CADCAST: Recent Episodes
Nick Sweeney
CADCAST is your all-CAD podcast. On this show, Nick Sweeney takes you around the world of CAD to talk about SOLIDWORKS, PDM, 3DEXPERIENCE, 3D Printing, Simulation, and everything in between. Guests will be a fixture on the podcast as well. We'll be bringing in professionals from GoEngineer and all around the Dassault channel community.
I finally got Paul Gimbel on the podcast! This week, Paul joins the show to talk about his adventures as a DriveWorks implementer, and some of the coolest things he's done with the tool. Stay tuned for some great reasons why you should attend DriveWorks World 2023 and what sessions you can look forward to.
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Back for 2023 with a new episode recapping 3DEXPERIENCE World 2023 in Nashville! We had a ton of fun in Nashville with everyone and learned a lot about the future of the Platform and the strength of the community. Tune in to find out what Darin and I took away from the conference and what's coming in 2023 to get excited about! We're excited for Dallas in 2024!
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It's a valid question and one that Nick posed when talking about SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023. But Jeff's back for another episode because who else would be the guest for a SOLIDWORKS PDM 2023 discussion? Find out which enhancement neither of us originally included in our top 5 enhancements but is probably the best one of the entire bunch!
Be sure to check out Nick's What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2023 blog that he referenced throughout the show.
Happy Holidays!
We're back with a new episode! This week, Brian Reel, our director of design engineering solutions, joins the show to talk about his 5 favorite enhancements in SOLIDWORKS 2023. The best part? These are 5 examples that almost everybody is going to love and they will make your models way easier to work with.
Can you imagine never needing to get ink cartridges for that annoying printer ever again? That would be amazing! Well, 30 years ago, nobody was thinking that way. In fact, we've gone from needing paper copies of every drawing to using things like Google Photos to store our family photo albums!
This week, Joe Frank and Jeff Sweeney return to the podcast to talk about the past, present, and future of data management. Tune in for a fun conversation about how much life has changed and to find out why we're excited about how we'll manage our files in the future.
I'll admit it, I honestly wasn't aware that bag phones were a thing in the 1990s... But what I am aware of is SOLIDWORKS Electrical and how it makes schematic designs in 2D and 3D much easier than it was 30 years ago when we had to draw everything on paper! This week, Corey Kubichka joins the show to talk all about SOLIDWORKS Electrical, where it's been, and where we're excited to see it over the next 30 years!
Making the decision to move to a new CAD tool can be difficult. What are you going to do with all that legacy data? What about the new system, will it handle your files cleanly? Luckily, if you're looking at transitioning to a Dassault tool, we've got you covered. This week, Brandon Nelms and Keith Schaefer join the show to talk about how you can prepare to transition to a DS tool and what kinds of things you should be doing as you prepare for any kind of system change!
I promised this a while back and we're finally getting around to putting this episode out there. This week, James Reeher joins CADCAST to talk with me about large assembly performance, video games, and why you shouldn't rage quit your CAD software. Sometimes, having the right tool for the job is all you need.
Linus Tech Tips SOLIDWORKS hardware video
Can you imagine what it would be like to know the status of anything about your company without having to be physically at work? That's the power of DELMIA, being able to understand your manufacturing process without that whole pesky "you gotta be here" restriction. This week, Mike Buchli from Dassault Systemes joined the show to help introduce both me and you to DELMIA, DELMIAWorks, and why this is something for anybody, not just the biggest companies in the world.
A few months ago, I talked about 3DEXPERIENCE and how it's going to affect people going forward. From a PDM perspective, they're certainly different tools, but how is SOLIDWORKS CAD affected by the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform? The short answer is... not much! Sure, the data management changes and how you find files, but working in CAD isn't going to change much at all. What's the long answer? That's what we'll talk about this week - how do you "CAD" with the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform?
Have you ever seen something in gone, "how did they make that?" Well, that's exactly what I thought when I saw Kit MacDonald's LinkedIn post about making a Koffing. I thought it was so cool that I had to bring him on the podcast. This week, Kit joins me and we talk about the best Pokemon, how to approach complex modeling problems, and how you can make learning fun. Also, stay tuned for a bonus tip from Kit that EVERY SOLIDWORKS user can use.
Ever wonder what goes into making a Top 5 3DEXPERIENCE World Presentation? Well, wonder no more! This week, Ryan Field joins the podcast to talk about what his inspiration was behind a presentation all about mates. Stick around for some talk about mates in SOLIDWORKS and how you can make the most out of them in your assemblies.
We've all heard it over the last 2 years. With constant Zoom calls, Team's meetings, and Skype discussions, we've had to adjust and adapt to working from home. This week, Chris Snider joins the show to talk about some of the challenges we've had to overcome and how we can make this hybrid work environment better for everyone going forward.
Have you ever opened a large assembly and thought, "man, this is slow!"? Well I promise you, you aren't alone. That's one of the most common questions I used to get on support. "My SOLIDWORKS is slow, how do I make it faster?" Brandon Nelms joins the show to talk about large assemblies and how we can improve our performance when we're working with them.
Spoiler alert - "slow" isn't necessarily always SOLIDWORKS's fault!
Any time we can get a computer to do our job for us, it's a good day. This week, Joe Blubaugh and Don Glaske join the podcast to talk a little about SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWORKS and demystify this really cool product. Learn along with me as we talk about what the tool does, how it works, and how you can get started with a tool that you already own (yeah, like right now!).
"Never remember something you can easily look up." If there's one thing to take away from this episode of CADCAST, it's keep a backlog of your work so that you can plan for what's next. That's what Derek Lawson and I talk about on this episode. We talk about planning out any project and what we've found helps make them successful. We also talk about how our process has evolved and how we specifically plan for some DriveWorks projects.
3DEXPERIENCE World 2022 has come and gone and there's a lot they covered this week! Throughout the conference, I was taking note of some key points that I think will be important going forward and that's what I want to talk through today. This week, we recap 3DEXPERIENCE World and talk about what this all means for the future of SOLIDWORKS.
Do we really need drawings anymore? Why can't we just interrogate our 3D models and use something like eDrawings to review our dimensions? Well that's what I want to talk about today. Jay Pinheiro and Bryan Pawlak join the podcast and we dig into if we really still need drawings and what it could look like going into a world without drawings.
Does CADCAST have a 5-Timer club like SNL? If it does, we've got our first member of the club! Jeff Sweeney joins the podcast once again to go through his top enhancements for the latest release of SOLIDWORKS PDM. He starts off by telling me about my biggest omission for my what's new list and then we talk about some other enhancements that we think will have a huge benefit to PDM users.
We're back! Under a new name and a whole new (well kinda new) set of topics, the CATI podcast has returned. To kick off the CADCAST era, Nick Sweeney breaks down what you should expect from our new podcast. Then, he gets into an interview with the President and CEO of CATI, Rich Werneth. They discuss CATI as a brand, why InFlow was ultimately absorbed into CATI, and what they're excited about for 2022.
No, I don't have any news to share with all of you, but I do have some information! People always want to talk about how they can prepare for a SOLIDWORKS PDM implementation. When should they have their servers ready? What should they be doing with their data? All good questions, so I dove into those topics and more last week on my Innovation3D presentation about preparing for your SOLIDWORKS PDM Implementation.
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Get ready for Innovation3D! CATI's event all about innovation is already underway with exciting presentations happening each day. Next week, I'm doing 2 presentations and wanted to give you a sneak preview. First, we'll talk about getting ready for your PDM implementation. Then, we'll dive into preparing for your migration into SOLIDWORKS PDM.
Don't forget to sign up for Innovation3D, hope to see you there!
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
"Let me Google that for you." That's one phrase that works for almost any question. So it's no wonder people are hesitant about calling support sometimes. What if they could have found the answer themselves? That's what we're talking about this week, how you can find answers yourself. Justin Maxwell and John VanEngen join InPod to talk about tools you can use yourself, great resources for finding information, and what keeps them coming back each day to help more users.
