SOLIDWORKS, a company founded 25 years ago by a team of engineers in Massachusetts, began with a dream of building 3D computer-aided engineering software that was easy to use, affordable, and easily accessible.

At the core of their founding values was a desire to stay close to clients, listen to their needs, and continuously improve the technology.

It was that continuing desire to evolve, to provide the technologies needed today to accelerate the innovations of tomorrow, that led to the creation of 3DEXPERIENCE Works. This program expands SOLIDWORKS capabilities from merely a design tool to a complete product development platform, spanning multiple disciplines and uniting entire teams.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform is a collaborative environment that empowers businesses to innovate in entirely new ways. It combines all aspects of product development, including design, simulation, manufacturing, management, marketing, and sales, centralizing the company on a single platform for increased collaboration, best execution, and accelerated innovation.

3DEXPERIENCE cloud-based solutions allow team members to

CREATE using comprehensive 3D design capabilities within a single modeling environment.
DESIGN building complex designs with secure, convenient cloud-based data management to accelerate progress from concept to production.
MODEL with the 3D SCULPTOR to create ergonomic and organic shapes easily and quickly.
DRAFT with an advanced 2D and 3D CAD system to easily, quickly, and efficiently create, edit, view, and mark up any DWG file. Share designs, collaborate, review, and revise designs virtually anywhere, with work securely stored in the cloud.
PLAN unifying business processes as leaders and stakeholders get progress updates, task turndown, and resource usage for complete visibility into project progress. You can dynamically add dependencies, update timelines, and set milestones to ensure projects stay on track. CAD data is attached to tasks, so it's easy to maintain version control and track progress.
PROGRAM managing CNC machines, accessories, tools, and tool assemblies in 3D, which speeds up NC programming, minimizes errors and maximizes machine tool utilization.
INFORM by aggregating information from online sources and comparing and analyzing shared metrics with your team. A sizeable online content source library lets teams track topics of interest, analyze trends, and even automate analytics to send real-time alerts.
VALIDATE examining how products will behave in real life, guiding engineering decisions, and optimizing product performance.
OPTIMIZE with improved workflows in a collaborative environment. Optimize scheduling and resource allocation, prevent bottlenecks, and achieve near 100% machine utilization, with complete visibility and traceability of the entire manufacturing process.
COLLABORATE uniting team members across locations within all disciplines in a secure, shared environment with communities, instant messaging, information dashboards, powerful search capabilities, and other features.
MANAGE utilizing comprehensive data management, lifecycle management, revision and version control, workflow/route management, issue and change management, review and markup capabilities, and task management.

Today, 3DEXPERIENCE Works technology is used by over five million people worldwide, spanning 12 industries ranging from industrial equipment to aerospace, automotive to consumer goods, serving companies and corporations as well as startups, makers, individuals, and students.

RISE™Robotics is one innovative startup that has harnessed the platform's power to bring its ideas and dreams to fruition.

Familiar with SOLIDWORKS from their time as students, the team utilized its tools to optimize concept and modeling from the start, bringing to life their revolutionary discoveries. Today, 3DEXPERIENCE Works is assisting them in the commercialization and launch of their first commercial product, the RISE™Cylinder—an electromechanical alternative to hydraulic systems in heavy machinery—while positioning them to scale it in new collaborations to fit future applications.

"I would emphasize how collaboratively we use it," Toomas Sepp, VP of Engineering and Co-Founder at RISE™Robotics, explains. "We're a small startup team, but we have about 10 SOLIDWORKS users at this point. Most of them are working on a single design as we bring our first product to market. We're talking about a single assembly many people can enter simultaneously, often with different files checked out by each person at any given time and seamlessly integrated once parts are checked back in. We can rest assured that the model is what it is. It's a seamless integration of changes across the whole user base."

Following their successful launch, RISE™ is now using SOLIDWORKS 3DEXPERIENCE capabilities as they pursue new collaborations and expand the reach of their technology.

"We're always thinking about the next steps and where we're going," says Toomas. "We have plans to grow. We're looking to double in size over the next year. We're on the verge of winning or have just won multiple government Air Force contracts, as well as creating business relationships with a few key manufacturing companies in the industry where we're going to attack new markets.

"We have multiple new projects that will kick off over the next few months. Relating that to the SOLIDWORKS platform, we're looking into the product lifecycle management functionality, enterprise resource planning functionality, and just building our supply chain as we get into manufacturing. Keeping those feedback loops quick and fast will be of utmost importance to us as we begin our foray into manufacturing and putting these products out into the field."

To learn more about SOLIDWORKS 3DEXPERIENCE and how an innovative young startup, RISE™Robotics, has used the tools to develop, commercialize, and scale for the future, listen to "3DEXPERIENCE Works role in the Small Business Startup Ecosystem" live now on the RISE™Inside podcast.

SOLIDWORKS 3DEXPERIENCE - Empowering Companies To Innovate In Entirely New Ways

Kyle Dell'Aquila