Technicom evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of Autodesk Inventor 2011 and Solidworks Premium last year. The results of said test have been under some debate as to their authenticity since Autodesk paid for the results. I didn’t feel that was too big of a concern, since as I said at the time, everything you read about is paid for by someone, in some manner. I felt that it was a reasonably fair evaluation, and was quick to step out of the occasional squabbles that persisted for a time.

Technicom has again been paid to evaluate the areas where Autodesk performed better than Solidworks. You might consider this like cheating, but think about it. No one is arguing the point where Autodesk lost out. In an 8-part series, Technicom’s president, Ray Kurland, is writing an article to show more specifically how the Softwares differed in performance and capability:

  • Plastic Part Design
  • Plastic Injection Mold Design
  • Assembly Design and Analysis
  • Exporting BIM-ready Models
  • Interoperability
  • Design Automation
  • Mechatronics
  • Fortunately, workflow videos are included, which help everyone get a better understanding of the issues. I like this because you shouldn’t have to be an expert in both systems in order to understand the results. More importantly, design professionals skilled with an particular vendor’s software, can more accurately make their own determination.

    Do you care who ‘wins’? I care, like I care about Autodesk’s success. As far as I’m concerned they could both win. Let’s face it, Solidworks makes a fantastic product, and anyone who says otherwise is clearly an idiot. It’s like a good automotive race. You get all riled up about team spirit, and go yell and scream. However, when the fans and nut jobs go home, and the dust settles, what is more important to evaluate are the key factors that made a difference in the outcome of the race. Ok, maybe not you, but definitely me.

The question shouldn’t be which application is better, that’s completely subjective and juvenile, The question is “which application provides a better outcome, or more natural workflow” or “which application saves me a significant amount of money throughout the design process?”.

I encourage you to read the series and see for yourselves the differences and workflows between the two MCAD vendors, and then leave a comment here about what YOU see as a significant result of each test.

Kurland’s Blog Series on Raykurland.com