What are the Unique sheetmetal Features that are available in Inventor
What version of Inventor are we talking about?
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Hi! There are similarities and differences among these tools. We have many customers using Sheet Metal workflows to design Sheet Metal parts. Inventor is able to unfold developable 3d part with uniform thickness into flat pattern. Also you can add features in flat pattern as a post process. In folded mode, you can unfold a bend and refold it back. It is also capable of creating rolled shape and unrolling it to get the unrolled length. If you want more information, feel free to go to www.autodesk.com/products/inventor/overview or knowledge.autodesk.com. The best thing to do is to try it yourself. You will be the judge to see if it works for you.
Many thanks!
Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer
Hi Alex,
Inventor Sheet Metal has room for improvement for sure. Could you elaborate on the uninspiring part of it? For Solid Edge, what do you like about it and what is missing in Inventor Sheet Metal?
Many thanks!
Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer
@Anonymous
To go along with @johnsonshiue posting...
I would also like to know is your opinion solely based on your experience with Solidedge (stating you have used it for years) compared to your experience in Inventor. Meaning how long have you been using Inventor Sheet Metal and were you formal trained in it?
In the end I know many end users who need Inventor sheet metal for their business or as your put it "professional sheetmetal design". So there's 2 sides..
Also I don't want my reply to sound like I'm discrediting your opinion and thought about Inventor sheet metal. You too have a valid input in this discussion and perhaps you can pass along some other ideas to @johnsonshiue 
Mark Lancaster
& Autodesk Services MarketPlace Provider
Autodesk Inventor Certified Professional & not an Autodesk Employee
Likes is much appreciated if the information I have shared is helpful to you and/or others
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Are there features you're not able to do that the others are able to do?
I can say this ..if you know of improvements ADSK, Johnson and others read and watch the forums for enhancements.
Throw them on the Idea forum and if it's possible you just might see it in a version or update.
I think that's one of the unique features (maybe not just for Inventor) but in general..
You don't see this as much with the other software's in my opinion.
Just my 2 cents
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Mike Davis
Hi Alex,
I appreciate your honest feedback. There have been changes in Inventor Sheet Metal in the past few years addressing the issues you raised here.
1. This should be doable in Inventor. Contour Flange and Contour Roll only require line sketch. Bends are created automatically based on Bend rules. The ability has been there for many years.
2. The ability to cut normal to flange face has been there for a few years already. You can also unfold the sheet metal part partially for modeling purpose and refold it back.
3. This generally applies to all assembly features, not sheet metal part exclusive. If you need to drill holes, you can use Bolted Connection and the holes will be pushed into individual participating pieces. Also Inventor Sheet Metal supports multi-solid modeling. Essentially, you can create a sheet metal assembly using a part. Then push individual bodies as parts in an assembly. Then you can add weld beads in the assembly or perform any assembly-level operation.
4. Without the exact context, it is hard to tell what level of adaptivity SE can do. I believe the same can be done in Inventor using Contour Flange consuming an Adaptive sketch. The ability has been there for many years.
We are actively identifying room for improvement in Inventor Sheet Metal. If you see anything, please let us know.
Many thanks!
Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer
Johnson,
This is the stair I was talking about. Looks simple. Was also relatively easy to make (in SE 
). You tell me how you would handle it, there are some tricky features not obvious from the picture, I'm curious.
First part was design, but that's what my job is. The stairwell was to be built in a corner, so it had to be angled. I was limited in the angled extension where it starts on floor level and the long run up needed a midway platform on defined height to give access to an intermediate level in the building. The guy's daughter, studying architecture, had given it a go but she couldn't make it "real" enough. The left angle turn was also designed as a straight angle, which gives you a stair that is impossible to climb in the inside corner. So the "break" in the corner was absolutely necessary. The dark grey "stuff" you see on top of part of the stair in the picture was a help-part to check that the turn in the stair had a gradual change of level with more or less equal sized flats to step on.
The steps have 3 bends : one under the flat to give it strength and a 2-step end for strength and to create a stop for your feet. Straight steps are easy, the ones in the corner are lofted flanges. They were pre-designed oversized.
The sides of the stairwell were shaped and cut in bent form to get exact dimensions and to keep left and right side level, even if they are shaped differently. They were also first designed as one huge part, to be split in separate parts afterwards. First split was functional for assembly : stairs could not be transported or put in their location if they would have been one part. Second reason is sheet size : you can't go beyond what fits on one sheet.
The fun part starts when finishing the steps around the bend. For this I put the lot in assembly - of course by using reference planes instead of faces and edges - and used the sides of the stair to cut the steps. In SE this reflects back to the individual parts. To ease assembly the entire construction is also aligned with "tabs and slots". Each step has small tabs on the ends, the sides of the stair has slots where the tabs fit in. The slots in the sides "listen" to the position of the tabs on the steps.
The whole setup was "intelligently" parametric. I had to play with the dimensions of the steps to get a smooth running stair. I changed the size of the "angle cut-off" in the inside of the bend to make the cutback on the steps not over-complicated. I had to tweak the tab-to-slot position because you don't want slots across a bend since this would distort the functioning.
The stair has been constructed, based on the flattened files I provided, temporarely been installed and should meanwhile have been disassembled and sent out for coating.
Hi @Aadithya01
I had taken a look at the video and the idea. It looks very nice. It is a good productivity enhancement tool. Indeed, Inventor does not have this automated workflow. Nor can Inventor change Corner Chamfer to Corner Round or vice versa. It requires extra mouse-clicks in Inventor to get the same result in Inventor right now. I have forwarded the idea to project team for further investigation. Many thanks for sharing the idea!
Hi @Anonymous
The stair model is a very good example. It would have been a bit difficult to do in Inventor 2015 and earlier without Sheet Metal Multi-Solid Body workflows. Now on 2016 and later, you can create multiple solids in Sheet Metal environment. You can essentially build an assembly in a part (no weldment or assembly features yet). Regarding the curvy piece, in order to make it unfoldable, it will have to be done via Loft Surface and Thicken. Other than that , I am not seeing areas from the picture that Inventor would require extra work to do.
Many thanks!
Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer