SOLIDWORKS Manufacturing Reviews & Insights

Score8.4 out of 10

430 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for SOLIDWORKS are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Recommendations

Users of Solidworks have made several recommendations based on their experiences with the software. The most common recommendations include evaluating other products to consider their benefits, especially for CAD software. Users also recommend utilizing Solidworks for 3D design work, highlighting its user-friendly interface and easy learning curve for new users. Additionally, users praise Solidworks for its active community and available support resources, which they recommend taking advantage of. Overall, these recommendations emphasize the importance of exploring different options, leveraging community support, and considering Solidworks for 3D design purposes.

SOLIDWORKS Reviews

34 Reviews

ManufacturingAutomotive3Chemicals1Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing4Machinery2Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering11Industrial Automation1Packaging & Containers1Printing1Apparel & Fashion1Consumer Electronics1Consumer Goods1Aviation & Aerospace3Medical Device4

SOLIDWORKS fits all of my needs.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

May 27, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SOLIDWORKS to view models sent to us from our customers, design fixtures and other tooling, and CAM. It has all of the tools and more that we need to manufacture our products.

Pros

3D Modeling
PDM
CAM

Cons

Very large files
I have a lot of issues with the fastener Tool Box
Cost

Likelihood to Recommend

Almost all of my customers use SOLIDWORKS, so it is nice to be able to open their files with a native software. But, if they use a different design software, I have not had any issues opening non-native files. From my experience, SOLIDWORKS is great for designing and detailing parts and assemblies.

The two areas that I have had issues with SOLIDWORKS are very large parts and curved surfaces, such as large stamping press dies. I have found other software that handles both better.

Verified User

Executive (Machinery company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

17 years of experience

SOLIDWORKS in Aerospace

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

November 4, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SOLIDWORKS to create 3D drawing for mainly aerospace fasteners. We need to create drawings for First Article Inspection Reports AS9102, and SOLIDWORKS is very helpful in creating 3D drawings. We use SOLIDWORKS to create mil-spec fasteners for example, bolts, screws, washers and o-rings.

Pros

Simulation and Analysis
Sheet metal Design
3D modeling

Cons

complex assembly management
Difficulty in maintaining smooth transitions between different surface patches, potentially leading to design inconsistencies.
Need for more sophisticated material properties and behaviors within simulation tools, especially for specialized applications like composites or non-linear materials.
Large assemblies can push the limits of even high-end hardware, potentially causing performance issues on less powerful machines.

Likelihood to Recommend

SOLIDWORKS is well suited for creating 3D models , It is less appropriate for Stress analysis.

Kevin Skariah

Quality Assurance Engineer in Quality Assurance at Av-Tech Industries, Division of Fastenal (Aviation & Aerospace, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Good CAD software

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

July 8, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Mechanical design.
We design a few standalone mechanical parts, for a variety of production processes. Injection moulding, 3D print, laser cut, CNC etc.
Most of our projects revolve around design and build of enclosures for electronic parts usually including a PCB.

Pros

Usability
Stability
Ability to handle large models
Good support for external references in assemblies

Cons

The CAM package is very hard to use
Option to save files formatted for previous versions

Likelihood to Recommend

SOLIDWORKS works really well for our CAD needs in a commercial environment. I've worked in multiple businesses which primarily use SOLIDWORKS.

I have also used it previously in both private and education environments. It felt less suited to these environments.

Verified User

Engineer in Engineering (Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing company, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

12 years of experience

Solidworks is a good choice

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

November 4, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SOLIDWORKS is being used in engineering department to create solid models for our product, parts and assembly drawings later generates from solid model. Both 3D models and 2D drawings are used by other departments, and some times shared with external supplier. In certain situation, 3D model will be analyzed using SOLIDWORKS add-ons, such as simulation.

Pros

Design solid model
Generate 2D drawing
Check parts fitment

Cons

Sketch can be easier to use by adding more features
Rotation by reference would be useful feature to be added
Welding simulation would be helpful

Likelihood to Recommend

SOLIDWORKS is a easy to use 3D modeling software suitable for designing less complex parts and assemblies, creating accurate size solid model using the software gives benefits such as visualize design concept without having to create physical model, which saves time and money. Checking interference ahead of time will also improve design quality.

Edison Chen

Mechanical Engineering Technologist in Engineering at Gincor Werx (Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Solidworks and Injection Molding Analysis Review

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

July 30, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SOLIDWORKS is used by certain departments. Primarly, it's used by our Technical Applications team in order to perform Injection Molding draf analysis when required, on 3D files provided by customers.

Pros

While SOLIDWORKS has many features to learn, it is quite easy to start modeling if you're new to software.
The UI has always been one of my favorite reasons to use it, as other 3D modeling software provides a more "industrial" feel to the process of CAD modeling.

Cons

From the administrator side, managing licenses needs some major improvements. They offer 2 ways to manage: 1) per machine 2) online. Both are painful and need some feature development to improve both methods.

Likelihood to Recommend

As a mechanical engineer, it is one of the best tools to just start modeling and engineering with. The UI tools are intuitive and engineering analysis such Mold Analysis, FEA, are great! Other 3D CAD modeling tools have a longer learning curve to master.

All in all, if you're not planning to design an entire airplane with large assembly files, then Solidworks is your tool!

Verified User

Engineer in Manufacturing (Consumer Electronics company, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

13 years of experience

Solidworks - solid modeling functions and features that work great

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

May 18, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

[SOLIDWORKS] is being used to create 3D models and 2D drawings. We use 3D models to create plastic parts for molding and sheet metal parts for stamping. The 3D model allows us to see how parts in assemblies interact with each other, allowing us to control the fit and feel of the assembly. 2D drawing allow us to communicate with suppliers for tool creation and QA.
Mainly used in the mechanical department

Pros

Great interface
Intuitive menus, tool bars and features
Import many file types

Cons

Large assemblies and complex part are slow to load
Limited collaboration ability
Needs a powerful PC to run it

Likelihood to Recommend

[SOLIDWORKS] is well suited to larger teams that work with complicated geometries and assemblies. EPDM integration also allows good file management and structure.
[SOLIDWORKS] is less appropriate for single users that could get similar results from a lower priced product. Also less appropriate for teams that only need the modeling basic features.

Verified User

Engineer in Engineering (Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing company, 201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

Solidworks is easy to use with great functions

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 15, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Solidworks is used to review 3D model files by estimating and engineering. Also used in production to create flat patterns from customer-supplied sheet metal model files and create in-house shop drawings to define limited dimension drawings from customers.

Pros

Review and measure model files.
Convert sheetmetal model file to flat patterns.
Create in-hose drawings.

Cons

Export model characteristics more easily.
Easily convert surfaces to extrusions.

Likelihood to Recommend

Solidworks is suited for what we do as a company by being versatile and having functions across multiple departments, also is very user-friendly and there are many users worldwide making it easy to find tips on troubleshooting issues. Pricing is our biggest concern.

Christian Denning

IT in Product Management at H&S Manufacturing (Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

SOLIDWORKS for the future generations

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 11, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SOLIDWORKS is utilized solely by the Engineering Department to evaluate, measure, and flatten customer 3D models so we can turn them into 2D drawings and fabricate the parts on our laser and brake presses. A lot of our customer models are very lackluster and must redraw the parts with SOLIDWORKS to be able to create the 2D prints. We also will use it in conjunction with customer prints to get missing dimensions on the customer-supplied prints to ensure we meet quality requirements.

Pros

Heal corrupt 3D models.
Feature recognition is invaluable to correcting corrupt models.
Drawing 3D models made easy.

Cons

Some 3D models are completely impossible to repair via feature works and healing. Understanding all the different 3D modeling software and convincing customers to set standards for all models drawn by employees would be ideal even though it is outside of SOLIDWORKS control, some people that model parts are plain and simply not suited or managed properly to ensure the end customer has the ability to work with their model.

