SAP Integrated Product Development vs. Solid Edge

I have used IPD for Material collaboration, where the design and specifications were maintained as per the country need. When there is a change based on local country compliance rules, it makes easy to refer and adjust the material specifications as per the new compliance defined. Handling this for multiple materials in a go makes a difference in this tool. But drawback is that navigation of the EDP interface, where it takes more time to adjust and needs more training for new users. Like making them understand the business need and change needed takes time.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

• It allows us to strategically control operations by product monitoring and production changes.
• Gives you the ability to source upcoming products because you have a complete and total view of all resources at all times.
• It allows us to control batch management in the production process, this is a key element in our industry.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• The interface is that of your typical SAP program, it's not very user friendly to a person who doesn't use it every single day.
• Some simple Windows commands do not work in SAP PLM, such as a copy and paste.
• Right click menus generally produce unconventional results if the user is more familiar with Windows right click menus.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

We may not renew as SAP Integrated Product Development tool don't match considering our line of business with limited product lines.

Incentivized

We just need to think about where we were back in the past and where we are at now! We used to have total chaos where everyone was working their own way. Now all involved groups work together as one team. This has increased the overall efficiency and the results are really astonishing!

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Have received support in a timely and very effective manner.

Incentivized

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.

The "One Version of the Truth" Mandate: Most organizations select SAP IPD not because it has the best CAD tools, but because it eliminates the "wall" between engineering and the rest of the company. If you need to know the real-time cost of a design change or its impact on your carbon footprint, SAP IPD provides that instantly because it lives inside your ERP.

Incentivized

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).

Incentivized

• It has advanced reporting capabilities, and its analytical features have enabled efficient decision-making, improving overall productivity.
• The centralized data management system has helped improve efficiency and reduce errors.
• I would say overall, it has reduced our manual effort by at least 20%, which has enhanced the resource utilization.

Incentivized

• 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).

Incentivized