Onshape

Kommentare: We use Onshape daily to design research equipment ranging from simple supports to complex machinery. It's robust collaborative system allows us to keep everyone on the same page, across teams that are in different time zones, and even occasionally different continents! The cloud based nature means we don't have to worry about someone being behind on updates, everyone sees the same exact thing every time.

Vorteile: Onshape has a relatively short learning curve, anyone with basic CAD familiarity can be off and running in minutes. Despite this, it has a very robust feature set, and interoperability with all of the industry standards.

Nachteile: Lack of organic CAM features. We like to use the same tool end-to-end, and most Onshape CAM requires us to step to a parallel toolset.

Kommentare: I try and get my clients to migrate to Onshape all of the time. The benefits I get from the software are too many to list, but some of my favorites:
No dedicated computer or server required
Built-in PDM system
Onshape always saves all of my work, all the time.

Vorteile: The best thing about Onshape is that you can use any computer, tablet or phone as long as it has a browser. There is nothing to install, no "versions" to contend with, and I never lose my work because the software crashes.
Onshape is very intuitive for those coming from other 3D CAD packages, there are just a few work flow learning curves, (working with part studios) but other than that, very easy to learn.
Another great functionality of Onshape is the built in PDM. Onshape does not only allow you to build parts, moving assemblies, and drawings, you may also upload images, PDFs, Excel sheets, Word documents, etc. The ability to keep all of your files within a single Onshape document can save hours when tracking spec sheets and other pertinent information.
I use Onshape when my clients do not have or require a specific CAD program/software, it allows me to share the data with them and smoothly collaborate at all times. Most of my clients utilize SolidWorks and I try to move them over to Onshape whenever possible. Onshape works well with SolidWorks however, when there is a need for both, it allows for a lot of other options that were not there in the past.
Lastly, one more great thing about Onshape is that they are constantly updating the software, it gets better each month. Better still is the fact that the updates are automatic, there are no patches, just open your browser and its there waiting for you.

Nachteile: The only con I can really think of would be it's limitations through the past, but this is to be expected of a brand new software program. Not having the ability to develop sheet metal parts in the beginning was rough, but I also have to say, when Onshape does deliver on what is lacking, it's always above and beyond my expectations.

Kommentare: No real benefits yet, but hopeful.

Vorteile: Support is responsive, pricing is fine, love the 'pay by the use' subscription format for advanced features seldom used like FEA. Will be a great all around CAD platform for small flexible companies like ours when its fully featured. I'm very interested in seeing what CAD designed without 20 years of baggage will look like when OnShape is mature. For the amateur, hobbyist, and students; Onshape should be the first system they learn on. Back in the day I used to steer these people to Alibre when asked for a 3D CAD recommendation because they likely couldn't justify the high entry price of SolidWorks and its maintenance. My hope is that Onshape gets this market and most of the small businesses like ours. I do recommend that Onshape come up with a lower tier plan between free and the current paid plan that allows really small organizations to grow in their financial commitment over time. Something token priced per user limited to forum support and limited cloud memory for a longer term test drive. This could accelerate Onshapes replacement of SW because small commercial users can start experimenting without the public files. Picture rouge Engineers in a company already paying for SW that might want to show something to management and shouldn't have to pay per month personally to keep a small amount of company files private!

Nachteile: OnShape is not quite ready for us to use on our bigger projects. Like watching the Matrix movies I'm dying to figure out how they keep 'branches' and the current 'versioning' paradigms and also allow part and assembly configurations that should not require an exact linear history. I really hope they do better than the Matrix movies in closing the loop. If they were more open about when we could expect 'configurations' to be ready, my team might be able to jump to bigger projects sooner. But modeling without 'configurations' is really hard for those of us who grew up on SW. It is the king of all built in work-arounds in my design methodology and the longer I try doing things in Onshape the more I realize configurations are a key requirement of mine. They also need to get conical and cylindrical sheet metal as this is sending me back to SolidWorks on some simple jobs I should have gotten done in Onshape, even without configurations. I have less Pros than Cons to talk about at the moment, but my true feelings are demonstrated by the fact that I'm still investing my time in using the software as much as I can, I'm hoping that this can be our primary CAD system in the next 6 to 24 months. SW didn't have that much to offer by 1998 so OnShape is likely comparable in its advancement along this path.

