Bentley Systems offers the MicroStation application and product family as a 3D and 2D modeling and computer-aided design (CAD) solution for engineers and designers.
$250
Per User Per Month
Teamcenter
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Teamcenter is a product lifecycle management system designed to help organizations integrate and standardize product development processes across functional silos.
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.
Teamcenter is growing very well in active workspace as a web-based client, but again, when I'm coming from the manufacturing point of view or a Build of Processes point of view, the software easy plan still needs to improve in a way. Of course, I think they're improving it also in a good way, but it's still not yet matured so from today onwards I can simply ask my users from product resistant to using the plan and push it further. I think there we have to improve more.
It is an easy-to-use tool and integrates many capabilities to manage CAD better than any other tool.
It is used by many companies with a great global presence and that has generated confidence for us when we decided to try it, the results have been satisfactory.
The user interface of this tool is not complex, it is easy to navigate and integrates a lot of functionalities that speed up our work significantly; as well as functionalities such as sectioning, displacing, moving, positioning, transforming, among others that have a lot to do with CAD management.
It works via the web through the browser, so it is not necessary to download any application that takes up space and more resources on the computer.
Because of our current customer needs, we will most likely maintain use of Siemens PLM products for some time. Aside from the initial software cost, we pay for yearly maintenance. Maintaining our yearly maintenance licensing with Siemens, we receive access to all of the latest software releases, as well as premier technical support
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.
As previously mentioned, due to the intense amount of features and modules present in the software, the usability of the software suffers greatly. Many of the features are not used in our context, and many of the modules are not purchased, but the options are still present on the interface leading to a lot of clutter, much of which is never used. The interfaces suffer from a lack of design and tend to feel like a conglomerate of Windows 98 elements.
In the time that we have used Teamcenter we have received a good response from the support team, they have great customer service, we have solved the problems that have arisen very quickly, and they are attentive and answer us if we have any questions.
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.
Teamcenter is a more robust and faster application, with better search capability and easier customization. There is a reason you find companies using CATIA as their CAD software with Teamcenter as their PLM application! I don't know anyone who can name a company using NX with Enovia as their PLM!
Teamcenter exhibits commendable scalability, meriting an 8 out of 10. Its architecture accommodates our expanding material science firm seamlessly. With modular expansions and flexible configurations, it adapts well to increased data volumes and user growth. However, while robust, occasional complexities arise during extensive scaling, hindering a perfect score but substantiating a high ranking for its scalability.
