Once you get your feet wet with it you'll be in a better position to make a choice to stick with it, move to something else at the same price level, or go to the top tier solutions like NX. You get a decent solid modeler and a reasonably good CAM package for $3,700.00 a year. That is one of the reasons for suggesting something like Inventor HSM Ultimate. One of the big problems with CAD/CAM is the classic 'you don't know what you don't know' with respect to what features are available and what are important to you.
That said, you do not have the upfront cost of traditional perpetual license (software continues to work if you don't pay maintenance).īTW should have added the names Powermill and Hypermill to the original list of higher end solutions.
While I believe you should look at the offerings from Autodesk - HSMWorks (if you like Solidworks), Inventor HSM Ultimate, Fusion 360 Ultimate, Powermill, FeatureCAM - Autodesk have moved to a pure subscription model.you rent the software so it will stop working if you don't pay the monthly or yearly fee. So the ability for the CAM software to import the AutoCAD files would be crucial so that we are able to greatly reduce time in not having to sit there and draw up the part every single time.I think you will find most, if not all, of the CAD/CAM offerings will be able to import DXF/DWG format certainly NX, Topsolid, and all the offerings from Autodesk are capable of doing so. We have AutoCAD LT and 95% of the jobs we get we get the AutoCAD drawings for. A company like Siemens doesn't care about SMBs (small medium business) so all your support and teaching will be via the VAR/reseller and, in some cases, forums/websites. In the case of high end products like NX, make sure your reseller has a good reputation for support. You do not want to get involved with software based on promises of support for machines or implementations of features - what you need or think you will need should already be in place. And the costs involved in customizing if this is necessary.
Reason being you will want to find out what machines your software choices can post to. In the next tier down, an answer about CAD will help.įor the types of machines you use now and for those you are planning on I would suggest doing some homework on the 4 and 5 axis verticals and seeing what you find that, potentially, fits the bill. If money is no object, then two names come to mind immediately - NX (Siemens) and TopSolid. You say nothing in your post about CAD is this an issue? This can to a certain extent influence the answer(s) you will receive.