Autodesk Industry Collections have been launched, with the Inventor-focussed Product Design and Manufacturing variant adding key manufacturing tools in the form of HSM CAM software and Nastran In-CAD for FEA analysis.
Replacing the former Industry Suites package of design tools, the new version extends it beyond the traditional design-focus, which as Stephen Hooper, Autodesk senior director, Manufacturing Business Strategy and Marketing explained to us, is focussed much more on tight integration between the included set of 2D and 3D CAD, CAE and CAM applications.
Autodesk acquired HSM CAM software back in 2012 bringing with it 5-axis machining capabilities, before non-linear simulation software Nastran was brought into the fold in 2014 adding its FEA tools to the party.
The costing is the key factor in all of this, with the end-to-end package making it possible to achieve big value savings over nearly every permutation of singular or grouped subscriptions to the software included – Nastran In-CAD and Autodesk HSM CAM software alone previously weighed in with a hefty annual subscription of over $7,000 per year when combined together, and are now included free.
The subscription model also looks to future proof a big chunk of the workflow by delivering continual enhancements, as opposed to users only updating apps occasionally, with the package also including AutoCAD, Fusion 360, ReCap Pro, 3ds Max, Navisworks, Vault (basic), Factory Design Utilities and more.
The price of the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection has frozen in the UK, remaining at £2,748 for a single seat, one-year license.
“Because we believe so firmly in the advantages of combining design, engineering and manufacturing, we’re adding them at no additional cost to the collection,” said Hooper.
“I spend a lot of time talking to manufacturers who work in automotive, industrial machinery, consumer products and many other industries. One big thing is becoming clearer and clearer to me: manufacturers want a simpler software experience.
“They want one set of tools that talk to each other, so that product designers can easily pass 3D models to Engineering to simulate and test designs, and Engineering can in turn pass final designs to the production team to set up machining.”
International costs of the package, however, vary dramatically from $2,460 in the US to €3,216 [$3,797] for France, with Autodesk citing: “Standard proprietary market and currency factors for determining the global prices for all of our products.”