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Let's be honest, it can be fun to break stuff! Sometimes it's a great way to blow off steam, sometimes it's just interesting to see how it breaks. I love simulation tools because it makes it so we can break things virtually, without worrying that maybe it's a little excessive. This week, Joe Formicola, founder of CAELYNX and the VP of CAE solutions at CATI joins the podcast to talk CAELYNX. We talk about the origins of the company, how Joe got where he is, one of his favorite studies, and why we're so excited about CAELYNX joining the CATI family.
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
There are 2 main steps for getting started with SOLIDWORKS PDM. The first is installing and configuring the tool, server side. The second is getting users set up and to buy into the new solution. We're going to talk through that second point. Let's talk through setting up your users, what the installation process is like, and what you can do to get them onboarded faster.
Get in touch with the show and follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Why? It's a question even a little kid can ask. Well with PDM, every engineer is like a little kid again. "Why do I need a license?" "Why are we using these big workflows?" You get the idea. This week, I tackle 3 common questions I've been getting a lot lately. Today, let's talk about templates, updating assemblies, and workflows.
I did a presentation earlier this week that was diving into how DriveWorks Solo saves you time and money. I thought the content was worth sharing with all of the InPOD listeners as well, so let's talk about what makes Solo such an appealing tool. I start off talking about how you should think about DriveWorks, how to get started, and finally, I take a dive into an example. If you want to play with the example from the webinar, check it out here: https://driveworkslive.com?project=Demo-Cupboard
Check out the InFlow YouTube page to watch all of our webinars! And don't forget to signup for our upcoming webcasts - https://www.inflow-tech.com/events/
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Is worth a pound of cure. Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, disaster can strike any company at any time. When that happens, it's incredibly important that we have a disaster recovery plan in place. The biggest key to that? Backups! This week, Joe Frank joined the podcast once again to talk about what we should be doing to ensure we have solid backups and why it's so important.
If you want to read up on backups, check out this blog post on the InFlow blog: https://www.inflow-tech.com/blog/2021/03/backing-up-pdm-the-minimum-requirements/
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Nobody likes change. So it's no wonder that whenever I talk with engineers about new tools, they're a little hesitant. This week, Lynn Allen was kind enough to join the podcast to talk about her latest substitute to AutoCAD - DraftSight! If you've never heard about DraftSight, this is the perfect episode for you. Lynn and I talk about what makes DraftSight such a great tool to look into, some of her favorite features in DraftSight, as well as address one of my biggest questions for the engineering world.
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
We've all had to make adjustments this last year to how we work. One of the biggest ones is learning how to work from anywhere. That's what I want to talk about today, working from anywhere with your data management tool. This week, I talk about cloud hosted vs on-premise. Additionally, I talk about what you can do with tools like SOLIDWORKS PDM to access the vault from anywhere and how the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform gives you a fully portable solution.
Make sure you check out Kyle's Blog about hosting your environment. And also look at what Joe wrote (link pending) about how you can make working from home feel (from a performance standpoint) like working at the office.
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Last week, we had part 1 of my conversation with Heather Hasz and Bridie Mills. This week, we continue the conversation and talk a lot about growth and development with careers. One of the big topics we discuss is getting people into a "design automation headspace". Once people learn what automation can do, they become and automation junky. Make sure you tune in to hear a little bit about my experience with a DriveWorks internship, as well as a little bit from the team about how we view internships and earning your experience.
Make sure you register to attend DriveWorks Drivers on March 11th!
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
A few weeks back, I logged into the DriveWorks Community and I realized the page had changed! Come to realize, there were a whole host of updates to the DriveWorks Community and they're pretty sweet. This week, I wanted to talk with DriveWorks about the actual community of DriveWorks users, the EDU program and much more. Heather Hasz and Bridie Mills join InPOD to talk about some exciting stuff happening in DriveWorks. Tune in next week for part 2!
