Manish Kumar, the CEO of SOLIDWORKS, was the first up on day two, starting off by discussing the collaborative efforts that went into repairing the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after it was devastated by a fire in 2019. After years of restoration, the famous cathedral reopened in 2024.
The cranes used to remove the scaffolding without damage required precision engineering. Truck-mounted cranes, designed by Ruthmann using SOLIDWORKS, were essential to the cathedral’s restoration.
He also shared the vision of AI-driven generative drawings to help you automatically create drawings from your 3D models while making you more productive and saving your precious time.
Manish asked the audience, “How often do you start a sketch only to spend precious time constraining every detail?”
Let generative AI be of help. Sketch directly on your model, and Generative Stacked Dimensions automatically constrain every line—freeing you to focus on creative innovation.
“In the virtual world, with AURA and our Generative Mechanical Assembly, you will do the same.”
Manish also shared how generative experiences and virtual companions can reshape the design-to-manufacturing process. Now imagine you need a 3D model of an existing part—a handle, for example. You take a picture, and AURA’s Generative 3D part functionality kicks in. It analyzes the image and transforms it into a precise virtual twin.
This model is ready for scientific simulation in the virtual world. AI-based virtual tests simulate real-world stresses and conditions, ensuring each component performs exactly as intended.
“AURA is going to change how you work. It is the only AI tool that works in the context of your SOLIDWORKS model,” says Manish. “You can get deeper, making you aware of regulations that you should be aware of, or even automatically generate 3D solutions for you.”
Next, Manish provided an R&D update and explained how SOLIDWORKS improves based on user feedback via various usability, alpha and beta tests, and enhancement requests, which are prioritized.
Every year at 3DEXPERIENCE World, users vote for the Top Ten enhancements they would like to see in future versions of SOLIDWORKS and 65 percent of those requests are implemented. SOLIDWORKS 2025 includes 38 enhancements straight from the Top Ten list.
Manish also provided updates on the SOLIDWORKS for Makers program, which now has over 85,000 users; the Made in 3D Community; MakeByMe, a new easy-to-use app for designing and building woodworking projects; and a new Teacher role for education; and 3D Creator and xDesign for Students, which will be coming later this year.
Next, he introduced three customers: Chris Rauch from Dolphin Labs, Will Gering, Southern Beam Builds, and Aurora De Acutis, BioModel. Watch the full video of General Sessions below to hear more about their stories.
Data Management
The first domain to present was the Data Management group, with Kenneth Hallberg, Senior Director, DS, and Angela Smith, WW Governance Manager, DS, introducing Kangkyu Lee, the Technical Lead at Aniai, to talk about his company’s ALPHA grill. This revolutionary, double-sided grill can cook up to eight patties simultaneously or 200 per hour.
Growing quickly, having grown from five to 50 employees in just four years, presented big data management challenges. The company turned to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to scale the business up and better manage the increase in data it needed to manage.
“The 3DEXPERIENCE platform provided us with an Agile product development process, with no IT investment or additional hardware nor servers needed, while providing additional data security overall.”
We also heard more about a new Business Process Design tool, which is similar to the Workflow Editor in SOLIDWORKS PDM. Learn more about this new tool–coming soon– from your reseller.
Simulation
Delphine Genouvrier, SIMULIA R&D, and Srikrishna Chittur, Simulation Industry Process Director, DS, came to the stage and introduced Leandro Timotio from CALOI. This Brazil-based company has been creating memorable biking experiences for 120 years.
The company is embracing simulation to fully validate the performance of its bikes while reducing wastage and testing costs by 50 percent, accelerating time to market by 25 percent, and conducting virtual safety standard tests. Srikrishna also shared an update on SIMULIA Fluid Dynamics Engineer Role.
The next customer was Ken Mansfield from Seneca Dairy Systems, who explained how his engineering teams are deploying MODSIM to make design decisions driven by simulation insights.
The company uses simulation software to virtually assess product performance for a variety of physics and foster greater innovation. By using MODSIM, the company has reduced development costs and service downtime, while increasing custom builds of the company’s Moo-TIVATOR Crowd Gate.
Manufacturing
Devin Malone, General Manager of DELMIAWorks, introduced two customers on stage. The first was Todd Blacksheer from MetalWorks who spoke about his company’s use of Robot Programmer software. Todd is a long-time SOLIDWORKS user and a very active member of the SOLIDWORKS user community.
Todd worked with SOLIDWORKS manufacturing expert Mike Buchli to implement Shop Floor Programmer. The software enables him to program his company’s robots, forming and welding robots, remotely and even while they are in operation. The software allows MetalWorks to simulate robotic tasks (such as welding, cutting, or assembly) in a virtual environment to help identify potential issues before the physical production begins. This reduces costly errors and ensures smoother operations when robots are deployed on the shop floor.
Todd said he’s currently using the software to do a feasibility study to validate the need for additional robots. “If we can prove that works, we’ll be purchasing another half dozen robots for my facility.”
Next, Devin introduced Managing Director of Clarion Malaysia, TK Tan, who spoke about the value of DELMIAWorks manufacturing-specific ERP. Clarion is a global automotive supplier specializing in in-vehicle infotainment equipment. It has enhanced its manufacturing operations by integrating DELMIAWorks ERP with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Manufacturing Bill of Materials (MBOM) on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
The benefits of implementing these solutions include the elimination of data silos, seamless data exchange, more accurate demand forecasting, and a streamlined order-to-cash process. Learn more about Clarion’s use of these solutions in this video.
You can watch the entire day two of General Sessions here.
To read the full article, click here.
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