Review of Migration from SolidWorks to Solid Edge ST6

CAD specialist Jeffrey Heimgartner recently reviewed Solid Edge ST6 and focused on its ability to mass-migrate from SolidWorks. ST6’s Bulk Data Migrator, which was expanded with the update, is designed to help make the transition from SolidWorks to Solid Edge seamless – or to make it possible for users of Solid Edge to work with clients who may still use SolidWorks or other MCAD systems.

ST6 boasts that the Bulk Data Migrator “simplifies migration of competitive data to speed adoption of a stable CAD platform while protecting intellectual property.” Heimgartner put these claims to the test and found a number benefits in the migration process. 

Getting Started Resource Library. ST6 has a SolidWorks Migration Wizard (and also wizards for other MCAD solutions) with an associated resource library that provides excellent technical support.

 Specific and fast transfer process. Before transfer begins, the wizard gives you an option to save changes made to the configuration file to be saved to the existing or a new file. As the migration runs, SolidWorks opens up and cycles through each part and saves them as a DXF file. Heimgartner found that the migration of 30+ files took under 10 minutes. 

 Customizable interface. ST6 has a customizable interface which can be modified to be very similar to SolidWorks, making for a much shorter learning curve. The Command Finder is also available, which allows former SolidWorks users to type in commands from SolidWorks to find the Solid Edge equivalent. 

These are just three of the time and cost savings benefits associated with Solid Edge ST6 and the transfer process from SolidWorks, or another MCAD solution. The ability to transfer CAD data from one system to another can be extremely costly and frustrating, but the Bulk Data Migrator in Solid Edge ST6 provides a cost-effective and user-friendly way to do so. Heimgartner concluded, “I think Solid Edge has done a good job of creating tools that give companies the ability to [re-use existing data].” For more information on Solid Edge ST6, visit Ally PLM's website. 

To read more of Jeffrey Heimgartner's review, click here. 

Bridget Hatfield

Ally PLM Solutions

Solid Edge file extension changes to .tmp file due to network connectivity

Here is a complex network issue, and the steps taken in order to troubleshoot:

11)      User opens Solid Edge file (status available from a network location)

22)      After working on the file ( in this case user creates a flat pattern on the draft file and gets this error “The drawing view couldn’t be created possibly due to geometry errors in the model”)

33)      First recommendation is to go back to the part/asm model and run geometry inspector on the model

44)      Also the file extension in this test case changed from .dft to .tmp

55)      Save/Save as option greyed out. File status changed to read only

66)      We had to exit out of Solid Edge

77)      Browse to the .tmp file location and change the extension from .tmp to .dft

Here are the screen shots that were used to troubleshoot this issue: 

Navjot Gill
Applications Engineer
Ally PLM Solutions Inc

Automotive fixture design cycle cut nearly in half

Melling Tool designs better with Solid Edge. Manufacturer of tooling for oil pump and other power train components uses synchronous technology to cut design time from four to two weeks when compared with traditional history-based design.

Learn how  http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/about_us/success/case_study.cfm?Component=116023&ComponentTemplate=1481

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