Make sure you register to attend DriveWorks Drivers on March 11th!
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
New servers and getting everything ready for an upgrade is a big deal. Some people get so nervous about it that it almost seems like rocket surgery! This week, I brought Ryan Dally (The Professor) back into the podcast to talk about PDM servers. We talk about Archive servers, Database servers, and go into every detail you could ask for. Let's dig into server recommendations, moving servers, and even what to do if you want to get better connections for remote locations!
Check out the Server Requirements page on SOLIDWORKS to check that you're up to spec!
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
That's right, the biggest event of the SOLIDWORKS and Dassault year is coming up in just about 2 weeks! I love 3DEXPERIENCE World. It's a great place to learn about Dassault products, network with other users, and get an idea for what to expect coming up in the next year. This week on InPOD, I talk about what 3DEXPERIENCE World has been in the past, as well as what you can expect for this year with virtual 3DEXPERIENCE World.
Make sure you register for the event! - Register for 3DEXPERIENCE World
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Wait, InPOD on a Thursday? That's right! Yesterday, before starting the recording, I got news that DriveWorks released 18.2. I wanted to take a few minutes to go over what's new, so that's where we start today. However, the main topic is DriveWorksXpress. Today, I dive into how you can get started, why it's a great tool, and what you can do next.
If you're interested in learning the tool, check out this free training and certification from DriveWorks: https://driveworksxpresscertification.com/
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and be sure to follow me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Flexibility is key with SOLIDWORKS PDM. We're flexible about how we can access our files, store our data, and so much more. One topic that's come up a lot recently is flexibility with our versions and revisions in PDM. This week, I take a dive into versions and revisions. I start by talking about what a version is, how can we manage the potential high volume of versions, and why they're a great tool. Then, I take a look at revisions. I talk about what creates a revision, having a major-minor revision process, and lastly, tying these revisions into you SOLIDWORKS revision tables.
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and follow me on Twitter - @NSweeney_InFlow
Can you believe it's 2021? With the start of a new year, I thought it would be a good time to make an episode to talk with all of you about SOLIDWORKS licensing. This week, Will Kefauver joined InPOD once again and we talk about SOLIDWORKS Standard vs Professional vs Premium. Additionally, we talk about network licensing vs standalone, and even spend a few minutes talking about SOLIDWORKS cloud options.
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and follow me on Twitter - @NSweeney_InFlow
The holiday season is still in full swing, so I've been thinking about fresh baked cookies all week. But have you ever thought about how many cookies everyone that opens the cookie jar is eating? I wondered the same thing and then wondered how many files people are downloading from my PDM Vault and then what they're doing with them (the holidays are lots of fun in my family). Well for the 4th time this year, Jeff Sweeney is joining InPOD to talk with my about file security. We talk about everything from no security, all the way to the full security of Curtain e-locker. And finally, we talk about the solution right in the middle of those 2 - CacheMeter.
Don't forget to subscribe to InPOD and follow me on Twitter - @NSweeney_InFlow
Different tools do different jobs. Do you want a Honda or do you want an Acura? Both are cars, but which one does the job you need it to? This week, Tim Ramos joined the podcast to talk with me about a CAD tool not called SOLIDWORKS, but actually CATIA. We talk about practical uses of CATIA, where is shines, and what makes it so powerful.
From everyone at InFlow, happy holidays everyone!
Follow and get in touch with me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
There's a really cool book out there called "Every Tool's a Hammer" by Adam Savage. While the book isn't necessarily about using a screwdriver as a hammer, I think it is an interesting idea. We want to use tools in a way that's effective and can get the job done, even if that means the wrench next to us is a hammer sometimes. Today, let's do an InFlow review of every tool I've talked about so far. We'll do a quick pros and cons list of SOLIDWORKS PDM, Manage, 3DEXPERIENCE, DriveWorks, and CATIA.
