SOLIDWORKS Users Free to Create More Shapes, More Ways with New 3DXpert™ for SOLIDWORKS®

3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS provides a new layer of tools, accessible in a familiar CAD environment, making it easy to prepare and optimize designs for additive manufacturing. By taking advantage of this design freedom, SOLIDWORKS users will now be able to produce complex geometries, light-weight parts without compromising strength, and apply surface texture to deliver functional or aesthetic benefits.  Within the additive manufacturing environment, complex structures can easily become a reality, while enabling rapid product development, reduced time to market, and lower total cost of operation.

Capitalizing on the rapid advancement of additive manufacturing -- many analyst reports estimate industry revenue will top $20B by the year 2020, customers are now shifting from rapid prototyping to mainstream production.  Despite the projected rapid growth, designers are not fully exploiting additive manufacturing capabilities, simply because the way to get there is either not accessible or too difficult to navigate. 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS provides an integrated solution that streamlines preparation and optimization stages from design to manufacturing.

To effectively design for additive manufacturing, designers must shift their mindset from what they know of traditional manufacturing processes, and employ the right design tools – making design an integral part of the manufacturing workflow.

Designers using 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS will be able to:

• Maintain design integrity by working with native CAD solids without converting them into STL, or toggling between several software programs to accomplish all tasks.
• Optimize structures with rapid creation of lattice-based structures for light-weighting and applying surface textures.
• Ensure quality printed parts by using real-time analysis for best-fit positioning and orientation of the part. Use of automated analysis and setting of support structures helps designers ensure surface quality and prevents part distortion.
• Accelerate preparation time by employing automatic features such as tray setup, and estimation of material usage and build time.

"We are excited to partner with Dassault Systèmes and help customers experience the reality of 3D printing through the new 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS offering," said Vyomesh Joshi, president and chief executive officer, 3D Systems. "This collaboration enables SOLIDWORKS users to create more shapes, more ways, and accelerate product development cycles while lowering costs. We are offering designers a true competitive advantage while re-defining the design and manufacturing process."

3D Systems brings more than 30 years of additive manufacturing experience and innovative technologies to SOLIDWORKS users.  The new 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS provides a direct path from SOLIDWORKS users' designs to additive manufacturing – allowing them to become more competitive and to expand the types of projects they can design.

"We've seen a tremendous increase in the adoption of additive manufacturing," said Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systèmes. "As a result, we collaborated with 3D Systems to provide SOLIDWORKS users with the tools to help them design specifically for additive manufacturing, which requires a different set of operations and rules than more traditional, subtractive manufacturing. Available with all SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD subscriptions, 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS allows designers to be able to optimize their design for additive manufacturing, check for manufacturability without any waste of time and material, and attain a competitive advantage in the market."

Available exclusively to SOLIDWORKS customers, and included in their annual subscription, the standard edition of 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS is now available via download. Additional add-ons with advanced lattice design, lattice optimization tools, and a new 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS Professional edition are available through SOLIDWORKS' VAR network. For more information on – or to download - 3DXpert for SOLIDWORKS, please visit the 3D Systems website, or the SOLIDWORKS website.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In many cases, forward looking statements can be identified by terms such as "believes," "belief," "expects," "may," "will," "estimates," "intends," "anticipates" or "plans" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based upon management's beliefs, assumptions and current expectations and may include comments as to the company's beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside the control of the company. The factors described under the headings "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other factors, could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected or predicted in forward-looking statements. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not, and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance or results, nor will they necessarily prove to be accurate indications of the times at which such performance or results will be achieved. The forward-looking statements included are made only as the date of the statement. 3D Systems undertakes no obligation to update or review any forward-looking statements made by management or on its behalf, whether as a result of future developments, subsequent events or circumstances or otherwise.

About 3D Systems 
3D Systems provides comprehensive 3D products and services, including 3D printers, print materials, on demand manufacturing services and digital design tools. Its ecosystem supports advanced applications from the product design shop to the factory floor to the operating room. 3D Systems' precision healthcare capabilities include simulation, Virtual Surgical Planning, and printing of medical and dental devices as well as patient-specific surgical instruments. As the originator of 3D printing and a shaper of future 3D solutions, 3D Systems has spent its 30-year history enabling professionals and companies to optimize their designs, transform their workflows, bring innovative products to market and drive new business models. More information on the company is available at www.3dsystems.com

SOURCE 3D Systems

Related Links

http://www.3dsystems.com