Every couple of months, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform sees enhancements added to improve the user experience and add new functionality.
These enhancements are designed to ease the day-to-day life of both platform and SOLIDWORKS users.
One of the benefits of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution like the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, is that every release delivers real, functional value, not just bug fixes.
And with so many new and exciting enhancements, it can be hard to work out which ones will bring you the most value.
So we’ve done the hard work for you, and picked out the top 5 enhancements from the April 2023 release of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
#5 - 3DPlay
The 3DPlay app now supports DWG and DXF drawings, so you can preview your designs in your browser without having to download them first.
There is also a new home page with helpful menu for improved navigation including to recent files, communities, and the 3DEXPERIENCE user assistance help guides.
What is 3DPlay?
3DPlay is a file viewing app on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. You can view and explore your documents and CAD data quickly.
#4 - Bookmarks
Shortcuts can now be created for bookmarks, improving navigation and reducing the need to duplicate work.
Unlike in Windows Explorer, if the original bookmark is deleted or renamed, the shortcut is also automatically removed or updated.
Files can also be attached to each other and support has been added to import and export files as STEP AP242.
What are Bookmarks?
Bookmarks organise content stored on the platform in the 3DSpace app. They are effectively folders and assist with data management. They can be managed through the Bookmark Editor app.
#3 - Revisions
Primary and Primary.Secondary revision structures are now supported. Minor (secondary) revisions can be used to indicate changes to a design without incrementing a new major (primary) revision.
Platform Administrators can enable this option through the Collaborative Space Configuration Center to give an extra level of flexibility to design teams.
What are Revisions?
Revisions mark a finalised change or upgrade in a design that has been signed off on through release. Both Primary and Secondary revisions are possible on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. These capabilities are granted by the Collaborative Industry Innovator role.
#2 - Design with SOLIDWORKS
Several helpful enhancements have come to the Design with SOLIDWORKS app.
A selective lock can now differentiate between all unlocked files when saving and comments can be added on individual items.
To boost productivity, an asynchronous save has been introduced when saving more than 25 items. That means that you can continue working in SOLIDWORKS while it saves to the platform in the background.
Search capabilities within MySession have been enhanced and recent documents that are not saved to the platform are clearly indicated.
What is Design with SOLIDWORKS?
Design with SOLIDWORKS is the app that connects SOLIDWORKS to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. It forms part of the Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS role and can be used to launch SOLIDWORKS from the platform.
#1 - Project Planning
One of our favourite Cloud-based apps has seen some helpful enhancements this round.
Project Planning introduces referencing projects as tasks to enhance scheduling while new reminder notifications have been added to tasks, so project managers can schedule reminders to be sent to assignees with any incomplete tasks.
Notifications for dependent tasks have also been introduced, so assignees are given greater contextual information for their tasks.
Multiple tasks can now be selected and moved together, but tasks still need to be individually assigned to members and groups.
We can now schedule in reverse, so tasks can be planned for a deadline rather than a start date if required. This is a helpful improvement to increase the flexibility of scheduling.
The entirely subjective, but most useful improvement to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, this update is the ability to re-use projects as templates.
We can now save a project as a template and all the information within it is transferred to a new project.
This is great to give teams a little more independence and responsibility for starting new projects, while ensuring they have every stage ready for review.
What is Project Planning?
Project Planning is a task management application in the Project Planner role that introduces resource management and enhances collaboration by integrating tasks with a schedule view.
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