No system lives in a silo. I've spent time on previous episodes mentioning different ways we can talk with other systems with SOLIDWORKS PDM. This week, I wanted to take a shallow dive into how we would do this using other tools. I talk about DriveWorks and the different integration and Powerpacks that are available. After that, stick around to hear how the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform uses iPaas to send data to and pull data from the platform. This data can live virtually anywhere, which is part of what makes iPaas so cool!
Follow and get in touch with me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
It's been a while since I took a deep dive into a SOLIDWORKS PDM topic, so I figured I would jump back in with an upgrade discussion. This is probably the topic I cover the most. This week, I'm going to go through why you might upgrade, what that means for your servers, and some of the key points to consider when looking to upgrade.
Follow and get in touch with me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
I talked about 3DEXPERIENCE a few months back with Jordan Tadic. It was a great episode, but it left me wondering what was next. Fortunately, I've spent a lot of time over the past few months learning and growing my knowledge of the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. This week, I brought in Mike Farley to talk with me about getting started with the Platform. We talk about the foundational roles that are your starting blocks and how you can get started with the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform quickly and easily.
Follow and get in touch with me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
I mentioned that DriveWorks released version 18.1 a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't wait any longer, so this week, Aaron Winthers makes his InPOD debut, along with Derek Lawson, and we talk about our favorite enhancements. This isn't an ordinary service pack release! It's packed with great new features, including new dashboards and templates. Tune in and find out what function enhancement will help take Derek's rules from 75 characters to just 10!
Follow and get in touch with me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Wrapping up our series of What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2021, we go through Simulation this week. Bill Reuss and Robert Warren join the podcast to talk SOLIDWORKS on a floppy disk (what?!), the coolest flow update you didn't know about, and SOLIDWORKS matching up with the industry standard terminology.
Get in touch with me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NSweeney_Inflow
October is winding down, but we've still got some fun What's New coming at you. This week we took a short detour to talk about one of my favorite things we do at CATI/InFlow - Manufacturing Solutions. Everything from 3D printing, to scanning, to making parts for orders, we cover it all. Greg Austermann joins the podcast this week to give us an overview of what all of that means, as well as share the CATI feel-good story of 2020.
Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review wherever you get your podcasts!
Get in touch with me on twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Jeff Sweeney, Ryan Dally, and Mike King joined me on InPOD this week to talk about what's new in SOLIDWORKS PDM and Manage. Everything from phone interruptions to what's new, we cover it all. We go through the enhancements we're excited about and why these enhancements are so great.
Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review!
Get in touch with me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Last week was my Top 10 enhancements for SOLIDWORKS 2021. This week, Will Kefauver joined me on InPOD and we talked about what his favorite things are about the latest release. We talk about how SOLIDWORKS has made it so we don't have to jump between so many tools, how it's evolved to be like a mature girlfriend, and so much more.
Follow and get in touch with me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Every year at our rollout events, we like to do a "Top 10 Enhancements". This year is no different, as we're doing several top 10 sessions during the virtual events. But I didn't want anyone to feel left out if they can't attend. This week, I take a look at my top 10 enhancements for SOLIDWORKS 2021. All month I'm talking with people around InFlow and CATI about what's new. But I covered everything this week from SOLIDWORKS to Composer, and of course, PDM.
Follow and get in touch with me on Twitter: @NSweeney_InFlow
Tomorrow starts October which means it's rollout season around the SOLIDWORKS community. And instead of doing in-person events this year, we've gone virtual. At InPOD, I'm going to be talking about What's New in SOLIDWORKS 2021 each week and going over some of the cool enhancements. We'll be going around CATI and InFlow to talk about the different features, as well as bringing in some new guests to the podcast. Check out the CATI and InFlow websites for more information about our rollout events!
Implementing a new system can be a daunting task. On top of that, it's not always easy to get rid of an old system. So wouldn't it be great if you could augment your SOLIDWORKS PDM and just add in some dashboards, advanced bills of materials, maybe project management, and advanced processes? Well that's exactly what SOLIDWORKS Manage does. In this week's episode, Joe Frank joins the podcast and we talk what makes Manage an appealing option for people that want to get more out of their PDM.
