Siemens NX Reviews

I am the design engineer that works on Siemens NX as a design engineer, modeling, technical drafting, and doing the design for the automotive industry, especially for EV vehicles.

My usual use cases for Siemens NX involve developing EV batteries and EV powertrain systems for worldwide known automotive industry brands. I also used it in a project where we had to use Siemens NX because the customer was using it, so we had to use the same CAD system. I am the responsible lead engineer for the thermal system design of a battery, and we have used this CAD system to generate this battery system and battery subsystem.

The features and capabilities of Siemens NX that I have found most valuable include the drag and drop features and the ability to delete a face in a quite efficient way, while the way that the program generates surface patches is quite successful. However, I struggle to follow up all these changes from the product tree, which is not clear to me. It is quite easy to learn, flexible software, and it handles large assemblies quite successfully.

A positive impact I have seen from using Siemens NX in my organization is that its most powerful side is handling large assemblies with lower graphical loads while providing great visual performance of the models. When comparing it to SolidWorks, the graphics in SolidWorks are quite high level, making it feel a rendered environment, but it does not handle large assemblies efficiently, such as an automotive chassis. In CATIA, the handling of large assemblies is good, but the graphical property is outdated. Siemens NX has achieved a trade-off to provide its users with the ability to handle large assemblies with lower GPU loads while maintaining good graphical quality.

I struggle to follow all the updates when the product was updated because, for example, in CATIA, when you right-click and select a feature, only one click is needed to see exactly where this feature or geometry is coming from as a command from the product tree. Making this in Siemens NX is more difficult because I should do more clicks, and it is hard to understand for the shading and graphical property, which is not very user-friendly. Modeling itself is easy, and it is quite fast to generate quick models, but when it comes to making changes or following up what I have done and making modifications to the model, it becomes tricky.

I do not understand what integrated design validation in Siemens NX exactly is, so I have not used it.

I use synchronous technology in Siemens NX, and I find it helps me make design decisions easier because it is more user-friendly in terms of generative design. I am able to see where the modeling will go, and I can successfully perform some DMU checks between the parts or the clearance distances or DFAs or DFM. This kind of feature is quite user-friendly.

I do not tailor Siemens NX to my industry-specific requirements. I have heard that some OEMs are using macros or particular tools inside of Siemens NX, but unfortunately, I have not used such macros or auxiliary tools.

Siemens NX's support for hybrid modeling impacts my design process, and I struggle with hybrid modeling because I struggle to find out the links and how to proceed or make sure that links are updated or still connected to each other. We try to use some hybrid modeling and Boolean operations, trying to integrate particular bodies or design features, references from a master part into the other slave parts. However, we struggle to follow up the links and their validity, which leads us to switch from hybrid design.

If I were still using Siemens NX, I would want the hybrid modeling to be more optimized and more user-friendly for future updates. When Siemens switched from versions NX 10, 11, 12 to these 1950s versioning, every toolbar and command changed. I find myself always using the search button to find the corresponding command, which is not very user-friendly.

When considering improvements to Siemens NX beyond what I already mentioned, I would say that when a tool is used for designing activities, there are many design approaches and manufacturing methods. This kind of tool, CAD systems, should perfectly combine designability and manufacturability on the same platform. For example, when I work on a part design, I commonly use commands that should be placed where I can reach them directly. Although there are ways to access them through tabs or shortcuts, a new engineer unfamiliar with the software may not find or understand these shortcuts. It would be better to place the most used commands in visible areas, such as the right upper side, so users can see them directly and start modeling right away. When switching to the sheet metal design, I create a sketch and then make a wall command. However, in the sheet metal module, the features are mixed up, making it hard to connect commands according to our workflow and manufacturing type.

I stopped using Siemens NX software six months ago, but I had used it for two years.

In terms of stability and reliability, Siemens NX is not as strong as CATIA, but it is not as problematic as SolidWorks or Creo, with Creo being quite poor. It stands in the middle. It is quite sustainable and stable as a CAD system. However, the biggest problem is reaching out to lectures or practice pages, and there is not enough video content on YouTube explaining how to use some features or how to create links between parts. We struggle to establish a design methodology on Siemens NX, and while it may be internally established effectively, as a user, it becomes challenging if you do not know the approach.

Regarding the scalability of Siemens NX, capability-wise, you can do either small modeling, part-based modeling, or larger assemblies such as a plane or vehicle architecture. In terms of functionality, it is scalable, but I am not sure how much it impacts the pricing.

I have communicated with the technical support of Siemens about Siemens NX. We try to reach them out and put comments on blogs, but the support is not very user-friendly. For example, when you are new to Siemens NX, it is difficult to find constraints in place for sketches. Sometimes, constraints do not work because they are geometrically impossible, or some work but are challenging to activate. This kind of issue can be quite frustrating as you cannot write all these blocking points in a blog. The support can give you button locations, but they may not address user-level assistance effectively.

Based on my experience with the technical support, I would rate them a three out of ten. This rating might not be entirely applicable as the support is mainly for IT-related issues or licensing problems. User assistance is something different. They attempt to help us, but we should already know how to use the software. For example, if you buy a car, the brand cannot teach you to drive but can provide parts or maintenance. Similarly, in Siemens NX, users should know how to navigate the software.

Neutral

I have seen a return on investment with Siemens NX. If you are an unlinked company and you do your own design, you are free to select your own CAD system. If you work with large assemblies, SolidWorks is not going to be the case, so you can try Siemens NX. If you do not select Siemens NX, you should probably go for CATIA, which is a pretty expensive software. In this context, Siemens NX should be an option, and in the defense industry in Turkey, which I am originally from, they mostly use Siemens NX. This software gives you some return on investment faster than some equivalent software such as CATIA.

I believe Siemens NX is less expensive than CATIA and more expensive than SolidWorks, with SolidWorks being the cheaper option.

Considering the pricing for Siemens NX against the features and capabilities provided, I find it reasonable because it is neither overpriced nor underpriced; it is a good price.

Based on my experience with Siemens NX and everything I have described, I would rate this software a six to seven out of ten. On the GPU loads and data handling side, my rating is higher, but the user-friendly side and user practice support are not very user-friendly.

My company is a German company, and we are doing bulk material handling system and cement industries; we're using Siemens NX for plant design and product modeling.

We are using Siemens NX for plant design only. In terms of simulations, our product design engineers are using the simulations, but I'm not in product design; I'm in plant design only.

I cannot discuss how Siemens NX's support for hybrid modeling impacts my design process because I am only working on some of the features. Some parts are working on that, but our product designers can provide better insight because they are using all features more in-depth. As plant designers, we are using it to save time, which is our main purpose.

The best features, actually, compared to a previous company where I worked with SOLIDWORKS, is that while SOLIDWORKS is easy to handle, Siemens NX is even easier to handle and some features are more efficient and save time. Some of the features compared to SOLIDWORKS are more helpful for us as plant design engineers.

We utilize Siemens NX because our company is a German company, so we mostly prioritize German products only. It's easier to work in assemblies and assembly designs compared to other software, and when using a large number of assemblies, it doesn't lag. It's easier to operate and work with it.

The main benefits I have seen from using Siemens NX, compared to other software, are that it's more reliable and the user interface is easier to understand; each person finds the user interface helpful for us.

The most important thing I want to see improved in Siemens NX, compared to other software, is the basic sketch functionality. When you draw sketches, the constraints are more challenging; you have to fix each line and part. You have to constrain to fix it, but compared to other software, in Siemens NX, it's more difficult. It takes more time to constrain the sketches.

In terms of specific features that are missing, I can say that Siemens NX is good software compared to others because it has more features for assemblies and mates that are very useful for us. The only problem is with sketches. Different types of pattern features need to be included in the software because the pattern features in Siemens NX sometimes present difficulties compared to other software.

I have experience with Siemens NX for approximately 1.5 years.

I can confirm that Siemens NX is stable.

I have not used the NX integrated Design Validation feature so far.

I am not using Synchronous Technology in Siemens NX.

I would recommend Siemens NX to other organizations because it's good compared to other software, especially for plant design. Plant design has no lagging and is perfect for working on huge assemblies.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate Siemens NX an 8.5.