What’s New in Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS

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Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS® connects the SOLIDWORKS application to the cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE® platform, enabling you to securely view, edit, share, and save SOLIDWORKS data to the platform.

This environment enables your design team and extended teams (vendors, suppliers, and customers) to connect. Communication becomes second nature. Design reviews are a snap. And data management is built in, so everyone leverages a single common dataset.

Here are a few of my favorite enhancements to Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS.

Replace by Revision

As part of the design process, CAD components often must be replaced with newer versions or even components from other branches. The enhanced Replace by Revision dialog now presents a visual representation of the potential replacements, which lessens the chance for error and increases ease of use.

Saving Operations

The vast majority of the Save operations do not require any changes at the Save dialog level; however, the Save operation has been enhanced significantly by adding a Quick Save that is available through the legacy Save command.

The Quick Save command triggers a Save (with default options) and does not display any additional dialog. If you need access to further settings, the Advanced Save command is still available through Save with Options.

Multiple improvements to the Save with Options dialog (previously available through a regular Save command) includes but is not limited to:

  •         a summary of files affected by the operation
  •         a summary of Errors & Warnings with navigation controls
  •         additional and improved commands
  •         enhanced grid view display

This improved user interface prevents you from accidentally missing specific key information while saving and helps you fix any issue you may encounter in the process.

Materials Library Expanded

3DEXPERIENCE materials can now be used for SOLIDWORKS models. Available materials are controlled on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, and warnings are displayed if materials not included in this library are used. This helps designers make sure they use up-to-date items and reduces the risk of using the wrong material. (An optional warning is displayed when a material stored outside of 3DEXPERIENCE is used.)

Collaborative Designer enables you to securely manage and share SOLIDWORKS data and access it from any location with an internet connection. All stakeholders are instantaneously up-to-date and can see the latest status at any time and at their own convenience.

By connecting to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, designers can continue their work in SOLIDWORKS. At the same time, the design data becomes part of a unified product definition, which enables the seamless use of the data throughout the connected enterprise. As designs change, the shared common data updates automatically, so everyone stays in sync.

If you have any questions regarding the Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS, please contact your local reseller.

Jerome Marget

Jerome Marget

Jerome joined SOLIDWORKS in 2008. He held different technical roles including large accounts management before he joined the Product Management Team in 2016. He is now focused on data management products and specifically on SOLIDWORKS PDM. Jerome likes new challenges and is always eager to fix any issue. Consequently, in his spare time, you may find Jerome writing code using SOLIDWORKS’ products API to bring even more to the user community.