Have you ever considered that SolidWorks can be used for packaging and box design? While it does lack some of the more intuitive aspects of packaging, the sheet metal feature set contains basic principles that easily translate to packaging design, albeit with some minor setting modifications. Having developed several box designs utilizing SolidWorks, it is apparent that merging product design with packaging design is a natural fit in the product-to-market flow. I have mentioned to SolidWorks Corporation on several opportunities that developing a packaging application similar to sheet metal would make for an interesting facet of the software and could potentially further extend and bridge SolidWorks into packaging engineering departments.
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Recently we have seen SolidWorks enter the foray of cloud applications with
n!Fuze. However, while it does seem that SolidWorks is looking further into cloud based opportunities, we probably won't see anything dramatically pushed out that could potentially upset the current customer base. In the meantime as Dassault Systemes continues to expend energy promoting 2D
DraftSight, other companies are taking advantage of the apparent 3D CAD attention deficit gap. With a dedicated focus on 3D structural packaging design
The Box Builder is a company that has embraced structural packaging CAD with an eye firmly on the cloud.
Based in Asteasu, Guipúzcoa, Spain, The Box Builder team has developed an incredibly easy-to-use online 3D CAD solution utilizing ModelMaker that combines design quality, a versatile library, and a user-friendly interface that doesn't require prior training. Developed on ASP (Application Service Provider) cloud hosting technology, you do not have to buy the application, but rather you buy the right to use it through weekly, monthly or annual licenses. This makes for an ideal arrangement in many ways.
The benefits range from those who might need it solely for short-term contract work, to a company simply desiring to free itself of IT dependent software setup and support (routinely needed with traditional in-house workstation or server licensed software), to anywhere in between. Designs are able to be exported on common formats (CF2, PDF, EPS or DXF), and the designs are securely and confidentially saved within user arranged folders so that they can be recovered, used and redesigned as often as desired. With direct savings in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and gains in Return on Investment (ROI), The Box Builder might well be the best choice for online structural packaging design currently on the market!
