Opinions

[justinpcaris]

My company is considering buying 3 more copies of inventor for our sales coordinators so they can do 3d assemblies for our customers and I was wondering what other people thought about this. they will only be using inventor to make assy's and there computers aren’t that great as is so i think we would have to buy all new computers is there maybe another program that that works with inventor and is easier to use for assy's I don’t know any feedback would be awesome thanks.

[Anonymous]

I think you should buy SIX more copies of Inventor 🙂

-Anxiously awaiting the more serious and less biased responses...

--
Andrew Faix
Product Designer
Autodesk Inventor



wrote in message news:5858401@discussion.autodesk.com...
My company is considering buying 3 more copies of inventor for our sales
coordinators so they can do 3d assemblies for our customers and I was
wondering what other people thought about this. they will only be using
inventor to make assy's and there computers aren't that great as is so i
think we would have to buy all new computers is there maybe another program
that that works with inventor and is easier to use for assy's I don't know
any feedback would be awesome thanks.

[justinpcaris]

haha well maybe if you can get me a better deal than what i am paying now

[mflayler]

Can you describe the need for your sales force a little more? Do they need to just show pre-existing assemblies or are they to be trained in the software and be able to develop them at will? I think you may have already stipulated this, but I want to be sure so that you can narrow down their real need here.

[JDMather]

I have never heard of sales coordinators taking the time to learn a professional CAD software.
My guess is Design Review or Inventor View is what you want them to have. (both programs are free)

You should consult with your VAR.

[justinpcaris]

they will be developing there own models at will and will need training and with no background of inventor it might be hard to learn

[JDMather]

Deep pockets?

[Anonymous]

What line of business are you in? When i was working for a steelwork company, (stairs, railings, walkways etc) i created a load of skeletal models driven by excel sheets. the idea was that salesmen would go off to site, decide for example a stair, tread type, material, handrail type etc fill in the spreadsheets and email them to us. we would copy and paste the excel cells into our models and email back a pdf of the almost finished working drawings, (there was always some cleaning up to do), which had a pretty picture and quantities etc on that they would base their estimates.

i wouldnt let salesmen anywhere near cad software

[justinpcaris]

we are in the conveyor industry and we have tons of styles so the spread sheets wont work and i agree we should never let salesmen near cad software

[JDMather]

>in the conveyor industry and we have tons of styles so the spread sheets wont work

I don't understand why being in the conveyor industry with tons of styles means that spreadsheets won't work but you might also have your VAR demonstrate this product
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=8057864&siteID=123112

[Anonymous]

Inv LT

Adsk Intent



--
Duncan
"Humour ... is one man shouting gibberish in the face of authority, and proving by fabricated insanity that nothing could be
as mad as what passes for ordinary living."
(Terence 'Spike' Milligan K.B.E., 1918-2002)
www.autodesk.co.uk/inventorjobs
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375


wrote in message news:5858401@discussion.autodesk.com...
My company is considering buying 3 more copies of inventor for our sales coordinators so they can do 3d assemblies for our
customers and I was wondering what other people thought about this. they will only be using inventor to make assy's and there
computers aren't that great as is so i think we would have to buy all new computers is there maybe another program that that
works with inventor and is easier to use for assy's I don't know any feedback would be awesome thanks.

[JDMather]

>3d assemblies

>Inv LT?

[justinpcaris]

it might work and i just dont know how to do it maybe you can suggest a good tutorial that i could use learn a more about linking spread sheets because i dont know much about it and what is a VAR

[justinpcaris]

does the autodesk intent constrain the pieces together

[mflayler]

A VAR is a Value Added Reseller. They are the ones you buy the software from. Not all are created equal. They usually offer not only standard AOTC training, but also custom training and process development. If your current reseller is not up to par with this, I can recommend some that have more experience with customization and support.

[JDMather]

I think you would need 3-4 years or more experience before tackling a solution with spreadsheets, and it might not be possible.
VAR = Value Added Reseller, the company that sells and services your software needs.

[mflayler]

Yes, it does, however it usually involves a VERY large investment. It is a path to volume product for Autodesk and currently NO reseller can touch it. If you want to know more you have to have Autodesk come in and demonstrate it or to purchase it. I have heard about 250K to really get it implemented and going but that a little on the high end of what I have heard.

[Anonymous]

Inventor LT does not support working with assemblies.


--
Andrew Faix
Product Designer
Autodesk Inventor


"Duncan Anderson"
wrote in message news:5858490@discussion.autodesk.com...
Inv LT

Adsk Intent



--
Duncan
"Humour ... is one man shouting gibberish in the face of authority, and
proving by fabricated insanity that nothing could be
as mad as what passes for ordinary living."
(Terence 'Spike' Milligan K.B.E., 1918-2002)
www.autodesk.co.uk/inventorjobs
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375


wrote in message news:5858401@discussion.autodesk.com...
My company is considering buying 3 more copies of inventor for our sales
coordinators so they can do 3d assemblies for our
customers and I was wondering what other people thought about this. they
will only be using inventor to make assy's and there
computers aren't that great as is so i think we would have to buy all new
computers is there maybe another program that that
works with inventor and is easier to use for assy's I don't know any
feedback would be awesome thanks.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't know, we're not allowed to play with it 😞


--
Duncan
"Humour ... is one man shouting gibberish in the face of authority, and proving by fabricated insanity that nothing could be
as mad as what passes for ordinary living."
(Terence 'Spike' Milligan K.B.E., 1918-2002)
www.autodesk.co.uk/inventorjobs
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375


"Andrew Faix (Autodesk)" wrote in message news:5858523@discussion.autodesk.com...
Inventor LT does not support working with assemblies.


--
Andrew Faix
Product Designer
Autodesk Inventor


"Duncan Anderson"
wrote in message news:5858490@discussion.autodesk.com...
Inv LT

Adsk Intent



--
Duncan
"Humour ... is one man shouting gibberish in the face of authority, and
proving by fabricated insanity that nothing could be
as mad as what passes for ordinary living."
(Terence 'Spike' Milligan K.B.E., 1918-2002)
www.autodesk.co.uk/inventorjobs
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375


wrote in message news:5858401@discussion.autodesk.com...
My company is considering buying 3 more copies of inventor for our sales
coordinators so they can do 3d assemblies for our
customers and I was wondering what other people thought about this. they
will only be using inventor to make assy's and there
computers aren't that great as is so i think we would have to buy all new
computers is there maybe another program that that
works with inventor and is easier to use for assy's I don't know any
feedback would be awesome thanks.

[Anonymous]

You could create sub assembly modules that are driven by a master spreadsheet and use imates to drop each module in turn into your main assembly, or use it to suppress sub assembly modules depending on conditions. There are lots of ways but planning is very important. it took me best part of 6 months to produce the models for steelwork, all too often i would complete a module and test it with the boss who would then say what if... can you... my answer was generally yes but it is so much easier if you know all of the variables at the start of the process.

sdotson.com has some nice skeletal modelling and spreadsheet tutorials or they may have been moved but im sure you will find a link there