SW Guy on Inventor, MDT or Catia?

I'm a self employed that just became an employe of a company. I am used
SolidWorks as a self employed but the new companyi using something else.

They are using MDT 6, claiming that MDT 8 is not stable (is the 6 stable??).
They have licenses of Inventor 6 but claim that this is not stable and they
should better stay with MDT 6 rather than moving to Inventor 6. They have
there licenses of Inventor 8 but did not tested it.

They are in the aerospace industry and could buy Catia too. Catia is more
appealing for potential clients but cost much more. They could just afford
one eventually and whould have to deal with the fact that we could be a
couple of staff using cad system which could be a problem with just one
Catia license.

This is a big problem. Stayong on MDT is an advantage because the structure
and templates are already working. However, they are pain slow and it
sounds not realy appealing to client.

Moving on Inventor could be a nice move but they claim it is not stable.

Moving to SW is easy to me (I do support and training on it) and I can
manage every aspect of it (including FEA analysis that we plan to do).
Morehover, SW is a property of Catia and I know it can handle the job well.

Question: Can Inventor 8 handle the job as good as SW2004? (stability and
features)

Question: is Catia as fast as Inventor or SW on modeling and drafting? (I'm
not talking about power but basing prismatic modeling)

Question: Is Catia FEA module as fast and easy as add-in in Inventor or SW?

If anybody can help me in part of this big problem, I don't expect anyone to
help me in all these area. I am just an expert on SW and cosmosworks.

Robin
mech eng
tmhcanada

 

I have the latest version of MDT 2004 DX (version 8 of Autodesk's Inventor
Series) and it is very stable. I recently analyzed the mid-ranged modelers
(SE, MDT, SW) and SW was the clear choice. MDT is dead! The sooner the
switch over to a robust modeler, the better your project history will be,
reducing legacy data conversions. The big thing which sold me on SW was
"configurations", the other packages required an add-on to perform this
functionality (SE may or may not, but 2 years ago I was told "UG and
"Fusion" was their solution). The positive switch over from MDT to whatever
will become apparent when the old MDT ways of thinking are quickly and
easily dropped. Using the interlinking of features and variables is a
blessing.


--
Keith Streich
Pflow Industries, Inc
5045 North 35th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53209

(414) 462-8810
(414) 535-2195 x124 Direct
(414) 462-2673 FAX

 

Robin,

Good luck. In 18 years I have never been sucessfull in converting am
ACAD/MDT group to anything else no matter how superior it was. Unless
there was an influential manager (that actually had some cad experience)
that saw the pitfalls of the old system, and had the motivation to carry
the ball for switching to a new/better system. So go find that guy and
get behind him.

ca

 

Robin,
I would get trial of SW in order to check it out. Then you could use
XchangeWorks which is free for you. This allows you to load in a plug in for
autocad or MDT. This will allow you to bring in SW files, Pro-E files and
Unigraphic part files into MDT.

 

Keith,

Apparently YOU did not evaluate Solid Edge as it does have configurations,
and you apparently talked to the UG sales group.

Ken

 

At the Engineering and Design Show in Chicago! I told them want I wanted to
do (automatically suppress or swap components based on dimensional or load
conditions) and they stated SE couldn't do it, but UG could, but only with a
add-on called "Fusion" or "Fission".

Keith

 

To answer a couple of your questions:

Inventor 8 is lacking in configurations, e-drawings, and surfacing in
comparison to SW. But Inventor can handle prismatic parts as well as
SW. From what I've been told Inventor takes less clicks to get the
job done, has an easier interface to learn, and is slightly better in
the detailing department. I would suggest using SW for consumer
products, and IV for machinery. We use Inventor 8 here along with a
couple of other programs and it's been a very stable release. I
suggest talking to a VAR of both and have them set up your computer
for a demo. Both SW and IV are very picky on the computer systems and
that could be leading to the stability problems they're seeing.

Catia V5 has a clean interface and should be easy to learn to use and
make prismatic shapes if you've used SW. I would be wary of the price
of Catia. The basic package for Catia is slightly over SW and IV, but
the add-on modules get pricey.

 

They both have strengths and weaknesses, but Inventor & SW are both pretty
capable programs. MDT, on the other hand, deserves to be taken out behind a
building a put out of it's misery.

If I were starting from scratch my preference would be for SW, but....

If I were managing the department, and you offered me a choice of SW at $5k+
per seat or Inventor at $0 per seat (since it's already paid for), you'd
have an awful hard time convincing me to spend the money...