Alarming Poll Results: Why Are So Many CAD Users Limiting Their Performance with Desktops?

In early August 2011, the good folks at Cadalyst.com asked their audience, What type of computer do you use primarily for CAD-related work?” As of October 29, there were 1,453 responses: “Standard Desktop” and “Desktop Workstation” were tied at 35%, followed by “Mobile Workstation” (11%), “Standard PC Notebook” (9%), and “Mac” (7%). Why are so many CAD users missing out on the ability of workstations to improve their performance?!

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Document Your Current Productivity for Future SolidWorks Performance Gains

I recently read a white paper by the folks at SolidWorks called “Ten Strategies for Becoming an Effective CAD Leader”.  The one that called out to me, and seemed most compelling to share with you, is “Strategy 7: Document and analyze productivity.”

We all talk a lot about improving our CAD performance, but most of the time we don’t even have a baseline against which to judge. If we’re not analyzing where we are on a regular basis, how can we know where we need improvement or how far we’ve come?

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An Overview of Common Performance Issues for SolidWorks

Every SolidWorks user wants to do more, faster, with fewer mistakes. Here’s a quick look at the top performance issues SolidWorks users are facing and some advice on what you can do about them.

Loading any 3D Data in Creo Elements/Direct

See how a 3D data from other systems are reused and change into a new design with Creo Elements/Direct from PTC.  Any 3D-data imported to Creo Elements/Direct is treated as native data where Fast – Flexible – Open is the trademark. Watch the example below.

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Solid-State Drives: A Simple Solution for Solid Performance Gains

As  Lynn Allen of Autodesk told me once, CAD users “feel the need for speed.” Working with CAD applications and data files, however, can sometimes make you feel like driving in rush-hour traffic. The bottleneck may be caused by your storage setup.

If you regularly open and close large applications and data files, and/or run other applications—email, Excel, a Web browser, etc.—in addition to CAD, there’s a good chance that a solid-state drive (SSD) could dramatically boost your performance.  Read full article »

Feeling Lucky? A Trip to Vegas Could Boost Your CATIA Performance

While travel budgets remain tight, I’ve been writing a lot lately about the benefits of industry events as a way to hone your CAD skills and get a good dose of peer motivation. For CATIA users, a trip to the Dassault Systemes Customer Conference (DSCC) could be just the performance boost you need.

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An Overview of Common CATIA Performance Issues

All CATIA users want to increase speed and accuracy—without paying more than they have to for performance improvements. Use the advice in this paper to meet your performance challenges and boost your overall productivity.