InPOD - By InFlow

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.The projectile project Paul and I mention was done by Wade Anderson. Sorry, Wade, we couldn't remember it was you when we recorded it!Follow me on LinkedIn: Nick Sweeney

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!Follow GoEngineer on LinkedIn

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-CupboardCheck 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 WorldDon'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.