We work almost exclusively in CAD (Computer-Aided Design) and while there are a multitude of different engineering CAD software out there (many of which have prices that end in a lot of zeros), we will focus on the main 2 we use at Produktworks: SolidWorks and Creo (formerly Pro/Engineer), which are the predominant CAD packages in the product industry.
For all intents and purposes, these are merely (albeit, powerful) tools for us and we don’t define ourselves as ‘Creo fans’ or ‘SolidWorks fans’. We use whichever is best suited for the project. This gives us a lot flexibility when it comes to taking on new projects because some clients may have existing product lines designed in Creo or SolidWorks (in some troubling cases, both!).
It’s almost a sport in our industry to debate the merits of both packages. Both packages have allowed us to develop some great products and both packages have, on occasion, made us want to throw our computer out the window. We like Creo for its robust top-down modeling approach and complex surfacing capabilities and we like SolidWorks for its sheet metal and weldment capabilities. Both are equally bad at making us coffee though…
