Siemens Releases Solid Edge 2023

Siemens Digital Industries Software has released Solid Edge software for product design, engineering and manufacturing, which is said to help provide a streamlined user experience, more interoperability with the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio and more collaboration across industry workflows.

“Alongside our work to bring innovative technology and capability to each release of Solid Edge, covering everything from 3D design through advanced CAM and into technical publications, it’s key that we also evolve how we make these capabilities available to our community,” says John Miller, senior vice president, Mainstream Engineering Software, Siemens.

“We’re now introducing new licensing options designed to better meet the changing business needs of small and medium-sized manufacturers, providing greater flexibility, more value and, with Xcelerator Share, greater collaboration and speed,” he adds.

Solid Edge’s new look brings a modern update to include intuitive ways of working, greater personalization options and improved modeling workflows, the company says. Updates to the geometry definition tools in Solid Edge include synchronous technology applied to traditional ordered history-based parts and parts created using convergent modeling (using generative design or from 3D scans) can be used in simulations without the need for additional conversion.

Solid Edge 3D Publishing speeds the process of creating compelling and engaging technical documentation. Image courtesy of Siemens.

Solid Edge 2023 also enables design data—data from Solid Edge can be transferred between other solutions in the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio, including NX Mechatronics Concept Designer (MCD) and Process Simulate. Solid Edge 2023 also leverages Siemens’ leadership in Model Based Definition (MBD), with a new Solid Edge Advanced PMI add-on that delivers consistent dimensioning for downstream applications that use 3D annotated product data models.

The new Solid Edge Inspector add-on brings tools to automatically identify, label and extract critical design and manufacturing characteristics for inspection and metrology purposes, automatically generates inspection data and reports that facilitate communication in downstream manufacturing processes.

New advanced manufacturing capabilities include new Roughing for 5-Axis Machining in Solid Edge CAM Pro, a new 4-axis Rotary Machining add-on and new wire EDM functionality. For those working in machining, the new Smart Machine Kits library provides easy access to standardized, professionally built machine simulation kits, enabling machinists to get up and running with full machine simulation in less time.

Also introduced with Solid Edge 2023, Solid Edge SaaS brings licensing combined with cloud-connected, anywhere access through Xcelerator Share. The new flexible licensing option available through a Solid Edge SaaS subscription allows capabilities to be added when needed, providing access to integrated add-ons for generative design, point cloud visualization, electrical routing, PCB collaboration, and advanced simulation. All can be mixed and matched with a flexible token system.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.