The SolidWorks Devolution

Many CAM companies now view SolidWorks as their savior because as of right now most stand-alone CAM products contain outdated wireframe CAD modelers with very basic solids thrown on top. If these stand-alone CAM companies decide to make their CAM run inside of SolidWorks they don’t have to spend the money to redo the CAD in their products.

Most CAM users with a clue are sick of the weak and outdated CAD that’s in Gibbscam, FeatureCAM, Mastercam, Surfcam, SmartCAM, DP Technology Esprit, etc. and they are more than willing to look past the FACT that SolidWorks sucks at dealing with non-native solids and at giving a SolidWorks user the proper collaboration tools so they can easily understand someone else’s SolidWorks design and make major modifications to it.

It’s time for a dose or reality: Remodeling parts that you didn’t design just because you don’t have the tools in SolidWorks to understand someone else’s design intent is both dumb and stupid and so is remodeling non-native parts because you don’t have the proper tools in Solidworks to easily modify non-native solids. Why don’t you see lots of complaints about remodeling non-native solids or remodeling other peoples parts? The answer is that most CADCAM jockeys don’t want easier, more powerful “Direct Modeling” tools because it’s easy money to remodel parts and you get paid to do it! In addition, most CADCAM jockeys wish to protect their jobs and make the most of what they perceive as their value.

This SolidWorks Devolution will last as long as companies like SpaceClaim, Siemens and PTC (CoCreate) continue to do a lousy job marketing their “Direct Modeling” products. CAD marketing doesn’t get any dumber than trying to kiss some SolidWorks blogger ass just to get some badly needed exposure. Talk about a sad, pathetic state of affairs. With marketing as bad as this the folks at SolidWorks Corp. must be laughing their ass off and they have every reason to be laughing. To this day not one of these companies (SpaceClaim, Siemens or PTC) has followed my advise and setup a website devoted to showing direct comparisons of Direct Modeling tools vs history based modeling tools followed by a big advertising budget and telemarketing driving the needed points home. Many years ago PTC used hard sell tactics to revolutionize the CAD market.

Question: What has changed since PTC did this that hard sell tactics are no longer needed?

Answer: Not a thing. You want to revolutionize the way things are done you better be prepared to fight and engage in a nasty, bloody battle to get your tools accepted and adopted in the market. Kissing some lame SolidWorks bloggers ass like Dan Staples of Siemens does is one of the most pathetic things I ever seen and is no excuse for a real marketing campaign.

Smarter companies like Apple Computer who use NX CADCAM instead of SolidWorks have a distinct advantage. So do companies who use Pro/E to generate their own data but are smart enough to not use Pro/E CAM and instead use NX.

It’s gotten to the point where SolidWorks World is the place where much of the best new CAM technology is shown. I’m sure you can expect the new releases of CAM running inside of SolidWorks to be shown by CNC Software (Mastercam), Delcam (FeatureCAM), OpenMind (Hypermill), HSMWorks, CAMWorks and SolidCAM to be shown at the upcoming SolidWorks World.

The SolidWorks Devolution will only end when a company who offers Direct Modeling tools learns how to properly market and becomes the next SolidWorks or PTC at marketing. This could be anyone from PTC setting up the proper marketing campaign touting properly integrated CAM for CoCreate to a really outside the mainstream company like Kubotek with KeyCreator and its integrated CAM which Kubotek now owns and controls. It could even be SpaceClaim who figures out that it’s CAM that’s really the missing link to greater sales and market penetration. Whoever it ends up being it can’t happen too soon for those in manufacturing who are smart enough to understand the serious problems with history based modeling and that the CAD tools in the CAM systems I mentioned above are outdated and costing serious time and money.

More than anything else I think what those that are outside the SolidWorks Devolution and who really want change need are fresh faces that have the guts to tear down the history based modeling house of cards and expose if for what it is… dated technology that still doesn’t and never will be a solution that truly works well. This is especially true for those of us that have to manufacture parts that they don’t design themselves and modify those designs to make them manufacturable / make them manufacturable at a reasonable cost.

With this kind of situation being allowed to exist is it any wonder manufacturing in the U.S.A. is in so much trouble and is having such a hard time competing?