5 Amazing things you should know about SolidWorks Electrical

You have probably heard us say that ‘SolidWorks Electrical simplifies electrical system design’, but how does the software actually do that? Well, here are 5 amazing things you should know about SolidWorks Electrical that will convince you that electrical design can be made simple:

1. SolidWorks Electrical works really well with DWG™ and AutoCAD® Electrical files.
2. SolidWorks Electrical provides a real time bi-directional link between 2D and 3D.
3. Bill of Materials and other Reports are just a click away.
4. Enterprise level project collaboration is included out of the box.
5. Easily managed and customizable Library of Parts, Symbols (blocks) and Cables/Wires.

1. Amazing DWG and AutoCAD Electrical File Import/Export

SolidWorks Electrical handles DWG files with the utmost ease. You can import AutoCAD files into SolidWorks Electrical as plain DWG or you can convert them into intelligent SolidWorks Electrical drawings. DWGs can be edited with SolidWorks Electrical and then exported out to be shared.

When you are working in SolidWorks Electrical you can export any drawing as a DWG file. The amazing part is that the export includes all the layer and related information and is no different to a native AutoCAD file.

The recipient of your DWG file will not realize that you used SolidWorks Electrical, except of course that you finished your design in a fraction of the time you used to spend working with AutoCAD!

Watch the video below to see DWG Import and Export in action:

2. Amazing Real time bi-directional link between 2D and 3D

Electrical must be the last bastion of resistance in the world dominated by 3D. Although you don’t want to see your schematics in 3D there is a lot to benefit from having the Panel, Layout, Wire and Cable routes designed in 3-Dimensional space.

The combination of 2D and 3D can bring your design together, help you plan ahead of time and avoid any last minute surprises. I don’t know about you but they used to be the bane of my existence.

To see Electrical and mechanical teams finally work together in a collaborative environment is truly sensational.

Watch the video below to see SolidWorks Electrical 2D and 3D:

3. Amazing BOM and other Reports

The hours spent manually creating BOMs, Cable Schedules, Wire List, Part Tags etc. seems to be a major part of the working life for an Electrical Designer/Engineer and has been for the longest time. To spend time typing instead of designing is such a massive waste of time, energy and money that this in itself justifies the return on investment for the majority of companies I have worked with over the years.

You already chose what you were going to use for your design, why type out the details again! SolidWorks Electrical automatically takes the existing design information and makes it available to use in your BOM and related reports. You also have the ability to slice and dice the information if you need something more customized. Plus you can extract Microsoft Excel and CSV formatted data files without any extra work. Think about how much time you could save?!

Watch the video below to see SolidWorks Electrical reporting:

4. Amazing Enterprise Collaboration

If you work with a team you know the importance of being able to work on the different parts of the project at the same time. We are not just talking about Mechanical and Electrical teams collaborating, but all departments being able to access the data, which is a great way to ensure design sanity.

SolidWorks Electrical enables you to collaborate on a project and keep all the updates being made to the project in sync: both Electrical and Mechanical. You can check out a single drawing, or a complete set of drawings, and work with confidence knowing that references are not going to break and the system is going to make sure your information is up to date all the time.

Watch the video below to see SolidWorks Electrical collaboration:

5. Amazing Library of Parts, Symbols (blocks) and Cables/Wires

Show of hands – Who likes the idea of having symbols/blocks that are assigned part information which you don’t have to recreate over and over again?

SolidWorks Electrical Library is fully customizable and shared between the entire team. Out of the box the library includes over half a million parts! And YES you read that right: 500,000+ parts! Your designs will look like works of art when your team is using the same symbol blocks. No more creating new blocks and then having to tediously change them or better yet not having to remember to change them!!

You can add your own part numbers to library component and include related information. What makes it even more amazing is that 2D and 3D layout blocks can be automatically resized based on the manufacturer’s part information for Height, Width and Depth.

Watch the video below to see SolidWorks Electrical libraries in action: