CATIA Reviews

CATIA is probably the most preferred 3D modeling tool in the automotive and aerospace industries. This specific surface (it can be handled well by the experienced users) is well suited to use parametric design principles and hence result in great products. One of the issues we have in the automotive industry is to work with large surfaces for body exterior (main body, gate, hood.) or interior trim (door, headliner.) panels. CATIA enable us to design surface perfectly through the lines. Also, assembly features for intricate designs (gearbox, exhaust, engine, suspension.) are more than adequate. I did not find any inefficiency while designing products with CATIA. Only the interface and handling of the menu and mouse is not the best - or at least you need time to get used to it.

CATIA works well for modeling complex designs and dealing with assemblies, and also helping with analysis for production line assembly and manufacturing through stamping, molding, injection, and others. CATIA also integrates very well with Teamcenter, the PLM software which we use in our company, making it easy to upload files and dealing with approval processes for new designs - although the time it takes for loading parts and saving could be reduced to improve productivity.

You can draw any geometry with specific dimensions, with real ease. You can then assemble those geometries together, with a of couple clicks, to have a full finished product. For example, machine parts are very very easy, we have a full vehicle modeled through CATIA. But, CATIA lacks a bit of free-form drawing. It is hard to draw, for example, a face, since it needs lots of tiny touches.

Areas where CATIA is excellent: In my opinion, if one wants to develop 3D models at a rapid pace along with illustrations, then CATIA is a good option.
Less appropriate: In the cases where you need to focus on 2D drawings, CATIA has fewer options than its counterparts like AutoCAD, which is mainly used to create 2D drawings.

At first, it can be a little complex to use or learn how to handle it, but after you have practiced it becomes very easy and simple. You can generate different parts and then assemble without any mishap or problem. In the beginning, if you do not know any other program, it can be difficult to remember the different functions, operations or buttons.

I am using this software to design relatively small assemblies. In this context, even though the software is very powerful and offers many possibilities, it would be more convenient to use a less powerful and complex software since the power required for these assemblies is not that much. However, if designing large assemblies or very complex ones, especially in the aerospace industry, CATIA is the way to go.

It is well suited for simple parts, not for more complex models.