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How to convince boss to give Solidworks a try?

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BowHunter67

BowHunter67

Industrial
Jan 9, 2009
3
How do you get through to your boss and convince him the value that Solidworks could add to the Engineering department? I have repeatedly asked if we could add this software in our budget, and he looks at me as if I had just asked if we could go to Mars for lunch. I know there are 30 day trial packages, but I do not think he could be convinces in 30 days. I have not used Solidworks for a couple of years now, because of a change of employment. I can get my hands on 2004, but it will not run on my laptop because of the Vista thing. Plus I want to stay legal. I have thought about acquiring my own copy of 2009 student edition, to stay up to date in case any job opportunities ever come up in my area, but I am not a student.
 
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There's plenty of product literature on SolidWorks.com. Also, get your VAR out there to lube him up a bit. Have them check help sites such as these to see how much it help actual designers, machinists and engineers. If that doesn't work, try calling him a backwards, mouth-breathing, lackwit and slap him in the face. Well, maybe not the last thing...

Dan

Dan's Blog
 
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What features of 3D CAD (SolidWorks or another) do you think are beneficial for your company? Once you determine that, then you can start to put real numbers together to show your boss. If you've been telling your boss to get SW because "its cool" or "everyone is using it" those are poor examples and reasons.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?
 
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Ask your marketing department how many customers and 'potential' customers use SolidWorks (or any 3D CAD). Try to find out if your company can fill any voids you may fill with these customers.
If you manager sees that products can be sold cheaper, communication could be better, or more customers could be sought after because you have 3D capabilities, maybe he will change his mind.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08; CATIA V5
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
 
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You don't need SolidWorks for making wedding cakes. That is what you make, right?
 
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Actually I think SW would be great for designing Wedding Cakes. Especially the little swirly bits.

[cheers]
 
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I use Microstation (as I hold my nose). We have had the use for it many times over. Jobs have come up to where I have said I could design and have this equipment made in house. They go ahead and contract someone else to design and make it. There is a job right now I need it for a special piece of equipment for changes we are making to our process. I would probably save us enough money to pay for the software on this one piece of equipment. I have designed it in 3-D Microstation, but will not be able to develop sheet metal parts for a shop to make.
 
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I wish I made wedding cakes. It would be more challenging than what they ask of me on my job.
 
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Nah, NX is better for the swirly bits ;-)

"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory." - [small]Dr. W. Edwards Deming[/small]
 
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I think SolidWorks would be a good choice. Pro/Engineer is also great when designing sheet metal parts. I use both and generally prefer SolidWorks, but you cannot go wrong using Pro-E to design sheet metal parts.

Try to talk your SolidWorks VAR into giving you a free 90-day license. That should be enough time to prove the worth of SolidWorks. If you purchase SW Office Premium, you will also get add-ins such as CosmosWorks Designer (static FEA), PhotoWorks, (rendering), Routing (cables), Motion simulation, etc. SolidWorks surfacing capabilities are now almost on par with Pro-E.

I do contract / consulting work, and I currently get more requests for SW than Pro-E at the moment.

Regards,

Chris Thompson
 
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First realize that he may have a good reason to be a bit skeptical. I personally don't believe that technology makes you a better designer or engineer technology is a tool and in the hands of the inexperienced and mediocre it can actually be a set back to their efforts. On the other hand if you are already skilled in your craft then it can do wonders. Personally I believe Solidworks is an excellent tool especially in designing machinery and mechanism which is what I use it for.

Second make sure everyone who is buying into the idea has a desire to make it work.

Third show him the money. You already stated that you could pay for Solidworks from the budget of one job. If you can show the cost savings this will get his attention. Again use tact and make sure you don't overstate the savings. Remember there are costs other then the price of software associated with implementation of any CAD software i.e. training, inefficiency due to learning curve, converting drawings, setting up standards, templates, and standard parts.

Lastly even though it is not an absolute requirement. Investigate and try to factor in the cost of a PDM system especially if you will have more than one seat. We use PDMWorks and I recommend it but there are also other good PDM systems out there.

Good luck.
 
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Most companies can justify solidworks due to 2 reasons:

1) speed of use - get more work done
2) avoid costly screw ups

 
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Remember, as for cost, there is that annual subscription . . .
Training expenses should be considered. You will always want a better computer, too.

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2008 SP4
Nvidia Quadro FX 1000
AMD Athalon 1.8 GHz 2 Gig RAM

 
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Go to a local dealer and get a Personal Edition 90 day seat at one of their seminars.
Then use it to do something simple and try to show how much faster you can work with it.
I had a problem patterning a tapered feature in a complex Pro/E part, and did it with an old copy of SW in about a week.
Since we had a tight deadline, it was cost effective at that point for my supervisor to spend on the SW seat than it was for him to have me struggle for another month.



DesignSmith
 
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