Likelihood to Recommend

A phenomenal product that is invaluable to any company that works with 3D models, especially sheet metal fabrication and stamping production facilities. I have not found anywhere that SOLIDWORKS was inappropriate for what I was working with.

Jes Salmons

Senior Engineering Manager in Engineering at falls stamping and welding (Automotive, 201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Sketch feature should be like DraftSight

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

April 10, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are an OEM so we do not design our own products. We use SOLIDWORKS to open our customer's files, and it has a wide variety of supported 3D files it can open. This is very useful since we cannot control what file types our customers create, but we need to be able to open and convert everything to use within MasterCAM and design tooling for these parts.

Pros

Opens many file types.
Easy to convert into 2D DWG files.
Fast 3D rendering for complex assemblies.

Cons

Save DWG 2D files in inches or metric easily, defaults to metric and has to be manually converted to inches
When using the sketch feature, the ability to disable ALL references. If I don't know the exact shape and I want to draw/adapt my design, it harshly interprets the references which have no value to me. The easiest exact is to think about when you have a Microsoft Word document that has a lot of formatting, photos, tabs, etc. If you accidentally hit the "enter" key, you can explode the formatting and everything goes crazy. SW does this to me, I just want to "doodle" my sketches, edit/delete/etc and not be bound by arbitrary references.
For the sketch feature, ability to use a DraftSight plugin of some sort. I'm super fast in DS, if I could draw using the commands in SW then I would probably never open DS again and convert to SW full time. Currently, I only use SW as a way to convert 3D files so I can build everything in DraftSight.

Likelihood to Recommend

Specifically for me at my company, the only people that need SOLIDWORKS are in my team. So there wouldn't be a need for anyone else to be recommended the product or eDrawings would satisfy anything else my department would need. If a peer from another company asked me, I would certainly recommend the software as it is simple and everyone across multiple industries uses it as the standard.

Verified User

Engineer in Engineering (Machinery company, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

SOLIDWORKS and its Capabilities

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

April 9, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our company uses SOLIDWORKS to design parts and assemblies for our packaging equipment. I am the only user of the program in the company with most work being done on Draftsight. SOLIDWORKS is helpful for visualizing large assemblies but is not as helpful for quick iterations like Draftsight is.

Pros

Functionality
Visualizing large assemblies
Sheet metal bend parts

Cons

Eliminating odd assembly bugs
Minimizing the size of the program for faster processing
Modularity between 2D and 3D imports and exports

Likelihood to Recommend

SOLIDWORKS does a great job at generating parts and putting together small to medium assemblies. I also find the BOM features in SOLIDWORKS drawings to be very helpful. It is not, however, great at quick iterations of models where Draftsight is helpful. For example, having to quickly test new arrangements of parts in an assembly or simple machine modifications.

Jeff Watkins

Project Engineer in Engineering at Inline Packaging LLC (Printing, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

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Sketch feature should be like DraftSight

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

April 10, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Opens many file types.
Easy to convert into 2D DWG files.
Fast 3D rendering for complex assemblies.

Cons

Save DWG 2D files in inches or metric easily, defaults to metric and has to be manually converted to inches
When using the sketch feature, the ability to disable ALL references. If I don't know the exact shape and I want to draw/adapt my design, it harshly interprets the references which have no value to me. The easiest exact is to think about when you have a Microsoft Word document that has a lot of formatting, photos, tabs, etc. If you accidentally hit the "enter" key, you can explode the formatting and everything goes crazy. SW does this to me, I just want to "doodle" my sketches, edit/delete/etc and not be bound by arbitrary references.
For the sketch feature, ability to use a DraftSight plugin of some sort. I'm super fast in DS, if I could draw using the commands in SW then I would probably never open DS again and convert to SW full time. Currently, I only use SW as a way to convert 3D files so I can build everything in DraftSight.

Likelihood to Recommend

Verified User

Engineer in Engineering (Machinery company, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience