WHAT’S NEW IN SOLIDWORKS 2018

1. INNOVATIVE USER EXPERIENCE IMPROVEMENTS

• Freehand sketching with pen or touch on compatible devices
• Touch and stylus support for many design tasks
• Enhanced mouse gestures and user interface customization

Benefits

Making SOLIDWORKS® easier and more intuitive to use.

2. SIMULATION TOPOLOGY STUDY FOR OPTIMIZATION OF PART GEOMETRY

• Automatically optimizes the shape of a design.
• Considers weight, function, and manufacturing criteria.

Benefits

Fast, easy design optimization.

3. SOLIDWORKS CAM FOR CNC MACHINING

• Rules-based machining results in easy-to-learn, yet fast and powerful CAM.
• Powered by CAMWorks™: production-proven, integrated CAM for SOLIDWORKS.

Benefits

Seamlessly integrate design and manufacturing.

4. SOLIDWORKS INSPECTION SUPPORT FOR MBD

• Includes support for SOLIDWORKS MBD and non-native 3D CAD formats.
• Automatically interprets SOLIDWORKS MBD models for inspection documentation.
• SOLIDWORKS Inspection now integrated with SOLIDWORKS PDM.

Benefits

Create inspection documentation directly from 3D models with Product and Manufacturing Information (PMI).

5. SHEET METAL FEATURES THAT IMPROVE MANUFACTURABILITY

• Has a tab and slot feature for self-fixturing of parts for welding.
• Normal cut feature ensures clearance included for manufacturing.
• Corners that include three bends can be easily created and flattened.

Benefits

Innovative new features improve sheet metal manufacturing processes.

6. SOLIDWORKS MANAGE FOR PROJECT AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT

• SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional plus powerful project, process, and item management
• Dashboards and reports to manage project stages, timelines, and milestones
• Create, edit and compare .Bills of Materials (BOMs).

Benefits

Data management, project management and process management all in one system.

7. CLOUD CONNECTED SOLIDWORKS

• SOLIDWORKS Online Licensing allows easier use of your license on multiple machines.
• SOLIDWORKS Login automatically moves customized content and settings to any machine on which SOLIDWORKS is installed.
• SOLIDWORKS Admin Portal allows easier management of SOLIDWORKS products and services.

Benefits

The power of desktop with the convenience of the cloud.

8. WORK DIRECTLY WITH MESH DATA

• Perform operations directly on mesh such as Cut, Cut with Surface, Interference Check, Combine, Intersect, Split, Move/Copy, and others.
• Convert solid or surface geometry to mesh.
• Quickly fit surface bodies to regions of mesh models for reverse engineering.

Benefits

Work directly with mesh data with no need to convert to surfaces.

9. WORK FASTER AND MORE EFFICIENTLY WITH ASSEMBLIES

• “Alt” key hides faces while mating.
• Ghost mode to turn all parts transparent.
• Allow mating of parts with misaligned holes.

Benefits

Work faster without having to prepare the assembly or use special techniques.

10. COLLABORATE MORE EFFICIENTLY FOR MODEL BASED ENTERPRISE

• Import and export STEP 242 including PMI.
• Import 3D models along with PMI from all major CAD
formats.
• Display all SOLIDWORKS MBD created 3D Views in
eDrawings®.

Benefits

Speed design detailing and communication.

SMART MANUFACTURING

WHAT’S NEW IN SOLIDWORKS 2018

FEATURES FOR THE USERS, REQUESTED BY THE USERS

Great products begin with great designs—from concepts to manufactured parts and assemblies. SOLIDWORKS 2018 provides new tools and enhancements to help you get your design to manufacturing faster, with higher quality and at lower costs. From a more intuitive user interface to improved sheet metal design tools, many of the new enhancements and improvements were added based on your requests. Take a look at some of the new features and discover how SOLIDWORKS 2018 can help accelerate innovation and grow your business.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS IN SOLIDWORKS 2018
SOLIDWORKS CAM FOR CNC MACHINING

Users can now seamlessly integrate design and manufacturing with easy-to-use, world class CAM technology. Powered by CAMWorks™, SOLIDWORKS® CAM is production-proven, seamlessly integrated CAM for SOLIDWORKS that provides rules-based machining and automatic feature recognition to dramatically streamline, and even automate, CNC manufacturing operations.

WORK DIRECTLY WITH MESH DATA

Work with mesh data similar to surface or solid geometry. Combine, intersect, split, move/copy, cut with surface, and check for interference. In addition, quickly fit surface bodies to regions of mesh models.

MORE FLEXIBILITY WITH 3D INTERCONNECT

Seamlessly work with more file formats including ACIS, STEP and IGES, and automatically update your design whenever new files are received. In addition, 3D Interconnect now supports internal file information like custom properties, materials properties and reference axes.

 

NEW, MORE INTUITIVE USER EXPERIENCE

SOLIDWORKS 2018 supports freehand sketching with pen or touch on compatible devices. Enhancements to mouse gestures and user interface customization also help speed product development.

REFINED SHEET METAL DESIGN TOOLS

SOLIDWORKS 2018 includes tab and slot features for self-fixturing of parts for welding, a normal cut feature to ensure clearances are included for manufacturing, and tools to easily create or flatten corners that include three bends.

COLLABORATE MORE EFFICIENTLY FOR MODEL BASED ENTERPRISE

Speed up design detailing while also streamlining and automating downstream manufacturing tasks, such as CNC programming and inspection, by importing 3D models along with PMI from all major CAD formats, as well as STEP 242.

POWERFUL USABILITY ENHANCEMENTS FOR ELECTRICAL ROUTING

Routing is faster and easier with more detail than ever before. New features include drag and drop of in-line connectors and support for shrink-wraps and boots. Users can also now flatten a route in drawing with support for clips and disjointed routes.

SOLIDWORKS2018 provides new tools and enhancements to help you get your design to manufacturing faster, with higher quality and at lower costs.

GENERATIVE DESIGN FOR BETTER PART GEOMETRY

Utilize the SOLIDWORKS Simulation Topology Study tool to automatically optimize the shape of a design based on weight, function, and manufacturing criteria. Improve performance or reduce product weight based on simulation and manufacturing constraints.

SOLIDWORKS INSPECTION SUPPORT FOR MBD

With the enhancements in SOLIDWORKS 2018, you can now create inspection documentation directly from 3D models with Production Manufacturing Information, as well as from 2D drawings, PDFs, and TIFFs. SOLIDWORKS Inspection is now integrated with SOLIDWORKS PDM, and supports SOLIDWORKS part and assembly files (*.sldprt, *.sldasm), as well as non- native 3D CAD formats.

 

 

SOLIDWORKS MANAGE FOR PROJECT AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT

SOLIDWORKS Manage provides data management, project management, and process management all in one familiar package. It adds powerful project, process, and item management capabilities to SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional.

 

DESIGN BRANCHING AND MERGING

Users are able to investigate different design approaches without affecting approved files with the new features in SOLIDWORKS PDM. The software also helps to streamline the process of working with external users.

 

 

AUTOMATED PDF CREATION FOR SOLIDWORKS DRAWINGS

SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard can automatically create PDFs from SOLIDWORKS drawings via workflow transitions. The new features eliminate the manual creation of PDFs to enable better collaboration and help the migration from Workgroup PDM.

AUTOMATIC REVISION TABLE UPDATE

SOLIDWORKS PDM can now manage and automatically update SOLIDWORKS revision tables, allowing users to streamline their engineering change processes by reducing manual data entry and drawing updating.

CLOUD-CONNECTED SOLIDWORKS

Empower desktop computers with cloud convenience through online licensing. SOLIDWORKS Online Licensing makesusingyourlicenseonmultiplemachines effortless. The SOLIDWORKS login moves customized content and settings to any machine on which SOLIDWORKS is installed. The SOLIDWORKS Admin Portal allows easier management of SOLIDWORKS products and services.

IT’S A SMARTER WAY TO GO

The new features and enhancements in SOLIDWORKS 2018 enable designers and engineering teams to work faster than ever before. With 3D design data at the center of the process, SOLIDWORKS allows changes from design or manufacturing to flow automatically to all related CAD models, CAM programs, drawings, and documentation. Managing changes has never been easier.