If you've been bit by the automation bug like me, you want to automate everything. Manual processes can be redundant and error prone. Using tools like DriveWorks, we can standardize our processes and make a big impact. Tom Wormald joins the podcast this week and we talk about how the customer journey can look like for someone investigating DriveWorks. We talk about certifications, the flexibility of the tool, and some fun things we've done.
CATIA! SOLIDWORKS is a great tool for modeling all kinds of different things. I've mentioned before that I modeled my coffee table in SOLIDWORKS and love creating different things I see. This week, I talk with Howie Distel from the InFlow sales team about another modeling product we offer - CATIA. When we start talking about assemblies with several thousand components, SOLIDWORKS may be a little bogged down. For those large industries, CATIA fits right in, giving a solution for things like planes, trains, and automobiles. While CATIA is great for anything from jewelry to factories, the flexibility of CATIA makes it a product worth exploring.
Picking up right where we left off last week. This is part 2 of my conversation with Jordan Tadic of Dassault Systemes. This week, we talk a little bit about the data management side of the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. We talk about tenants, collaborating with other users, how easy it is to add tools, and so much more.
If you want to try out the free trial of SOLIDWORKS that Jordan referenced, click here and create your account. Or, if you want to check out the platform and get a free trial of the design tools, check it out here.
I teased this episode a few weeks back and I'm finally ready to release it into the wild. This week, Jordan Tadic joins the podcast to talk about the Dassault 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. We talk about what the platform is, some of the cool CAD aspects, and about collaborating on the cloud. If you want to learn a little bit about the future of Dassault, be sure to tune in to part 1 of the conversation.
Did you know InPOD has a drinking game? Me neither! This week, Jeff Sweeney joins the podcast once again, this time to talk about working with different data sets. We take a look at using the BOM Export in both PDM Standard and Professional, as well as working with XMLs, homemade tools, and even writing a little code. And he gives some insight as to how you can participate in his favorite drinking game!
Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review, as well as tune in each week!
Have you ever tried out the SOLIDWORKS Beta program? You haven't?! Well then let me talk with you about how to get started. The Beta program is a great way for you to try out the latest version of SOLIDWORKS before it's released to the public. You can see all the new features, try out the great time-saving tools, and provide your feedback to the beta development team. It's available to anyone on active subscription, so check out the SOLIDWORKS Beta Program Website and get started today!
For more information about the SOLIDWORKS PDM Beta, send an email to epdmbeta@3ds.com
This week, Derek Lawson joined the podcast. We talked about all kinds of things revolving around a tool we both love - DriveWorks! We talk about Derek's start in industry, the beginnings of his use of DriveWorks, and finally, what we are excited about going forward with the tool. That includes virtual reality, using DriveWorks to replicate our favorite HGTV graphics, and InPODs favorite new topic, Superheroes!
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This week, I want to talk about some of my favorite features in SOLIDWORKS PDM. I've been covering them the last few weeks on the InFlow Blog and they are Delete vs Destroy, Branch and Merge, Copy Tree and Move Tree, and Versions vs Revisions.
I'm going to talk about these features from a high level and give you a use case for each one. Now my favorite things will be some of your favorite things in SOLIDWORKS PDM!
I get the question all the time: "How do I do XYZ in PDM?" And I always respond with, "why are you wanting to do XYZ?" This week, Brandon Nelms joins the podcast to talk about his adventures of building toys with his kids (and using work to do it), what we look for when talking to customers and discovering the "how" by asking "why", and being creative with his videos on the CATI YouTube Page.
Design and process automation is something I geek out about. No matter what tool I'm talking about, I know that if we do it right, it's going to help the people that need it. This week, I'm introducing another tool that we support at CATI and InFlow - SOLIDWORKS Sell. I brought in Bob McGaughey and we talk about what Sell is, what it can do for you, and what makes it a great tool.
