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Inventor is a professional CAD package that will suite all your general MECH needs.
February 02, 2019

Inventor is a professional CAD package that will suite all your general MECH needs.

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Autodesk Inventor

Autodesk Inventor is used solely by the engineering department to spec out electronic and mechanical parts of physical goods. Overall, Autodesk Inventor is a great solution to complex assembly files that have multiple (50+) components and small parts that the overall product is made of. Use of the simulation and analysis tools are a key advantage in successful product development and one that we find to be extremely helpful within Inventor.
  • Great simulation tools included. Specifically the stress analysis.
  • Intuitive user interface and icons that are standard across various CAD programs (makes it easy to train new employees verse in other CAD programs).
  • 2D drawing creation is easy and has a robust set of features that other programs don't
  • Std Part libraries are better and easier to use
  • Sheet metal tools are not as robust as some alternative programs.
  • Surface modeling is a challenge in Inventor (compared to SOLIDWORKS or Fusion 360).
  • Assembly constraints are confusing and hard to figure out if you're picking up a project that someone else started.
  • Great analysis tools that do just as much as third part analysis tools (that used to be used).
  • Can quickly share files with others which cuts down hours of time versus "old" ways of sharing files.
  • Output to STL files for quick 3D printing and rapid prototyping is very valuable to be able to quickly iterate.
Autodesk Inventor is by far the best CAD package when it comes to mechanical design. The product development that requires small mechanical details, including electronic components. The user interface is much more intuitive and clean when compared to SOLIDWORKS or PTC Creo. However, I think Fusion 360's user interface is the most modern and intuitive (when comparing all four).

Autodesk Inventor is a great CAD solution if you're in need of mechanical designs that require thorough testing and iteration before sending them off to be manufactured. It has a number of components that allow you to create tooling and other features key to successful manufacturing. Although the file structure is sometimes hard to learn, it can be useful in models and assembly files that have hundreds of parts. Autodesk Inventor is not as good as organic shapes and surface modeling, especially for packaging design projects (for that I use Fusion 360). You can now export to a link so you can share your model with others, which is a great addition to this overall CAD package.