Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks is the world's most widely deployed 3D CAD platform, trusted by 312,847+ companies and 6 million+ engineers globally. Discover who uses SolidWorks, which industries drive adoption, and how to reach key decision-makers in this high-value engineering installed base.
SolidWorks is the dominant 3D CAD platform for companies that design and manufacture physical products. With 312,847+ companies in its verified installed base and over 6 million individual users worldwide, SolidWorks holds an estimated 30–35% share of the global professional CAD market — making it the single most widely deployed parametric solid modelling platform in the world. Dassault Systèmes, which acquired SolidWorks Corporation in 1997, has built the product into the cornerstone of its commercial engineering software portfolio.
The typical SolidWorks customer is a small-to-mid-sized manufacturer or engineering firm that needs professional-grade 3D mechanical design, assembly modelling, and simulation capabilities at a cost and implementation complexity below enterprise platforms like CATIA or Siemens NX. SolidWorks' parametric, feature-based modelling approach — where design intent is captured through dimensional relationships rather than raw geometry — makes it faster and more accurate for iterative product development than legacy 2D tools like AutoCAD. Companies in industrial machinery, automotive components, consumer electronics, aerospace, and medical devices are the heaviest adopters.
For B2B vendors selling engineering software, simulation tools, PLM platforms, manufacturing execution systems, ERP software, or technical services, the SolidWorks installed base is one of the most commercially valuable prospecting universes in industrial technology. Design Engineers, CAD Managers, Directors of Engineering, VP of Product Development, and CTOs at SolidWorks companies make purchasing decisions across a wide range of adjacent categories — FEA simulation, CAM software, PDM/PLM systems, 3D printing, ERP integration, and cloud storage. ELP Data's verified SolidWorks users list includes 312,847+ companies and 1,877,082+ contacts, enabling targeted outreach at scale.
The table below highlights 15 well-known global companies that are confirmed SolidWorks users. These organizations illustrate the breadth of the SolidWorks installed base across automotive, aerospace, industrial equipment, consumer products, and medical devices.
| # | Company | Industry | Headquarters | Employees | SolidWorks Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caterpillar | Industrial Machinery | Deerfield, USA | 109,000+ | Heavy equipment component design, assembly modelling, and structural simulation |
| 2 | Boeing | Aerospace & Defence | Chicago, USA | 150,000+ | Subcomponent and tooling design within broader multi-CAD engineering environment |
| 3 | Lockheed Martin | Aerospace & Defence | Bethesda, USA | 114,000+ | Mechanical design for ground support equipment and specialised subassemblies |
| 4 | Snap-on | Industrial Tools | Kenosha, USA | 17,000+ | Hand tool, power tool, and diagnostic equipment 3D design and prototyping |
| 5 | Medtronic | Medical Devices | Dublin, Ireland | 90,000+ | Medical device component design, regulatory documentation, and simulation |
| 6 | Harley-Davidson | Automotive / Manufacturing | Milwaukee, USA | 5,000+ | Motorcycle component and accessory design, custom parts development |
| 7 | Trek Bicycle | Consumer Products | Waterloo, USA | 1,500+ | Bicycle frame geometry design, component engineering, and product iteration |
| 8 | iRobot | Robotics / Consumer Electronics | Bedford, USA | 900+ | Robotic platform mechanical design, assembly layout, and motion simulation |
| 9 | FLIR Systems (Teledyne) | Electronics / Defence | Wilsonville, USA | 4,000+ | Thermal imaging camera housing, optical component, and electronics enclosure design |
| 10 | Leatherman Tool | Consumer Products / Manufacturing | Portland, USA | 600+ | Multi-tool product design, precision mechanical component modelling |
| 11 | Brooks Automation | Semiconductor Equipment | Chelmsford, USA | 3,500+ | Wafer handling equipment design and semiconductor fab tooling |
| 12 | BRP (Bombardier Recreational) | Automotive / Marine | Valcourt, Canada | 20,000+ | Powersport vehicle component design, assembly, and simulation |
| 13 | Victaulic | Industrial Equipment | Easton, USA | 4,000+ | Pipe coupling and mechanical joining system design and engineering |
| 14 | Watts Water Technologies | Industrial Equipment | North Andover, USA | 5,000+ | Valve, regulator, and flow control product mechanical design |
| 15 | Natus Medical | Medical Devices | Pleasanton, USA | 1,700+ | Neurological diagnostic device design, enclosure engineering, and FDA documentation |
Source: ELP Data verified technology database, April 2026.
SolidWorks' feature-based parametric modelling engine allows engineers to capture design intent — not just geometry. When a dimension changes, every downstream feature, drawing, and assembly that references it updates automatically. This dramatically compresses iteration cycles: what takes days in history-free or 2D tools takes hours in SolidWorks. For companies releasing products on competitive timescales, this modelling speed translates directly into faster time-to-market and reduced engineering hours per product revision.
SolidWorks Premium includes SOLIDWORKS Simulation — a finite element analysis (FEA) tool that lets engineers run structural, thermal, and fatigue analyses directly inside the CAD environment without exporting to a separate simulation platform. This integration eliminates the translation errors and workflow friction that occur when moving geometry between design and analysis tools. Companies in aerospace, medical devices, and industrial equipment particularly value this capability for accelerating design validation and reducing physical prototype costs.
SolidWorks connects to a mature ecosystem of complementary tools — SOLIDWORKS PDM for product data management, SOLIDWORKS CAM for CNC machining, KeyShot for photorealistic rendering, and hundreds of third-party integrations for ERP, PLM, and manufacturing execution systems. The SolidWorks Certified Solution Partner programme covers over 3,000 add-in applications, meaning companies can build a complete product development technology stack around SolidWorks as its core. This depth of integration makes SolidWorks difficult to displace once embedded in a company's engineering workflow.
Compared to enterprise CAD platforms like CATIA or Siemens NX — which can cost $20,000–$50,000 per seat with implementation — SolidWorks Professional and Premium licences are significantly more accessible. This pricing positions SolidWorks as the default choice for manufacturers with 5 to 500 engineers who need professional capability without enterprise complexity or cost. The large network of SOLIDWORKS Value Added Resellers (VARs) ensures local implementation support in most markets globally, further reducing the barrier to adoption for smaller engineering teams.
SolidWorks adoption is concentrated in industries where companies design and manufacture complex physical products. The industry distribution below is based on ELP Data's verified SolidWorks customer database as of Q1 2026.
Industrial machinery manufacturers are the largest SolidWorks user segment globally. Companies designing pumps, valves, conveyors, material handling equipment, packaging machines, and custom automation systems rely on SolidWorks for the full mechanical design workflow — from initial concept modelling through production drawings and BOM management. The platform's assembly modelling tools are particularly well-suited to complex machinery with hundreds of moving parts and tolerance-critical interfaces.
Automotive parts and component suppliers are heavy SolidWorks users, designing brackets, housings, mechanisms, interiors, and structural components for OEM supply chains. Tier 2 and Tier 3 automotive suppliers — which do not have the scale to justify CATIA or Siemens NX — represent a disproportionately large share of SolidWorks automotive users. SolidWorks' sheet metal design tools are widely used for automotive body and structural components, while its motion simulation capabilities support mechanism and linkage design.
Aerospace and defence companies use SolidWorks primarily for subcomponent design, ground support equipment, tooling and fixtures, and interiors — areas where SolidWorks' capability is sufficient and its speed advantage is significant. Full aircraft primary structure design typically uses CATIA or NX, but SolidWorks coexists in most large aerospace organizations for engineering teams with more contained design scopes. Defence contractors use SolidWorks extensively for unmanned systems, optronics, and electronic enclosure design.
Medical device companies use SolidWorks for product design, design for manufacturability, and FDA documentation workflows. SolidWorks supports FDA 21 CFR Part 11-compliant PDM workflows through SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional, which maintains the design history, revision control, and approval records required for regulatory submissions. The medical device sector has among the highest SolidWorks adoption rates of any vertical relative to its size, driven by the platform's suitability for small, precision-engineered product development.
Consumer goods companies — from bicycle manufacturers to kitchen appliance brands to power tool companies — use SolidWorks for product design, industrial design integration (via KeyShot rendering), and design-for-manufacturing analysis. SolidWorks Plastics add-on is widely used for injection moulding simulation in consumer electronics and consumer goods applications, helping companies validate part design before committing to expensive tooling.
While BIM platforms like Autodesk Revit and Bentley dominate full building design, structural steel fabricators, MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) contractors, and specialty systems designers use SolidWorks for detailed component and systems design. Custom metalwork fabricators, curtain wall manufacturers, and specialty equipment suppliers serving the construction industry are common SolidWorks users in this sector.
Oil and gas equipment manufacturers, renewable energy system designers (wind turbine components, solar mounting systems), and power generation equipment companies use SolidWorks for mechanical design and structural analysis. The energy sector's demanding operating environments — high pressure, high temperature, corrosive — make SolidWorks' integrated simulation tools particularly valuable for design validation before physical fabrication.
Small and mid-sized manufacturers and engineering firms represent the majority of the SolidWorks installed base. SolidWorks was designed for exactly this segment — engineering teams of 1–50 who need professional CAD capability without the implementation overhead of enterprise platforms. This segment has the highest growth rate, driven by rapid adoption among startups, contract manufacturers, and engineering consultancies globally.
Mid-market manufacturers, precision engineering firms, and product companies with larger engineering departments form a substantial portion of the installed base. These organizations often run SolidWorks alongside complementary tools — SOLIDWORKS PDM for data management, SOLIDWORKS Simulation for FEA, and ERP systems like SAP Business One or Microsoft Dynamics. They are the most active buyers of SolidWorks add-in products and partner solutions.
Large enterprises use SolidWorks in specific engineering groups or for design tasks where its speed advantage justifies its presence alongside CATIA or NX. Major manufacturers like Caterpillar, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin maintain SolidWorks licences for subassembly design, tooling, and support equipment. Enterprise SolidWorks deployments often number in the hundreds of seats, managed through enterprise agreements with Dassault Systèmes or authorized VARs.
The United States hosts the largest SolidWorks user population globally, reflecting the concentration of manufacturing, aerospace, defence, and medical device companies in North America. Germany is the largest European market — a reflection of its massive industrial machinery and automotive supply chain sectors. Japan, South Korea, and China represent significant APAC installed bases. ELP Data covers SolidWorks users across 80+ countries with verified company-level and contact-level data.
SolidWorks buyers are engineering professionals and technical managers — Design Engineers, CAD Managers, Directors of Engineering, VP of Product Development, and CTOs. These are detail-oriented, technically rigorous decision-makers who evaluate tools based on specific workflow compatibility, integration with their existing SolidWorks environment, and demonstrable ROI in engineering time saved or prototype costs avoided. Generic outreach does not work. What breaks through is messaging that references their SolidWorks environment specifically and explains how your product solves a problem they encounter inside that workflow today.
ELP Data's SolidWorks users list includes 1,877,082+ verified contacts across all relevant engineering and technical decision-maker personas. You can target CAD Managers at mid-size automotive suppliers, Design Engineers at medical device companies, or CTOs at industrial machinery manufacturers — whatever segment best fits your product's ideal customer profile.
Personalized cold email sequences to Design Engineers and CAD Managers at SolidWorks companies consistently outperform generic technology outreach when messaging is workflow-specific. Lead with a pain point directly tied to the SolidWorks environment — simulation export friction, PDM version control issues, CAM post-processing time, or ERP BOM synchronization gaps. Reference SolidWorks explicitly to establish immediate context and relevance. ELP Data's list includes verified direct emails for technical personas at 312,847+ SolidWorks companies.
Dassault Systèmes' annual SOLIDWORKS user conference (now branded 3DEXPERIENCE World) draws thousands of SolidWorks users and decision-makers. Use ELP Data's database to identify target accounts with confirmed SolidWorks installations, pre-qualify attendees in your target industry and company size, and execute pre-conference email sequences to schedule briefings. A focused conference presence at 3DEXPERIENCE World can generate more qualified pipeline from SolidWorks accounts than months of unfocused cold outreach.
SolidWorks is sold and supported through an extensive global Value Added Reseller (VAR) network — over 3,000 VARs worldwide who have intimate relationships with their installed base customers. Building co-sell relationships with active SolidWorks VARs gives you warm introductions to their customer portfolios. ELP Data's list helps you identify which VARs have the largest customer concentrations in your target industries and geographies, so you can prioritize partner development efforts based on commercial potential.
If your product integrates with SolidWorks, listing it on the SOLIDWORKS Certified Solutions directory positions it where existing SolidWorks users actively search for workflow extensions. Pair a marketplace listing with outbound campaigns targeting SolidWorks companies in your ICP segment using ELP Data's list. This combination of inbound discovery and proactive outbound outreach consistently delivers the highest conversion rates for SolidWorks-adjacent products.
312,847+ verified companies · 1,877,082+ contacts · 97% accuracy · Free sample in 24 hours
Request Free Sample →