Data management is a big topic with the podcast. No matter how you want to manage your data, InFlow Technology has a solution that can fit what you need. But what are those solutions? SOLIDWORKS has so many options, can we just talk about data management from a high level? Well this week, Kurt Lundstedt of Dassault Systemes joins the podcast and we do just that. First, we talk about the start of SOLIDWORKS data management. Later, we talk about the evolution and expansion of data management. And finally, we talk about a survey SOLIDWORKS ran in 2015 about why customers don't have PDM. You don't want to miss it!
Ever wonder about the different levels of DriveWorks? There's Xpress, Solo, and Professional. But what does all of that mean? This week, Nick is going to walk you through the different levels of DriveWorks. If you haven't seen it already, this was a recent topic on the InFlow Blog.
Be sure to check out the DriveWorksXpress Certification at https://driveworksxpresscertification.com/.
Selecting your PDM administrator is a really important part of getting started with SOLIDWORKS PDM. This week, Justin Webster joins the podcast to talk about the different traits and things he's learned throughout years of training administrators. We talk about different options you have and what makes a good admin. Don't forget to like, rate, and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Last week, I published a blog about PDM Standard that has received great feedback. So this week on the podcast, I wanted to go through some of what I mentioned in the post about how you can save money (and time) with PDM Standard - a free tool. I've gone through PDM Standard vs PDM Professional in the past. And this week, I asked Mike King from the InFlow Solutions team to join us and we go through what we love about PDM Standard, where we see it getting the most use, and why you should look at implementing the tool today.
Don't forget to subscribe and follow us wherever you get your podcasts!
Check out my blog post here: https://www.inflow-tech.com/blog/2020/06/save-money-with-pdm-standard/
The topic of training comes up every time we talk about new software. It's important that we understand how to use our tools so that we get the most out of them. But what does that training look like? Can I train myself with Google and YouTube? What if I don't need a full class, just a refresher? All of those questions and more this week with Ryan Dally on InPOD.
We're a few weeks into InPOD and we figured it's about time that we talk about the history of InFlow Technology. This week, we have an interview with Rod Levin of InFlow. He's the head of InFlow and will join us to talk about the company, where it's been, and where it's going in the future. He also shares a hilarious story about how one company (years ago) once used pizza boxes to monitor their ECN process. It's a story and an episode you don't want to miss!
Our tools don't exist in silos. There are file creation tools, document management systems, customer relations tools - I could go on and on. Two of the very popular tools that we support at InFlow Technology are SOLIDWORKS PDM and DriveWorks. In this week's episode, we take a dive into the integration between those two tools. We talk about what's new in DriveWorks 18 as far as PDM integration goes. Take advantage of the tools you own and integrate them so they will work together, instead of separately.
It's important to understand how SOLIDWORKS PDM allows you to access your files. Whether that's using the thick client or via another method, understanding the tools at your disposal can be immensely helpful. In this episode, you'll hear about the different licenses in PDM and how you can gain access to your files. We wrap up the episode by talking about getting more out of your PDM system with Web2, some of the benefits of the tool, and what to look for when you're setting it up in your system.
Today, we talk with Jeff Sweeney about his experiences in SOLIDWORKS PDM and his journey to becoming a well-known figure in the PDM space. We start out talking about his first version of SOLIDWORKS and his introduction into the VAR world. Later, we talk about what he sees from his chair as we're doing implementations. And finally, we get into some tragically humorous stories he's heard during his years of supporting SOLIDWORKS and PDM.
What better topic to kick off the podcast than one of the most common topics we discuss at InFlow? We're going to go through the important decision of either going with PDM Standard or PDM Professional. There are many things to consider beyond the conversation today, so treat this as a primer for when the discussion between you and InFlow finally happens.
Welcome to InPOD! This is our pilot episode and we're very excited to get this started. In this series, we are going to be covering different aspects of our business. This includes SOLIDWORKS PDM, DriveWorks, SOLIDWORKS Manage, 3DExperience, ENOVIA, CATIA, and more.
Check back each Wednesday for new episodes. This is our pilot episode, so just some company background and some information about your host. We're looking forward to spreading the InFlow message far and wide.