Simulation and CAM added to make product development more complete and connected
I spend a lot of time talking to manufacturers who work in automotive, industrial machinery, consumer products and many other industries. One big thing is becoming clearer and clearer to me: manufacturers want a simpler software experience. They want one set of tools that talk to each other, so that product designers can easily pass 3D models to Engineering to simulate and test designs, and Engineering can in turn pass final designs to the production team to set up machining.
Take for example an organization like UK-based super-car maker Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) , which has to translate the beautiful concepts they develop for their vehicle into practical engineering designs that can be digitally simulated to ensure performance and manufactured on CNC machining centers. To do this efficiently they need to avoid the endless file translation and repair that a traditional workflow demands, as well as the risk it introduces to change management.
In recognition of this clear desire from manufacturers, we’re making a pretty big change to what we called our Product Design Collection – until today. We’re adding simulation and CAM tools to the very rich set of design and engineering tools already included. As such, we’re rechristening it as the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection.
Specifically, we’re adding the world-class simulation software Nastran In-CAD and the top-flight Autodesk HSM CAM software to the collection. Annual subscriptions for both of those used to cost over $7,000 per year together. But because we believe so firmly in the advantages of combining design, engineering and manufacturing, we’re adding them at no additional cost to the collection. It will remain just $2460 per year (in the U.S.).
With these changes available starting this week, the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection has all the professional-grade tools needed by any product development team to go from design and engineering all the way through production. It’s a set of integrated 2D and 3D CAD, CAE and CAM applications for product development and manufacturing planning.
Another way to look at the updated Collection is that it delivers the best Inventor experience we’ve ever offered. The professional-grade modeling and design automation tools of Inventor Professional are now paired with simulation, 5-axis CAM, and factory planning and optimization tools – all completely integrated into the Inventor experience.
Customers who subscribe to the Collection also get the benefit of a future-proofed toolset. While all updates for subscribers may not be as big as this one, we are committed to delivering continual enhancements to the included software, incorporating disruptive tools like our cloud-based Fusion 360 product innovation platform, and adding new technologies like generative design.
You also still get AutoCAD and you still get Navisworks, Vault, ReCap Pro, 3ds Max, Factory Design Utilities and more.
In short, the sum is greater than the parts, but the parts are pretty great too. These workflows extend Inventor far behind its traditional design-focus and into the world of manufacturing and help customers accomplish more. Don’t just take my word.
Here’s what Ian Briggs, the Co-Founder and Design Director, of British automaker BAC told me recently: “We make extensive use of the Autodesk manufacturing software portfolio for every part of our product development process – reality capture, design, engineering, fabrication, visualisation, you name it. The fact that Autodesk is adding simulation and CAM to the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection at no additional subscription cost is a huge boon to us and any other manufacturer who wants a complete and integrated set of software tools.”
The Product Design & Manufacturing Collection is available globally and the software included is available in more than eight languages including English, German, Japanese, French, Chinese and others.
