There are more than 20 CAD software on the market today. Which one should you learn?

Well, this was the most annoying question for me when I was studying for my engineering degree. Every time I ask someone, be it my superiors or my professors, they all give me a different answer. Some asked me to go for Catia or NX Unigraphics while others for Solidworks or Autocad. I was worried because no one was suggesting for Solidedge and my university was teaching me Solidedge. The decision was difficult for me but I had to choose one as my goal was to be a Design Engineer. In the end, I opted for CATIA because one of my friends suggested that most car companies in Germany use this CAD software.

How did learning CAD software get me the job?

It was August 2016 when I was doing my Industrial Training at BFW[Bharat Fritz Werner] and they are German and they did not use Catia but Solidworks. Somehow I managed to get the software and learned some modules from the internet to complete my industry training. Since I already knew Catia and Solidedge, learning Solidworks was not difficult for me. And also thanks to my project instructor, who helped me during my industrial training with the software.

It was June 2017 when I was facing an interview at Adobe Metal Products and the factory manager questioned me ‘Do you know Solidworks?’

Obviously the answer was Yes, I know SolidWorks. I told him about my previous experience with SolidWorks and he was impressed. But he was aware that he needed to learn more. So, I started learning Solidworks before joining Adobe Metals. And when I finally joined there, I was assigned the 3D modeling jobs at the company. But over time I also became familiar with Autocad, as my company’s CNC punch press only accepted AutoCAD files.

I am currently familiar with 4 different CAD software and am eligible to provide a decent answer to this question. Let us begin. I am going to tell you 3 different formulas to solve this problem.

1. The CAD software is available at three different levels:-

Beginner Level Software:-

• It is only used for 2D drawing work.
• They are mainly used by micro and small-scale manufacturing industries.
• This software is very cheap or free.
• These are not easy to use.
• Example: – AutoCAD 2D, Draftsight, etc.

Professional level software:-

• It is used in both 2D drawing and 3D modeling work.
• This is a very easy to use software preferred by all beginning design engineers.
• This software is used by small and medium scale industries.
• They are more expensive than basic level software but cheaper than advanced level software.
• Example: – Solidworks, Solid Edge, etc.

Advanced level software:-

• It is used for the 3 jobs CAD, CAM, CAE.
• This is very expensive software.
• These are only used by the best companies.
• These are very expensive programs.
• This software is complex to use.
• Example: Catia, Siemens NX, etc.

2. Market share of different CAD software

According to’idatalabs’ investigation, we have the following data:–

• Solidworks is used by 38,099 companies.
• Catia is used by 11,369 companies.
• Siemens NX is used by 2,393 companies.
• AutoCAD is used by 114818 companies.
• Creo/ProE is used by 2,355 companies.
• Solid Edge is used by 83 companies.
• Draftsight is used by 1046 companies.
• Autodesk Inventor is used by 8,881 companies.

This means that AutoCAD has a maximum share of 36%, preceded by SolidWorks with 21%. Autodesk Inventor and Catia take 5% and 6% respectively.

Therefore, these four software are the most widely used in the market, and fortunately, we only have one software for beginners and professionals.

3.CAD software used by different companies:-

• Solidworks is used by Tesla Motors, Illinois Tool Works, BFW, Adobe Metals, Pentair, etc.
• Catia is used by the Triumph Group, Honda R&D Americas, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Škoda, Bentley Motors Limited, etc.
• AutoCAD is used by Atkins, Restoration Hardware, almost all micro/small scale industries, etc.
• Siemens NX is used by Rolls-Royce Holdings, B/E Aerospace, Daimler, SpaceX, etc.
• AutoDesk Inventor is used by Parker-Hannifin, Cameron International, Mettler-Toledo International, etc.
• I believe it is used by Paccar, Cummins, Lockheed Martin, Toyota, etc.
• Solid Edge is used by Kulite Semiconductor Products, Inc, The Wooster Brush Company, CNH Industrial NV, etc.
• Draftsight is used by Semtech Corporation, Mecsmart Systems Inc., Terex, etc.

So you have every reason to choose the right software now. I suggest you go with market share. After all, it’s about getting the job with the help of software skills. Choose AutoCAD or Solidworks right now to start your career and then depending on the mechanical company of your dreams you can choose to learn any of the advanced CAD software.

Best of luck!