SolidWorks Product Development was the focus of the SolidWorks Milwaukee Area Resource Team’s (SMART) June meeting. Sal Lama, Product Definition Team, SolidWorks Corp., was the guest speaker for this meeting. Sal shared many of the procedures that SolidWorks uses during the product development process that include, but are not limited to the following:
- High-level defined goals. (ex: Reducing CAD overhead - SWIFT was developed via this definition.)
- Product group (PDM, FEA, PhotoWorks, Animator, Drawings, User Interface, etc..) needs.
- Discussing and negotiating what features get added.
- Writing a Product Definition that includes feature functionality and testing procedures.
- Writing, testing, debugging, and refining the software code, alpha testing, beta Testing.
- Evaluation and release.
Sal also asked attendees what features they would like to see added into SolidWorks, or ideas of some features they would like to see improvements on. Sal took about 25-30 of these “enhancement requests” back to SolidWorks Corporation. These included, but were not limited to:
- More “Xpress versions” of add-ons. This led to other ideas on how to accomplish something similar such as timed trial periods, number of saves, Pay-per-use.
- Capability from within SolidWorks software, to submit enhancement requests.
- Revision table functionality, control, and display.
- Use statistics that the software can use to recommend shortcut keys.
- Suggested improvements in the functionality of limit mates.
- Mate alignment when objects cross principal planes.
- Many, many more.
There was no guarantee that any of these enhancements will make it into the SolidWorks software, but they do give SolidWorks Corp. an insight into what the end users are looking for.
Sal also took some time to go thru the thought process of implementing a new “Slot” feature into SolidWorks. This involved reviewing the following:
- Many current ways a slot could be created (Sketching individual entities, Bi-directional Offset, Feature Pallet, etc..).
- Different types of slots (straight, curved, etc..).
- Locating and dimensioning slots.
- Down stream uses for slots (adjustability, bolt-down, cam follower, etc..).
- Possibilities for automation (hole feature, smart fasteners, change slot to hole, change hole to slot, etc..). What does this affect downstream (sketches, features, assembly mating, parent references, etc..)?
- Mating to slots (coincident/tangent mates, limit mates, cam mate, etc...).
- Functionality testing (changing from hole to slot and back to hole, populating hardware, mating, etc..).
- Usability and user interface.
This meeting provided a lot of insight into the development of the SolidWorks software. It also promoted a group interaction in discussions with the presenter and other attendees.
Thanks to the area resellers, Sal Lama also completed some Customer Visits while he was in the Milwaukee Area. During these visits, Sal learned how various companies used SolidWorks, and the process they used during new product development and engineering change processes. This information will be evaluated by SolidWorks Corporation to determine if there are areas where they need to improve the SolidWorks software or expand the SolidWorks product lineup.
On a final note… When I was at SolidWorks World 2005 in Orlando, I participated in a usability study on assembly mates and the feedback SolidWorks presents to the user. All information gathered in this study influenced many of the mating icons and visual feedback we currently see, and the mate diagnostics tool, within SolidWorks.
So… If you are attending any SolidWorks event (User group or Regional meetings, Technical events, SolidWorks World, etc..) where there are opportunities to participate in customer visits, user surveys, usability studies or product feature previews, please get involved. This is your time to communicate with SolidWorks and give them feedback that can be used to help improve the SolidWorks software you and I use everyday.
SolidWorks does listen to what the user has to say!
The next meeting for the SolidWorks Milwaukee Area Resource Team (SMART) is currently planned for September 6, 2007. We are planning a meeting focused on “SolidWorks Tips & Tricks”. If you have any Tips & Tricks that you use, or have seen on a website or blog, and you would like it to be shared with the group, please send details on the tip to me and we will get it into the lineup for the meeting.
