TrustRadius Insights for SOLIDWORKS are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Recommendations
Users of Solidworks have made several recommendations based on their experiences with the software. The most common recommendations include evaluating other products to consider their benefits, especially for CAD software. Users also recommend utilizing Solidworks for 3D design work, highlighting its user-friendly interface and easy learning curve for new users. Additionally, users praise Solidworks for its active community and available support resources, which they recommend taking advantage of. Overall, these recommendations emphasize the importance of exploring different options, leveraging community support, and considering Solidworks for 3D design purposes.
We use SOLIDWORKS to view models sent to us from our customers, design fixtures and other tooling, and CAM. It has all of the tools and more that we need to manufacture our products.
Pros
3D Modeling
PDM
CAM
Cons
Very large files
I have a lot of issues with the fastener Tool Box
Cost
Likelihood to Recommend
Almost all of my customers use SOLIDWORKS, so it is nice to be able to open their files with a native software. But, if they use a different design software, I have not had any issues opening non-native files. From my experience, SOLIDWORKS is great for designing and detailing parts and assemblies.
The two areas that I have had issues with SOLIDWORKS are very large parts and curved surfaces, such as large stamping press dies. I have found other software that handles both better.
We use SOLIDWORKS to create 3D drawing for mainly aerospace fasteners. We need to create drawings for First Article Inspection Reports AS9102, and SOLIDWORKS is very helpful in creating 3D drawings. We use SOLIDWORKS to create mil-spec fasteners for example, bolts, screws, washers and o-rings.
Pros
Simulation and Analysis
Sheet metal Design
3D modeling
Cons
complex assembly management
Difficulty in maintaining smooth transitions between different surface patches, potentially leading to design inconsistencies.
Need for more sophisticated material properties and behaviors within simulation tools, especially for specialized applications like composites or non-linear materials.
Large assemblies can push the limits of even high-end hardware, potentially causing performance issues on less powerful machines.
Likelihood to Recommend
SOLIDWORKS is well suited for creating 3D models , It is less appropriate for Stress analysis.
We use SolidWorks for 3D design of mechanical components and assemblies. We sometimes use SolidWorks also for rendering creating the images for out catalogues
Pros
3D modeling
Manage of large assemblies
Quick rendering without much knowledge
Cons
Further improve the large assemblies management
Quite a lot of requirements for the workstation
Likelihood to Recommend
SolidWorks is perfect for solid modeling of mechanical parts and assemblies, especially if there are not too many surfaces involved in the process
SOLIDWORKS is used at my institution in order to help 3d model complex objects or new designs that are being conceptualized. For example, my formula hybrid team has used SOLIDWORKS for the past 7 years in order to design entire race cars from scratch and model every single part that is used on the car.
Pros
User Interface
Accessibility
Creating Drawings
Ease of Use
Cons
Battery Consumption
Time taken to Start
File Sharing
Likelihood to Recommend
SOLIDWORKS is really well suited for engineering design work and making sure that different parts work well together and don't interfere with one another. SOLIDWORKS does not like working with very small and repeated parts that require very minute changes, such as a meshes or microchips. It is very much suited to working on larger designs composed of smaller parts.
To Design different products having multiple Configurations and high number if components which needs to be assemble further in the later stage and have high complexity of assembly. We use complete features for designing, maintaining Bill of Material, Configuration Matrix, Assembly, Material properties, To make 2D Drawings out of it and many more features.
Pros
Isolate feature
Configuration Matrix
Material Properties Selection
Assembly
Cons
Bill of Material
Material Properties like Weight and Volume
Self Verification of Design
Design for Manufacturability Integration
Web Version of SOLIDWORKS
Mobile Version of SOLIDWORKS
Integration with Sharepoint or onedrive for data
Likelihood to Recommend
Ah! For the Configuration maintenance of the product in which lot of configuration are available, SOLIDWORKS is the best to use and switch between those configuration and the plus point is if you update one area, other will automatically update. The worst is Bill of Material feature and the integration with other cloud application like one drive etc. and they should provide the web version for the licensed one as to access few files while not on workstation.
