The SolidWorks Blog

SolidWorks World 2013 Partner Profile: Software Cradle

One of the things we've heard from SolidWorks World attendees over the past few years is that you'd like to learn more in advance about the SolidWorks partners who set up booths in the Partner Pavilion. So now through SolidWorks World 2013, we'll be posting a series of blog entries about some of the partners you might think about checking out, and the people who will be representing them. Today we hear from Software Cradle.

Tell us about Software Cradle

Established in 1984, Software Cradle has been dedicated to developing practical CFD software that shortens product design lead time while enabling higher product quality and performance. As a leading Japanese scientific software developer, we have grown with its experiences, technology, and knowledgeable staff. We are now extending our business worldwide through offering our main products SC/Tetra and scSTREAM. As a leading company in CFD software, we continue to provide customers with unique and reliable solutions focused on product quality, value, creativity and innovation.

What products do you offer for SolidWorks users?

Software Cradle specializes in development of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software including SC/Tetra (unstructured mesh), scSTREAM (Cartesian mesh), and HEAT Designer (Cartesian mesh) for electronics design since 1984. Software Cradle offers related engineering services in Japan and in the U.S. Cradle products enable the users to perform high quality CFD simulation quicker and more efficient.

Why should SolidWorks World attendees visit your booth?

Attendees will have an opportunity to see things they never thought were possible from CFD software, and also enter a drawing to win an iPad.  

How can customers connect with you before, during and after the show?

1.       SolidWorks World 2013 booth number 101

2.       Website URL http://www.cradle-cfd.com/

3.       Email address info@cradle-cfd.com

4.       Telephone number 937-912-5798

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If you want to learn more about the SolidWorks Solution Partners exhibiting at SolidWorks World 2013, you can find a complete list on our website.

Still haven't registered for SolidWorks World 2013? Save $100 on the regular registration cost when you register by January 4, 2013. Also, you get three registrations when you pay for two, and as always, CSWPs and CSWEs save an additional $100. Learn more.

Want to learn about the benefits of attending SolidWorks World? You can find them here. Need help convincing the boss to let you go? We can help with that too.

And be sure to follow SolidWorks World on Twitter for regular news and updates.

SolidWorks World 2013 Partner Profile: AMD

One of the things we've heard from SolidWorks World attendees over the past few years is that you'd like to learn more in advance about the SolidWorks partners who set up booths in the Partner Pavilion. So now through SolidWorks World 2013, we'll be posting a series of blog entries about some of the partners you might think about checking out, and the people who will be representing them. Today we hear from AMD.

Tell us about AMD 

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play.

 

 What products do you sell?

AMD FirePro^TM Professional Graphics are high quality graphics cards built with leading edge technology. Comprehensively certificated and trusted by many ISVs and businesses around the world, AMD FirePro graphics are designed for professionals. With advanced technologies delivering outstanding performance and productivity, AMD FirePro is the professional’s choice for graphics cards.

 

 How can AMD graphics cards benefit SolidWorks users?

With increasing pressure, engineers and industrial designers demand only the most powerful tools that enable them to design and simulate without compromise. AMD FirePro™ professional graphics is fully certified for SolidWorks® 2013 and enables advanced workflows at an incredible value. With AMD FirePro & SolidWorks® 2013, you can experience:

• Accurate Designs with Anti-Aliasing
• Powerful Real-time Previews with RealView®
• Superior Productivity with Multiple Displays
• Advanced Workflow Performance for CAE

 

Why should SolidWorks World 2013 attendees visit your booth?

Visit the AMD FirePro Booth #611 and register for a chance to win great prizes! You’ll be able to check out our numerous demos highlighting the optimization of Solidworks solutions with AMD FirePro Professional Graphics. We’ll have giveaways, prizes, and lots of exciting demos to try out. Stop by and say hello!  

 

How can customers connect with you before, during and after the show?

Attendees can find us at booth #611 in the Partner Pavilion. You can also contact us at:

• Website: www.amd.com/firepro
• Email: AMD.Professionalgraphics@amd.com
• Telephone: 408-749-4000
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMD
• Twitter: @AMDFirePro
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AMDUnprocessed
• Company blog: http://blogs.amd.com/

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If you want to learn more about the SolidWorks Solution Partners exhibiting at SolidWorks World 2013, you can find a complete list on our website.

Still haven't registered for SolidWorks World 2013? Save $100 on the regular registration cost when you register by January 4, 2013. Also, you get three registrations when you pay for two, and as always, CSWPs and CSWEs save an additional $100. Learn more.

Want to learn about the benefits of attending SolidWorks World? You can find them here. Need help convincing the boss to let you go? We can help with that too.

And be sure to follow SolidWorks World on Twitter for regular news and updates.

