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Industry Summary Articles

Wednesday, February 07, 2018

SOLIDWORKS Users Free to Create More Shapes, More Ways with New 3DXpert™ for SOLIDWORKS®

Today, 3D Systems announced 3DXpert™ for SOLIDWORKS.  By combining the tools that designers need from 3D Systems' 3DXpert with SOLIDWORKS from Dassault Systèmes, 3D Systems provides a distinct and exclusive advantage to all SOLIDWORKS users.  The new 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS product enables SOLIDWORKS users to prepare and optimize designs for both plastic and metal additive manufacturing.

3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS provides a new layer of tools, accessible in a familiar CAD environment, making it easy to prepare and optimize designs for additive manufacturing. By taking advantage of this design freedom, SOLIDWORKS users will now be able to produce complex geometries, light-weight parts without compromising strength, and apply surface texture to deliver functional or aesthetic benefits.  Within the additive manufacturing environment, complex structures can easily become a reality, while enabling rapid product development, reduced time to market, and lower total cost of operation.

Capitalizing on the rapid advancement of additive manufacturing -- many analyst reports estimate industry revenue will top $20B by the year 2020, customers are now shifting from rapid prototyping to mainstream production.  Despite the projected rapid growth, designers are not fully exploiting additive manufacturing capabilities, simply because the way to get there is either not accessible or too difficult to navigate. 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS provides an integrated solution that streamlines preparation and optimization stages from design to manufacturing.

To effectively design for additive manufacturing, designers must shift their mindset from what they know of traditional manufacturing processes, and employ the right design tools – making design an integral part of the manufacturing workflow.

Designers using 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS will be able to:

  • Maintain design integrity by working with native CAD solids without converting them into STL, or toggling between several software programs to accomplish all tasks.
  • Optimize structures with rapid creation of lattice-based structures for light-weighting and applying surface textures.
  • Ensure quality printed parts by using real-time analysis for best-fit positioning and orientation of the part. Use of automated analysis and setting of support structures helps designers ensure surface quality and prevents part distortion.
  • Accelerate preparation time by employing automatic features such as tray setup, and estimation of material usage and build time.

"We are excited to partner with Dassault Systèmes and help customers experience the reality of 3D printing through the new 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS offering," said Vyomesh Joshi, president and chief executive officer, 3D Systems. "This collaboration enables SOLIDWORKS users to create more shapes, more ways, and accelerate product development cycles while lowering costs. We are offering designers a true competitive advantage while re-defining the design and manufacturing process."

3D Systems brings more than 30 years of additive manufacturing experience and innovative technologies to SOLIDWORKS users.  The new 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS provides a direct path from SOLIDWORKS users' designs to additive manufacturing – allowing them to become more competitive and to expand the types of projects they can design.

"We've seen a tremendous increase in the adoption of additive manufacturing," said Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systèmes. "As a result, we collaborated with 3D Systems to provide SOLIDWORKS users with the tools to help them design specifically for additive manufacturing, which requires a different set of operations and rules than more traditional, subtractive manufacturing. Available with all SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD subscriptions, 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS allows designers to be able to optimize their design for additive manufacturing, check for manufacturability without any waste of time and material, and attain a competitive advantage in the market."

Available exclusively to SOLIDWORKS customers, and included in their annual subscription, the standard edition of 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS is now available via download. Additional add-ons with advanced lattice design, lattice optimization tools, and a new 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS Professional edition are available through SOLIDWORKS' VAR network. For more information on – or to download - 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS, please visit the 3D Systems website, or the SOLIDWORKS website.

To view the original press release, please click here.

Search for SOLIDWORKS on CIMdata.com

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