VU
Verified User
Engineer in Research & Development (10,001+ employees)
I have started using SOLIDWORKS during my college days, and from the experience I can say that it is the first software that a Mechanical Engineer requires to study for different mechanical components due to it's simple user-interface and placing of all the features in a concise manner that even a fresher can start without any prior experiecne. Using SOLIDWORKS we can make 3D design of parts from 2D, can make orthographic views from 3D model, we can make assembly by combining different parts. SOLIDWORKS also support various types of analysis like Static, Thermal, Flow, Fatigue, Linear, Non-linear, Drop test, Buckling, as well as Mold Simulation. With SOLIDWORKS Design Library, we can also import different standard mechanical components as per our design requirements based on different codes like ANSI, DIN, ISO, BIS, etc. Plus, we can also use the animation wizard of SOLIDWORKS to view the live results of deformation or stress distribution in the parts, hence allows us to study as per real time scenario.
Pros
Simple Modelling and Assembling of parts
Contains large database of materials
Design Library to import every important standard parts, hence reducing time in designing the same
Allows every simulation, with results as per the real time scenario
Animation wizard, to view the deformation and stress occuring in a precise way
No need of manual calculation in calculating the weight and inertia of the component, SOLIDWORKS can do the work for you
Cons
With increase in complexity of the mechanical components, the solving time also increases exponentially.
With SOLIDWORKS, I can't do manual meshing by selecting the face of the components, unlike Ansys
SOLIDWORKS is a high end software, hence requires system which can support the software.
Likelihood to Recommend
SOLIDWORKS is the best software for the Mechanical Engineers, who want to design and build real time 3D models and study them in a simple way. With SOLIDWORKS I can make every mechanical components and with the help of material database I can assign different materials to each parts of my model. With the presence of Design Library, SOLIDWORKS becomes the best software in terms of importing of standard components like gears, keys, nuts, bolts, pins, washers, and structural members directly in my design interface. However, there are some drawbacks like high loading time, and increase in solving time with the increase in complexity of the model. Hence, for complex design simulations I prefer Ansys Workbench over SOLIDWORKS.
SOLIDWORKS is being used in engineering department to create solid models for our product, parts and assembly drawings later generates from solid model. Both 3D models and 2D drawings are used by other departments, and some times shared with external supplier. In certain situation, 3D model will be analyzed using SOLIDWORKS add-ons, such as simulation.
Pros
Design solid model
Generate 2D drawing
Check parts fitment
Cons
Sketch can be easier to use by adding more features
Rotation by reference would be useful feature to be added
Welding simulation would be helpful
Likelihood to Recommend
SOLIDWORKS is a easy to use 3D modeling software suitable for designing less complex parts and assemblies, creating accurate size solid model using the software gives benefits such as visualize design concept without having to create physical model, which saves time and money. Checking interference ahead of time will also improve design quality.
SOLIDWORKS is used by certain departments. Primarly, it's used by our Technical Applications team in order to perform Injection Molding draf analysis when required, on 3D files provided by customers.
Pros
While SOLIDWORKS has many features to learn, it is quite easy to start modeling if you're new to software.
The UI has always been one of my favorite reasons to use it, as other 3D modeling software provides a more "industrial" feel to the process of CAD modeling.
Cons
From the administrator side, managing licenses needs some major improvements. They offer 2 ways to manage: 1) per machine 2) online. Both are painful and need some feature development to improve both methods.
Likelihood to Recommend
As a mechanical engineer, it is one of the best tools to just start modeling and engineering with. The UI tools are intuitive and engineering analysis such Mold Analysis, FEA, are great! Other 3D CAD modeling tools have a longer learning curve to master.
All in all, if you're not planning to design an entire airplane with large assembly files, then Solidworks is your tool!
[SOLIDWORKS] is being used to create 3D models and 2D drawings. We use 3D models to create plastic parts for molding and sheet metal parts for stamping. The 3D model allows us to see how parts in assemblies interact with each other, allowing us to control the fit and feel of the assembly. 2D drawing allow us to communicate with suppliers for tool creation and QA.
Mainly used in the mechanical department
Pros
Great interface
Intuitive menus, tool bars and features
Import many file types
Cons
Large assemblies and complex part are slow to load
Limited collaboration ability
Needs a powerful PC to run it
Likelihood to Recommend
[SOLIDWORKS] is well suited to larger teams that work with complicated geometries and assemblies. EPDM integration also allows good file management and structure.
[SOLIDWORKS] is less appropriate for single users that could get similar results from a lower priced product. Also less appropriate for teams that only need the modeling basic features.