SolidWorks World 2013 Partner Profile: CAD Partner GmbH

One of the things we've heard from SolidWorks World attendees over the past few years is that you'd like to learn more in advance about the SolidWorks partners who set up booths in the Partner Pavilion. So now through SolidWorks World 2013, we'll be posting a series of blog entries about some of the partners you might think about checking out, and the people who will be representing them. Today we hear from CAD Partner GmbH.

Tell us about CAD Partner. What do you do?

CAD Partner was started in 1989 and has continued to establish itself as a successful software developer and retailer. We specialize in efficient 3D-CAD software distribution for engineering and plant production. Our Smap3D product family covers everything from design administration with a standard parts library to 3D pipeline planning

Our experienced staff provides professional consulting and marketing as well as comprehensive, demand-oriented support - from standard solutions to customer-specific, complete CAD solutions! Our competent user-support offers full technical assistance in development, software implementation, training and supervision.

How do I buy SolidWorks or get a trial version?

Here at SolidWorks, we work hard to make our products easy to buy, learn and use; however, two of the most common questions we receive are:

• How do I buy SolidWorks?
• How do I get a trial version of SolidWorks?

The answer to both questions is actually the same--by contacting a SolidWorks Value-Added Reseller. Unlike many companies selling software for the consumer market, SolidWorks does not sell directly, or offer trial versions for download from our website. And there's a reason for this.

Despite being easy to learn and use, SolidWorks is a sophisticated piece of software with multiple package options and add-ons, with functionality for building everything from simple sprockets to complex cars and airplanes. When you express an interest in SolidWorks, we want to make sure that you talk with someone who can discuss your business with you personally and recommend the ideal solution.

That's where your local reseller comes in, meeting with you and putting together a personalized quote to meet the needs you have today and help you be more productive in the future. The same goes for product trials. We want to ensure that you have the best possible experience when you're evaluating our products, which is why trials are only available through your local reseller. Once your reseller has discussed the right options for your business, he or she can provide you with the corresponding trial software, and will be available to answer questions during the trial period.

SolidWorks resellers are also the first line for product support, and when you buy SolidWorks, you can be sure that you have a local team available to help you out with the initial set-up process, as well as walk you through any support issues you may have in the future. They are committed to working with you and helping you be successful.

When you contact SolidWorks directly, we will pair you with the best reseller in your area to speak with.  They will contact you directly to schedule a consultation and demonstration, and when you're ready, provide a comprehensive quote. And if you like, they can provide a trial version of SolidWorks and any of our other software solutions.

Want to try out SolidWorks? You can request a free SolidWorks trial on our website.

Want to see how SolidWorks can help you win new business and get to market faster? Request a  SolidWorks demo today.

SolidWorks Partner Profile: SolidACE

Tell us about SolidAce 

SolidACE develops applications for the SolidWorks environment, targeted to the building, plant and process, and structural design industries.  

 

What kinds of products do you develop?

Our flagship product is BuiltWorks – an integrated structural steel design add-in application for SolidWorks CAD environment. It's a cost effective, light and easy set of handy structural engineering tools that complement existing SolidWorks functionality, to help you model structural members, detail connections, and exchange steel data with third-party applications.

BuiltWorks serves SolidWorks users by extending the existing native SolidWorks functionality so that equipment or piping could be based on realistic building structures, whenever it is required. With the AEC industry specific translators (CIS/2, SDNF, OpenSTAAD), BuiltWorks makes SolidWorks a kind of data-centric solution in Building or Plant design workflow.

 How might a SolidWrks customer use BuiltWorks?

Let’s say you design the plant equipment in SolidWorks (vessels, pumps, pipes and valves, etc.). You need a structure of the plant facility or house to have in SolidWorks to place the equipment around it. The industrial building are mostly built in steel. So BuiltWorks allow to quickly design a general arrangement steel structure and use it for equipment placement.

Very often you don’t want to do a structural design if you are the mechanical designer. In this case BuiltWorks offer CIS/2 or SDNF import tools that allow you to create a building structure in SolidWorks from scratch in few minutes by importing the structural model available in these formats from a wide variety of 3rd party structural or plant design systems.

Now, when you have a building structure in SolidWorks you may want to prove its stability. However in AEC industry the analysis of structures is done not with FEA simulation but with specific code-based structural analysis applications. So BuiltWorks integrates SolidWorks models directly with worlds famous CAE (structural analysis) application STAAD.Pro for code check and design, after which you can automatically update the model back in SolidWorks with the analysis results.

And, finally, the finished building structure can be exported from SolidWorks to some other 3rd party high-end structural steel detailing and fabrication system for preparation of the manufacturing data. It is done using the same CIS/2 or SDNF formats, supported by BuiltWorks.

All these tasks are easily done when you have BuiltWorks add-in for SolidWorks.

How can customers reach you or learn more about your product?

