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DESIGNING BETTER PRODUCTS WITH SOLIDWORKS PREMIUM Overview SolidWorks® Premium CAD software provides the advanced capabilities you need to design better products—from design, automation, and simulation to validation, collaboration, and data management—all in one comprehensive package.

Introduction What constitutes a better product? Depending on their job functions and industry roles, designers, engineers, managers, and manufacturers will cite differing factors as to what makes a better product. The answers, in short, are rooted in people’s perceptions—which, in turn, are influenced by their life experiences and unique sets of criteria. Although a “better product” has various meanings for different people, six key factors typically define its attributes: 1. Decreases manufacturing costs. Management, in particular, wants to create the product in the most cost-effective...

How SolidWorks Premium helps you design better products Lower manufacturing costs Management is always concerned with how to manufacture a product costeffectively. Because SolidWorks Premium provides robust functionality in a design-for-manufacturing (DFM) environment, you always have the ability to design products that save you time and money. SolidWorks software DFMXpress, for instance, is an upfront design validation tool that allows you to identify geometry that would be difficult, expensive, or impossible to manufacture by conventional machining operations, such as milling, drilling,...

DimXpert provides automated dimensioning and tolerancing in 3D per industry standards. Dimensions and tolerances are created with the correct syntax and semantics, and graphical feedback is provided to let you know when your model is fully dimensioned and toleranced. SolidWorks Premium enables you to generate better, more usable output for manufacturing. As a starting point, many manufacturers employ CAM technologies that rely on 3D CAD rather than 2D CAD data. For example, 3- to 5-axis NC machining operations, rapid prototyping, and mold design usually require 3D models that can be...

Accelerate customer delivery, beat competitors to market Collaboration is at the core of any successful business initiative. The exchange of ideas stimulates innovation and creativity, thereby accelerating product design and development as well as manufacturing and delivery. To streamline the product development process, SolidWorks Premium offers robust collaboration features and functionality. SolidWorks eDrawings® allows you to share product design information with anyone in any location by simply attaching the file to an email. eDrawings files supply accurate, detailed representations of...

When you make design changes, SolidWorks Premium automatically updates drawing views—so you no longer need to revisit all the views and manually incorporate changes in each one. If you use other CAD systems to make changes to a part, however, you must ensure those changes are reflected everywhere that part is used—from part drawings through assembly drawings. With SolidWorks Premium, you can rely on the software to implement all your changes, as well as automatically track and identify where the part is used—including which subassembly, higher-level assembly, and drawings. Large assemblies...

Instant3D is part of the SWIFT capabilities inside SolidWorks software. Combined with the Heads-Up User Interface, Instant3D greatly reduces the number of picks and clicks, providing an easier, more intuitive way to design. SolidWorks Intelligent Feature Technology (SWIFT™) is another innovative tool set that helps even a novice design like an expert. SWIFT handles many of the special techniques required in 3D modeling to ensure your geometry comes out looking as expected. Functions such as filleting, drafting, dimensioning a sketch, or even assembling parts can be confusing to a person...

DriveWorksXpress automates repetitive design tasks by capturing valuable design rules inside SolidWorks software and automatically generating assemblies, drawings, and models. CAD libraries As a designer, you spend a lot of time looking for things—fasteners, supplier parts, even existing designs within your own company. Because SolidWorks Premium provides powerful search engine functionality, you can locate and use any SolidWorks software or drawing file—whether it resides locally, in the Design Library, on the network, in SolidWorks Workgroup PDM product data management software, or online...

Specialized tools for customized design tasks SolidWorks Premium offers specialized tools for customized design activities, such as: • Frame weldments. This functionality allows you to design weldments by sketching the frame layout and choosing the structural cross-section for each member, with capabilities that include trimming members and creating welds, end caps, and gussets. • Sheet-metal parts. These design capabilities include edge flange, miter flange, selective fold/unfold, rip, tear, and auto-relief functionality. You can design in flat or bent states with equal flexibility and...

• Design checking. Before releasing your design for manufacturing, you can run it through an automated Design Checker tool, ensuring that your documentation and models meet company standards. • Other frequently run checks. SolidWorks Premium lets you find the differences between two versions of a part. You can also quickly identify and highlight problematic geometry that may affect downstream applications like manufacturing. Through SolidWorks Workgroup PDM, SolidWorks Premium also speeds up the design process. A powerful product data management tool, SolidWorks Workgroup PDM controls CAD...

SolidWorks Premium includes the following simulation and validation capabilities: • SolidWorks Simulation. Providing stress, strain, and displacement analysis capabilities for parts and assemblies, this design validation and optimization tool enables you to improve product quality by identifying areas prone to weakness and failure. You can perform first-pass design checks without incurring any manufacturing costs and validate the structural integrity of components. Providing stress, strain, and displacement analysis capabilities, this design validation and optimization tool enables you to...