Kommentare: Cost effective modern cloud based solution that is efficient, powerful and secure.

Vorteile: OnShape is a simple-to-use yet powerful parametric modern cloud based software that allows me to collaborate easily with my team. Forget about heavy and expensive CAD work station. I've been most of all my mechanical design on a MacBook Air in Safari. As a frequent traveler, I can access and work on my model on any computer as long as there's reasonable internet connection and google chrome. The data system is so powerful that I've never experienced a single error message caused by data corruption. This was a serious problem I had with Solidworks in the past. Since it's a cloud based system, my data is securely backed up with full traceability down to every single change I made to the model. Whenever I have questions or see a bug in the system, I can easily report it to OnShape's technical using the feedback system. Bugs are usually fixed within days after it's reported. Forget about upgrading or installing new patches, it's always the latest version as soon as you login. Thanks to it's cloud based technology! OnShape is frequently updated so that patches and new features can be incorporated in no time!

Nachteile: The only issue I have is offline access to the models I have OnShape. OnShape does provide the option of exporting models into numerous formats so that you could open them with conventional non-cloud based software. However, I still have trouble opening them with common software like eDrawings. Ultimate, I would prefer to have an OnShape software on my computer that could sync the data I would like to view whenever I go offline. This is important, as I don't always have an internet connection when I need to present my models to my client when traveling overseas. So it'd be great if OnShape could look at better view-only offline support. Where I can view a read-only model and jot down comments. When I'm back online, I can edit it on my browser.

Kommentare: I think I laid out most of the benefits previously. It's an excellent CAD tool that fits the needs of my startup. In the future, I'm excited to see how the product adapts to a changing market. Are drawings going to continue to be the golden standard of conveying information? If so, I would hope that you continue to develop drawings, as they are less robust than other drawing solutions on the market (SW, AC). If we start to see a larger trend towards model based definition, will that work essentially the same as view only sharing? Machine shops will have a better answer than I do.
One thing I really miss from SW was that my sheet metal vendor had an automatic quoting add-on. I just pushed a few buttons, selected materials and I could shoot a purchase order request out in minutes. I'm curious to see how that kind of automation works its way into the product. As I've stated, I'm pretty happy with Onshape so far. Even though I have a couple small gripes, the benefit of knowing that I'm working with tools that I expect to endure better than 'traditional' CAD tools offers me enough peace of mind that we're willing to put up with a decent amount of frustration along they way if it comes.

Vorteile: I really love how fast I can put my assemblies together with fasten mates.
I really love not having to fix broken relations, or deal with other horrible manifestations of Dassault Enterprise PDM. Having a git-like structure has a learning curve, but it much easier to manage.
In Onshape, things generally behave the way I expect them to. This may seem a little straightforward, but it's amazing how frequently this isn't the case, even with historied, expensive, enterprise software.
I love how often I get to see a preview of my document as a model and not just a file name.
I love the idea (I don't get a lot of opportunity to use this feature, yet) of being able to share a model in view only mode to anyone.
I use the android app on my Pixel XL, and it runs really amazingly well, which is super convenient for those days in the shop I want to check a measurement, but don't want to print and bring drawings (mostly days I waterjet parts and need to do a small amount of post processing).

Nachteile: Needing to have internet access when I use it! Sometimes I just have a few minutes between here and there, or want to be able to work from a cafe. With software, I can just commit as I go and push when it's convenient. I understand why Onshape needs constant internet access to function, but it's occasionally a pain.
Performance has occasionally been an issue. I'm mostly using two different beefy workstation desktops (one linux, one windows, both chrome), and I have high expectations from my time working in Solidworks. Sometimes it just takes longer than I feel like it should to rotate a model or move something that has freedom within an assembly. Very small movements can be a little finicky. Same goes for selection through transparency.
The other thing I like least is the pricing model. When I was at a larger startup, we had floating licences of SW that worked really well for us. I tried to work on transitioning the team to Onshape, with one of the promises being that we would be able to save some money along the way. In the end, it would have been significantly more expensive than the floating licence system we were using, which ended up being a surprise. Sure, people can jump on and off month by month, but it's much more of a day to day, and even hour to hour thing with when people need to hop on CAD. I don't know what a better system than you have would be, to be honest, I just know it was a pain point when a larger company I was at looked into transitioning.