Today at SolidWorks World, the partner pavilion opened at 6:00. At 6:00:30, I was at the DriveWorks booth so I could be the very first to see the new DriveWorks 9.

If you thought DriveWorks 8 had a nice web interface, you were wrong. The new DriveWorks 9 interface is smooth, pretty and fast. …and here is the best part, the 3D viewer works in nearly any web browser -no eDrawings. It is certainly built to show off your products! Stop by their booth, or wait until the DriveWorks web site unveils the new functionality Friday.

I’ll never admit this publicly, but when I’m specifying a component for my design, it’s a pretty big deal if a supplier has a nice 3D model for me to drop into my design. If other variable are pretty close, the company with the easiest to use CAD models often gets my specification.

I’ve noticed since the release of the newer versions of DriveWorks Live, more and more companies are allowing us to download their models directly from their web sites. (Bonus: No programs to install on my end!)

The less time I have to spend modeling your product, the happier I am.

If you have just purchased DriveWorks and are looking for some usability tips…

• I want a single part. An assembly only if I need to see the motion of your product. Even then, the fewer the parts the better. I don’t want to have to spend a lot of time managing your files.
• Don’t make me learn your part numbering schema to specify your product. Let me pick on pictures of options or worst case drop downs and radio buttons. I do want to know what the final part number is, after my specification is complete. (I like sites that allow me to watch the price change as I modify options.)
• I like meta data being put in the file’s properties, however let me choose the file properties names. I don’t want additional file properties that have no meaning to me that I have to manually delete. Your name, part number and description is pretty much all I need.
• A quote included with the part’s download is nice, so is a nice cut sheet; I don’t want the entire catalog.
• I want a simple configuration of your part. Most of the time I want your models for space claiming. I don’t need the helical threads, air fins or other crazy detail -it slows down my assemblies. You can put your company’s logo on the part if it is a decal. If you want the details in the part because it makes the models look cool, give them to me in a separate configuration.

Pretty tough list? Nah, not really. Most of this is out of the box stuff for DriveWorks. Don’t forget, I am your customer, you help me, I’ll help you by buying your product.

Pizza -without a doubt, mankind’s greatest achievement. It doesn’t take a back seat to being on the moon or even those over-hyped pyramids. However, I’ve argued even DriveWorks is better than pizza. Here is why:

1. SolidWorks’ “Pack and go” is a nice little application, but you didn’t go to school to spend hours at a time copying existing designs and tweaking them to your needs.
2. DriveWorks helps ensure you don’t make typos or other silly mistakes looking through charts, lookup tables or trying to remember your company’s “tribal knowledge”.
3. You don’t get DriveWorks sauce on your shirt.
4. Taking an average design cycle down from days to minutes would give you time to improve your designs rather and simply putting out the same product year after year.
5. Allowing your customers to specify your products on-line is crazy cool. (Plus you don’t have to talk to them as often on the phone.)
6. When your sales force has DriveWorks, they don’t “sell first then ask engineering if they can make it later”….or at least not as often.
7. You don’t burn your mouth on DriveWorks.
8. Putting together quotes is faster, easier -and because the CAD work is complete, more accurate. You’ll have more time to do the things you enjoy, like eating pizza.