Phone: +370 5 26 44 55 8

Website: www.solidace.com or www.builtworks.eu

Email address: info@solidace.com

Twitter handle: http://twitter.com/builtworks2011

YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/BuiltWorks2011/

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Builtworks

LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/BuiltWorks-3719404 

Catching up with customers and partners at the SolidWorks 2013 media day

Yesterday, SolidWorks hosted its annual media event to ring in the launch of SolidWorks 2013 - coming soon to a reseller near you! We featured some great customers and partners like Motoczysz, BPG Werks, Travertson Motorcycles and Objet 3D Printing. 

Dan Arnold of BPG Werks on the DTV Shredder

Members of our team had a chance to sit down with Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing of Objet, Inc., to talk about some of the cool applications of 3D Printing. 

Did you know that medical researchers are exploring the possibility of printing organs like the heart and the liver to replaced damaged organs and tissue? 

Christian Travert of Travertson Motorcycles took a moment to talk about his early beginnings as a designer and engineer. Now he creates all types of consumer motorcycles, including Jay Leno’s Y2K Jet Bike equipped with a jet engine.

For more pictures and tweets from our event, be sure to check out our Facebook page and Twitter #sw13launch hashtag. 

 

SolidWorks Partner Profile: SolidCAM

1. Tell us about SolidCAM. What does the company do?

SolidCAM is a world leader in advanced tool path generation technology (CAM) running directly inside SolidWorks. SolidCAM features a full line of CNC machine programming software solutions ranging from 2 axis lathes and 3 axis mills to extremely complex multi-axis MillTurn machines and Wire Edm.  All products run directly inside SolidWorks and provide the user with a true "SolidWorks look and feel" for ease of use and maximum efficiency.  Along with the integrated interface and scalability for new machines, SolidCAM also has its patented "iMachining" that powers users to new levels of productivity and profits, through unmatched cycle time reduction and unrivaled tool life.

2. Why should SolidWorks customers be interested in your product?

Any company looking for the ultimate competitive advantage can now experience the benefits of an affordable, extremely powerful CAM system that goes beyond the traditional benefits of an integrated CAM program, like automatic tool path updates and ease of use, to an entirely new level of productivity.  Stay several steps ahead and enjoy greater profits with our CAM programming products that let users operate at unheard of levels of material removal, while creating tool paths right inside SolidWorks or even enter into new industries where exotic materials and small tools are required.

Most people have been exposed to the benefits of working inside SolidWorks to program their CNC machines.  These range from eliminating the need to import files into a CAM system and having to do it again if the part changes, the issues with the part data coming through intact, the steep learning curve of adopting a CAM system with its own interface, and having one design model instead of multiple ones sent to other software packages. 

SolidWorks Partner Profile: InspectionXpert

Tell us about InspectionXpert. What do you do?

We are a software development company that provides automation tools for quality inspection departments. We sell versions of InspectionXpert that work with PDF/TIFF files and with CAD software such as SolidWorks.

 

Why should SolidWorks customers be interested in your product?

Most companies who manufacture products or receive manufactured products need to inspect those products to make sure the finished parts meet the original design specifications so they can be sure the parts will fit or work as intended. 

When parts are inspected, most companies print out a manufacturing drawing and manually add balloons or bubbles to the drawing to identify what should be inspected. Then they hand write or key data into an inspection report form. Those two items are used to capture the results of the inspection, so they will have a record of whether these parts pass or fail the inspection. 

InspectionXpert automates the creation of the ballooned drawing and the inspection report form either from a PDF/TIFF file or directly from SolidWorks. This usually means about 60% to 90% time savings. 

What are your customers saying about InspectionXpert?

What we hear from customers is that InspectionXpert is that it's easy to use, and is a huge time saver for them.  One of our customers told us “Even on a six- or seven-sheet drawing, with a couple of hundred dimensions, with InspectionXpert, at the most it would take us five minutes to create an inspection sheet [using InspectionXpert for SolidWorks].”

 

How can SolidWorks customers learn more about your products?

Phone:  800.379.0322

Website: www.inspectionxpert.com

Email: sales@inspectionxpert.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/extensiblecad                           

Blog: http://www.inspectionxpert.com/CompanyInfo/Blog/tabid/175/language/en-US/Default.aspx

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/extensiblecad

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/InspectionXpert

SolidWorks Partner Profile: SigmaTEK Systems

1. Tell us about SigmaTEK. What do you do?

SigmaTEK Systems LLC was founded in 1993, and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, with an extensive global support network throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. SigmaTEK is a SolidWorks Gold Partner.

SigmaTEK is the world’s leading provider of CAD/CAM nesting products and material optimization services.  We maximize investments in cutting, punching, and bending equipment, optimizing machine capabilities and run-time, while slashing scrap rates.  The result is significant and sustained improvements to productivity and profitability.

 2. Tell us about your products.

Our flagship product, SigmaNEST, is a comprehensive software solution for nesting, NC programming and cutting of steel sheet, plate and tube materials, and wood. SigmaNEST is the leading CAD/CAM nesting system for plasma, laser, punch, oxyfuel, waterjet, router, knife, tube/pipe and combination cutting machines. SigmaNEST ensures superior material utilization, machine motion optimization, and maximum part quality balanced with cutting speed, work flow integration, material handling, accurate estimates and information management.

SolidNEST is a SolidWorks Certified Gold Partner product powered by SigmaNEST.  Running seamlessly within SolidWorks, SolidNEST streamlines production and automatically produces optimized NC code. One of the key SigmaNEST features that make SolidNEST so powerful is its nesting algorithms, which support part-in-part nesting, multiple torch programming, and remnant nesting.

SolidNEST ensures efficient use of cutting consumables such as gas, nozzles, and optics by offering automating or manual tabbing, bridge cutting, and chain cutting. It also guarantees maximum cutting machine throughput with automatic continuous cutting technology.

The SigmaTEK family of products also includes SigmaTUBE®, a tube cutting software solution that runs seamlessly integrated inside SolidWorks, and SigmaBEND, enabling direct workflow from 3D sheet metal CAD model to Press Brake program and 2D blank for profile cutting and/or punching.

SigmaTEK services allow fabricators to fully leverage the capabilities of SigmaNEST throughout the manufacturing environment.  We work with companies to increase efficiency and productivity through process automation and systems integration.  

For a complete listing of SigmaTEK products visit www.sigmanest.com.

3.       How do your products add value to the design & manufacturing process?

Today manufacturers large and small are scrutinizing all aspects of operation in order to increase throughput, advance fabrication capabilities and adopt best practices in order to maximize ROI, increase productivity, and eliminate waste -- all with an eye on improving bottom line profitability.

Through our unmatched part-nesting capability, SigmaTEK delivers breakthrough improvement in material optimization, cutting speed, and responsiveness.  Our customers are experiencing new levels of material savings (at least 5% in most cases) and fabrication process efficiency with the ability to program all fabrication equipment with a single program regardless of type or brand.

A large Steel Service Center is experiencing typical benefits from our nesting software.  Employing a variety of cutting machines they site the flexibility and nesting capability of SigmaNEST as a major factor in their success.  SigmaNEST is allowing them to extend a common nesting program across all dissimilar machines eliminating the need for multiple nesting programs.  Furthermore the software is delivering new levels of throughput by increasing machine speed and run-time – all while reducing scrap rate.  

 

4.       How can customers reach you or learn more about your product:

Phone:             513-674-0005

Website:         http://www.sigmanest.com

Email:            sales@sigmanest.com

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/sigmanest

Blog:              http://blog.sigmanest.com/

YouTube:        www.youtube.com/user/SigmaTEKsystems

Facebook:      www.facebook.com/pages/SigmaTEK-Systems/187159398465

SolidWorks Partner Profile: 3D QuickTools

Tell us about 3D QuickTools

We are a group of experienced developers based in Hong Kong developing die and mold applications on the SolidWorks platform. 3D QuickTools was formed in 2002 and our history of developing tooling software began in 1993. All our colleagues have been working to help different customers in the world to meet their special requirements in tool and die design. Every year, our systems grow in terms of functions and speed that make customers happier. We enjoy this result.

2. What does your company develop?

We have 3DQuickPress for metal tool and die design, and 3DQuickStrip for strip layout modeling. We also have 3DQuickMold for plastic injection mold design.

Why should SolidWorks customers be interested in your products?

SolidWorks is the best design tool, and today a larger number of SolidWorks customers wish to continue the downstream manufacturing design process in SolidWorks. Our solutions are the best continuation of their product design. There is no need for data conversion and re-training to a new system. Customers can use our SolidWorks add-in to finish the detailed manufacturing design, either in metal tooling or plastic mold design. They can keep all the benefits of the SolidWorks and EPDM environments with our applications and data.

How do your products help SolidWorks users be more successful and productive?

Without using our mold and die solutions, SolidWorks users may not even develop a reasonable strip layout in metal tooling, or do very complex parting in plastic mold. Our unique technologies simply turbo-charge SolidWorks, making it the top mold and die solution in the market.

Who is using your products?

Today we have over 800 companies using our solutions around the world. Around 50% of our customers are in electronics, and 30% in auto parts. The remaining 20% are in medical, aerospace, furniture, marine industries. Mr. Brandon Lee of Precision Tool & Stamping tells us that "3DQuickPress allows PTS to design faster with fewer mistakes."

 

How can customers reach you or learn more about your product?

Phone: +852 2788 2832 (Hong Kong)

Website: www.3dquicktools.com

Email: danielai@3dquickpress.com

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/3dquicktools