark-up, etc. Having clear, appropriately-scaled drawings with dimensions or notations is a must, and we don't always have the time or budget to get an architect involved!
Using live files to guide discussions: Not all clients are "visual" people, so opening their model and orbiting around their space in real time has been extremely helpful. Clients and trades enjoy the perspective views so much that we often include them in the full-sized drawing sets to give a good "overall" view of the project intent. For complex or tight spaces, sometimes un-rendered plans and elevations just aren't enough!
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.
We typically wait a few years in between renewing, as even older versions are powerful tools for modeling, and we make sure the amount of feature changes are worth the re-investment.
Sketchup is so intuitive; I can't recall ever looking for official support. However, there are many user forums online that can answer more questions. The usefulness of the online forums is, however, tempered by the fact that there have been many versions of the software under different ownership and support regimes, and thus finding the right information for the right version of the software can be a challenge.
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.
It's great to give the customer an overview of how a project will look, but it will never replace the information that a blueprint or engineering drawing can convey. SketchUp is great for the casual user or someone who is just getting started in design work. Other high powered software, such as Solidworks or Inventor is more suited for 3D modeling on a regular basis
SketchUp has definitely had a positive impact on the customer experience with our company. The model can be generated to give the owner a good idea of the final product before actually committing the resources to complete the project.
Having simple models created before the work gets started in the field means that issues with elevations or odd angles can be ironed out beforehand and solved with the design team. This has greatly reduced the rework on our more complex self-perform concrete structures!
