SolidWorks Corp.
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SolidWorks Corporation is a US-based software company that develops and markets software for design, analysis, and product data management. It is the leading supplier of 3D CAD technology. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault Systemes S.A..
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[edit] History
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SolidWorks Corporation was founded in 1993. Jon Hirschtick founded SolidWorks to make the process of product design easier. He recruited a team of engineers in 1993 to build a company that developed 3D CAD software that was easy to use. They developed the first 3D CAD technology that ran on an intuitive Microsoft Windows platform, didn’t require expensive hardware and software to operate, and didn’t cost a fortune. They provided users with an accessible, easy-to-learn-and-use CAD package that filled the market void between expensive products and low-cost, barely functional software. Hirschtick’s original team developed and released SolidWorks software by the end of 1995. Within two months, it was already winning industry-wide accolades for establishing a new benchmark for ease of use. Michael Payne was one of the founders, and he left his V.P. of R&D position at Parametric Technology Corporation to help push the development of a new parametric modeler.
SolidWorks Corporation was acquired by Suresnes, France-based Dassault Systemes S.A. in 1997.
[edit] Products
[edit] 3D Mechanical Design Applications
SolidWorks Office Professional is a 3D CAD product suite that elevates designers’ creativity and productivity by marrying ease of use with advanced 2D and 3D design capabilities. It helps companies accelerate product time to market by allowing engineers to complete more design work in less time. The new SolidWorks Intelligent Feature Technology (SWIFT) is the first CAD tool to automatically find and fix 3D CAD’s toughest challenges, enabling users to focus on design innovation, not on how to maximize the software.
The software combines: SolidWorks CAD software, design communication tools that enhance collaboration, CAD productivity tools that reduce the number of steps designers need to take, and the PDMWorks line of easy-to-set-up-and-use product data management (PDM) tools that allows SolidWorks engineering workgroups and large geographically dispersed teams to manage all of the design data they produce.
SolidWorks Office Premium provides a suite of product development tools that combines all of the mechanical design, design verification, data management, and communication tools that engineering teams need in one product. SolidWorks Office Premium includes all of the capabilities of SolidWorks Office Professional as well as routing and analysis tools, including SolidWorks Routing, COSMOSWorks Designer, and COSMOSMotion.
SolidWorks Education Edition delivers the same design functionality and ease of use as the commercial version of SolidWorks, but is specially configured and packaged for today’s engineering and industrial design students. It provides ease of use, power, and innovations that can help middle school, high school, technical vocational school, and college students master the fundamentals of engineering design and prepare them for successful careers.
[edit] Design Validation Tools
COSMOSWorks is an easy-to-use design validation tool that shows engineers how their designs will behave as physical objects.
COSMOSMotion is a virtual prototyping tool that provides motion simulation capabilities to ensure designs work before they are built.
COSMOSFloWorks is a tool that simplifies fluid-flow simulation and thermal analysis so designers can conduct tests on virtual prototypes, shortening time-to-market, and reducing resource requirements.
COSMOSWorks Designer is a design validation tool that caters to designers and engineers who are not specialists in analysis.
[edit] Product Data Management Tools
PDMWorks Workgroup is a PDM tool that allows SolidWorks users operating in teams of 10 members or less to work on designs concurrently. With PDMWorks Workgroup, designers can search, revise, and vault CAD data while maintaining an accurate design history.
PDMWorks Enterprise is an enterprise-class PDM product that supports large, geographically dispersed teams of hundreds of engineers, designers, sales and marketing executives, and others working in product development. PDMWorks Enterprise allows global manufacturers to automate workflow, streamline approvals, ensure version control, and secure the high volumes of design data they generate.
[edit] Design Communication and Collaboration Tools
eDrawings Professional is the first e-mail-enabled communication tool for reviewing 2D and 3D product design data across the extended product development team. eDrawings generates accurate representations of 2D and 3D product designs that anyone can view, mark up, and measure, without having to purchase their own markup tools.
3D Instant Website is a Web-publishing tool that lets designers share 3D models with customers, co-workers, and suppliers. Designers can instantly create password-protected Web sites that enable visitors to view, rotate, zoom, and pan 3D models and provide comments.
PhotoWorks is a rendering tool that allows designers to create photorealistic images from 3D CAD models and include them in their presentations and proposals.
SolidWorks Animator is an animation tool that helps designers communicate their concepts more effectively by creating animations from SolidWorks parts and assemblies.
XchangeWorks is a free data translation plug-in for AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop users.
DWGgateway is a free data translation tool that enables any AutoCAD software user to open and edit any DWG file, regardless of the version of AutoCAD it was made in.
SolidWorks Viewer is a free plug-in for viewing SolidWorks parts, assemblies, and drawings.
[edit] CAD Productivity Tools
SolidWorks Toolbox is a timesaving library of standard parts that uses Smart Part Technology to automatically select appropriate fasteners and assemble them in the proper sequence.
SolidWorks Utilities is productivity enhancement software that lets designers work efficiently in any design environment that requires multiple design changes and revisions. Using Utilities, designers can find differences between two versions of the same part, or locate, modify, and suppress features within a model.
FeatureWorks is feature recognition software that lets designers make changes to static geometric data, increasing the value of translated files and reducing time spent rebuilding models. With FeatureWorks, designers can preserve or introduce new design intent when bringing 3D models created in other software into the SolidWorks environment.
[edit] Specialty Design Tools
SolidWorks Routing is an easy-to-use add-on tool that gives engineers automated tube, pipe, and cable route design capabilities in one application. The package also includes a fitting library that further eases the design process.
MoldflowXpress is the first mold design validation tool that was built into a solid modeling environment. It enables mold designers to quickly and easily validate whether a plastic injection-molded part can be filled.
SolidWorks MoldBase is a timesaving catalog of standard mold base assemblies and components. The package enables designers to generate a completely assembled mold base with just a few mouse clicks.
[edit] 3D-Online Catalogs
3D PartStream.NET is the first online service that powers online catalogs of leading component manufacturers. This service allows companies to build interactive, 3D-powered catalogs that give customers access to dynamic product information, 3D models, and 2D drawings. 3D PartStream.NET customers can choose to be included in 3D ContentCentral.
3D ContentCentral.com is a free online directory of downloadable, 3D parts models from leading component manufacturers to help engineers reduce design time and bring products to market faster. 3D ContentCentral is available to all CAD users at the click of a button.
