First Look Review: ProgeMEC-Mechanical Drawing

IntelliCAD add-on from ProgeSOFT offers embedded mechanical tools and symbols.

Progesoft, From Italy, released the ProgeMEC mechanical drafting add-on for its IntelliCAD-based ProgeCAD 2006 Professional 2D and 3D design package.

ProgeMEC

As users create drawings, ProgeMEC automatically assigns entities to whatever layers are set up in preferences. Dimensions can be on one layer, text on another and construction geometry on yet another. It's a good way to set up company defaults and avoid confusion.

ProgeMEC has a somewhat automated parts-list function. Data is entered in a pop-up window, and then the program populates a table for you. I think it would be more intuitive if users could populate the table directly. Other software packages use assembly programs and populate the bill of materials for you automatically. ProgeMEC comes with a variety of symbols that can be inserted into drawings, including weld symbols, process and roughness symbols for specifying surface textures, shape tolerances for GD&T and ISO-standard coupling representations. ProgeMEC also comes with a library of spreadsheets for calculating such things as springs, cams and gears.

ProgeMEC seems expensive for what it does, and overall I wasn't impressed with it. There are less-expensive options available, although if you already use ProgeCAD 2006 Professional and need to make mechanical drawings, it might be worth it. The company notes that "ProgeMEC is a very early project and we are aware we need to improve its features. New developments are on the way." We look forward to seeing the next version.

Mike Hudspeth, IDSA, is an industrial designer, artist and author based in St. Louis, Missouri.