It’s Better to Have Multiple Tools Available
Most of my career I’ve been dedicated to a single CAD tool. I specialized in that, and got to know the software really well. There’s something to be said about very detailed knowledge about a tool you use to make a living. I used SolidWorks pretty exclusively from 1996 through 2010 or so. Being a real expert in a stable program had a lot of benefits, and offered a lot of exposure and enabled me to accept a variety of work. It worked out well for that period of time
But there also comes a point where you need to diversify a little. That point has to come before you need it, because you can’t become proficient in a new CAD system with a new way of working overnight. I can tell you it’s hard to go from being a guru to being a noob. That’s a difficult transition, and you don’t want to be there long.
You never know when the bottom is going to fall out of one tool, and you can only find opportunities in another tool. Fashion changes quickly in all industries, and even though CAD users tend to stay with a particular software for longer than it might be useful, you’ve got to keep an eye around you for other things that become available. Especially when you see little indications in the industry that signal a change.
When change happens, there are two ways you can approach that change: Let someone else determine what you’re going to do next, or Make that decision yourself. As for me, I’d like to make that decision.
Sometimes due to mergers, or needs to work with a particular partner, companies wind up with two CAD packages in the engineering department. You need to be one of the people who learns both. I can’t say that learning one program helps you run the other program, it more than likely divides the amount of brain cells you can dedicate to each, but it does double your opportunity.
I personally don’t believe that I’m completely in control of my career. If I were, I can think of things I’d rather be doing. So to some extent chaos, chance, or unpredictability is in charge. I’d bet that the same is true to some extent for you. If you were completely in control, you could afford to put all your eggs in one basket, but I think you’re better off with multiple irons in the fire, and learn to be a little flexible.
The next question becomes which other tool to pick up? Solid Edge, Creo, Fusion360, Onshape, IronCAD, NX, Catia…? That’s really up to you, but I obviously picked up Solid Edge for various reasons. First, it’s similar to Works in a lot of ways, but synchronous technology makes it much more flexible. Also, Solid Edge has a connection to NX, should you need more power at some point. Fusion360 is a great choice because it has a lot of other tools integrated into it, and it’s cheap to get started. Onshape is trendy, with the cloud and all that, and will give you a good introduction to keeping your data in a database. Creo has an established base, a lot of history in Pro/E, and access to a lot of other PLM options (as well as IoT).
Many of these tools have free versions, or offer free software to anyone who’s not a big company. Do yourself a favor and pick a second favorite, then run through some tutorials in it. Regardless of which you picked or why you picked it, having a back up or a Plan B can’t hurt.
“Sad fact” is that there is only 24 hours in day. To be master more than one CAD system needs a really big desire and commitment.
And end of day what is the big point? CAD is great tool to help materialize our minds, perhaps is better to focus ideas instead of method?
Today I think we can conclude that CAD itself is almost ready. Major systems differ less and less. And if another system has some nice features so what? Will you going to change “every month” your primary tool because of screenshots?
I believe that any parametric user should be confident in the ability to pickup any other parametric software in a short time. The differences are mostly UI and command workflow.
That said, while being a SW user, I found Rhino3D an essential software to work concurrently with SW.
One can also look at companies that you would want to work at, whatever they are using, is what you decide to learn.
Learning Solid Edge helped me be a better with SolidWorks user. Solid Edge opened my eyes to SolidWorks’ worst weaknesses, and I found methods (primarily RMS) to efficiently overcome those issues.
p.s. Having a backup plan is good advice for life in general. I paid my way through college by being a machinist, and not only has it been an invaluable foundation in engineering, but there have been multiple times when there wasn’t much engineering work, but plenty to be machined.
CATIAl!!?? You must be joking. I challenge you to contact Dassault Systèmes and ask for information about CATIA. Dollars to doughnuts they won’t even reply to your request. If they do, when they find out you’re just a single seat, they will rudely blow you off. BTDT