Unlocking the Power of CAD/CAM Automation in SOLIDWORKS®

New Technology Enables Collaboration

Unlocking the power of CAD/CAM automation in SOLIDWORKS® enhances the design-to-manufacturing process, offering faster workflows and seamless collaboration for users. The latest version of CAMWorks is fully integrated with SOLIDWORKS Connected (3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS) and provides cutting-edge CAD/CAM technology to allow users to work anytime from anywhere, streamlining production and improving efficiency. Additionally, SOLIDWORKS desktop users can install the latest CAMWorks software, which integrates fully with SOLIDWORKS 2024 and 2025, to provide an ideal CAD/CAM solution. New features in CAMWorks 2025, including enhanced Toolpath Simulation, new options for Automatic Feature Recognition of turned features, and Collet support for turn and mill-turn machines, are designed to accelerate CNC programming and assist in automating key tasks within the SOLIDWORKS environment.

3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS and CAMWorks

HCL, a member of the SOLIDWORKS Partner Program, has been officially authorized by Dassault Systèmes to develop, support, and promote add-ins for all SOLIDWORKS applications integrated with the cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform. As a result, CAMWorks 2025 is fully compatible with 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS (also known as SOLIDWORKS Connected) and SOLIDWORKS with Cloud Services which includes the industry-leading SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD application and Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS and connects it to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform—a unified, cloud-based product development environment.

3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS and CAMWorks users can collaborate throughout the entire product design-to-manufacturing process, anytime and anywhere, as files are easily accessible on the cloud based 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Additionally, CAD and CAM files are seamlessly integrated—SOLIDWORKS and CAMWorks data are stored in a single file. In addition, the CAMWorks toolpaths are fully associative with the design model and automatically update to reflect changes made to the design. The associative toolpaths help to ensure the current revision of the design is always the one being manufactured throughout the new product development process. The combination of 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS and CAMWorks 2025 significantly accelerates the new product development process, enabling users to improve quality, reduce development costs, and dramatically shorten time to market.

CAMWorks 2025 for 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS

New Enhancements to Extend Machine Awareness

Machine Awareness is one of the latest advancements in CNC programming technology. It provides graphic feedback to CNC programmers, displaying the configuration and interaction of the CNC machine, tooling, and fixturing or workholding devices. This feature enables programmers to create machining programs directly on a virtual CNC machine within SOLIDWORKS. While previous versions of CAMWorks allowed users to display the tool, fixture, stock, and part model during Toolpath Simulation, CAMWorks 2025 introduces a new option to include and display machine components as well. Additionally, it offers the ability to check for collisions with these machine components during simulation.

For 3-axis to 5-axis CNC milling machines, users can now display and check for collisions with components such as the head, spindle, coolant lines, air-blast nozzles, and other attachments. On turning and mill-turn machines, users can also include fully loaded turrets, spindles, chucks, and fixtures in the simulation and check for potential collisions with these components. These new Machine Awareness enhancements accelerate CNC programming, reduce setup time, and help prevent broken tools and costly collisions on CNC machines.

Machine Components in Simulation

Automatic Feature Recognition Options and More

The most advanced automatic feature recognition technology available has been further enhanced. CAMWorks’s automatic feature recognition can now identify over 20 different types of machinable features on native SOLIDWORKS files as well as 3D CAD models from nearly any CAD system. This advanced technology recognizes the features that can be machined from each setup or index angle, automatically placing them under the correct index angle in seconds. In CAMWorks 2025, new options have been added to allow users to select which turned features they want to recognize for turning and mill-turn parts. These enhancements reduce programming time and offer greater control for users when programming CNC turning, mill-turn, or multi-tasking machines.

A new enhancement that allows users to specify collets as a workholding device for turning and mill-turn machines is also included in the latest version of CAMWorks. Users can choose from a library of 5C and R8 collets or create custom collets to build a personalized library. Additionally, new functionality has been added to Synch Manager for synchronous machining on turning and mill-turn machines. The Technology Database has been further enhanced to support greater automation in CNC programming through intelligence-based machining, improving both efficiency and precision. These are just a few of the many enhancements included in CAMWorks 2025.

CNC CNC-machined part Programmed using CAMWorks

An Essential Tool for SOLIDWORKS

In summary, CAMWorks 2025 brings significant advancements in CAD/CAM automation for SOLIDWORKS users, including enhanced Machine Awareness, improved Toolpath Simulation, and greater integration with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. New features like collet support for turning and mill-turn machines, as well as enhanced automatic feature recognition, further streamline the CNC programming process. With these updates, CAMWorks 2025 offers a powerful solution to accelerate product development, improve efficiency, and reduce time to market, making it an essential tool for both SOLIDWORKS Connected and desktop users.