Extensions > Plugins > Add-ins > Add-ons > Libraries > Frameworks > Connectors
For big technical engineering software, the ecosystem built around add-ins, modules, extensions, and similar components stands out for its dynamism and versatility. These supplemental elements can be used to address the constant demand for new features, improved workflows, and novel industry requirements, rather than big core updates.
Prices for such additions can range widely, reflecting variations in sophistication, licensing agreements, and the depth of integration offered. Some solutions remain free or open-source, while others command higher costs due to advanced functionalities or specialized vendor support.
Notably, popular engineering platforms often gain mass appeal because of extensive plugin libraries or a robust framework encouraging third-party contributions.
Customization can serve as a major attraction; engineers select from modules, widgets, and utilities to construct work environments closely matching their unique workflows or researchers their unique field.
- Python Libraries
- Python Frameworks
- Excel Add-ins
- Excel
- Civil Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Structural Engineering
- Civil Engineering, Design for Manufacturing (DfM), Design Optimization, Design Thinking, Engineering, Mechanical Engineer, Quality Management, Structural Engineering
Excel Engineering Tools; a collection of Excel add-ins and templates for various engineering disciplines, including mechanical, civil, structural, and potentially others.
Features:
- Mechanical engineering calculations, civil engineering tools, structural analysis components, section property calculators, unit conversions, engineering formulas, data analysis utilities, plotting enhancements
Pricing:
- Paid
- Offers a broad range of engineering tools and calculations directly in Excel, can save time for common design and analysis tasks, covers multiple disciplines.
- Commercial software (likely sold as individual modules or a suite), quality and depth can vary between specific tools, user should verify critical calculations, interface might be basic for some modules.
Best for:
- Engineers from various disciplines (mechanical, civil, structural) looking for a collection of Excel-based tools and templates to assist with common calculations and design tasks.
- Excel
- Civil Engineering, Ecology and Sustainability, Fluid Dynamics, Simulation
- Civil Engineering, Climate Change, Ecosystem, Environmental Engineering, Greenhouse, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Innovation, Sustainable Practices, Water contamination
SUDA (Sustainable Urban Drainage Advisor) for Excel appears to be a tool or template set for assisting with sustainable urban drainage system design calculations within Excel.
Features:
- Sustainable urban drainage system (SuDS) calculations, stormwater management design, runoff estimation, infiltration calculations, detention pond sizing, green infrastructure component sizing, potentially some hydrological modeling
Pricing:
- Paid
- Provides Excel-based tools for SuDS design, can help with common stormwater calculations, useful for civil engineers and urban planners.
- Likely commercial or requires associated services/software, information on the specific features and capabilities of the Excel tool itself is limited on the provided page, may be a set of templates rather than a full add-in.
Best for:
- Civil engineers, urban planners, and environmental consultants involved in the design and analysis of sustainable urban drainage systems, using Excel for calculations.
- Excel
- Civil Engineering, Data Analytics, Geotechnics, PLM & ERP
- Civil Engineering, Engineering, Process Optimization, Project Management, Quality Management, Software, Transportation
An Excel add-in that facilitates working with linear referencing systems (LRS), particularly cubic LRS, often used in transportation and pipeline industries for locating assets along a route.
Features:
- Linear referencing system calculations, convert between station/offset and coordinates (X,Y,Z), work with cubic LRS segments, manage route data, asset location along routes, data import/export for LRS data
Pricing:
- Paid
- Specialized tool for linear referencing within Excel, useful for industries managing linear assets (pipelines, roads, railways), simplifies LRS calculations and data management.
- Commercial software, niche application focused on LRS, requires understanding of linear referencing concepts, website and interface might appear dated.
Best for:
- Engineers and GIS specialists in transportation, pipeline, and other industries that use linear referencing systems to manage and locate assets along linear features, using Excel for data handling.
- Excel
- Data Analytics, Manufacturing, Process Control, Quality, Statistics
- Continuous Improvement, Control Chart, Process Capability, Quality Control, Quality Management, Six Sigma, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Statistical Tests
An Excel add-in that provides a comprehensive set of tools for Statistical Process Control (SPC), including control charts, process capability analysis, and other quality improvement utilities.
Features:
- Control charts (Xbar-R, Xbar-S, p, np, c, u, I-MR, etc.), process capability analysis (Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk), histograms, Pareto charts, scatter plots, Gage R&R, statistical tests, cause-and-effect diagrams, data transformation tools
Pricing:
- Paid
- User-friendly interface within Excel for SPC analysis, wide range of control charts and capability metrics, good for quality improvement projects and Six Sigma, includes helpful documentation and examples.
- Commercial software, may have fewer advanced statistical features compared to dedicated standalone packages like Minitab, visual customization of charts might be somewhat limited by Excel's charting engine.
Best for:
- Quality engineers, process improvement specialists, Six Sigma practitioners, and manufacturing personnel who need to perform SPC analysis and create control charts directly within Microsoft Excel.
- Excel
- Automation, Data Analytics, Finance, PLM & ERP
- Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Customer Experience, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Financial, Process Improvement, Software as a Service (SaaS)
An Excel add-in for SAP Business ByDesign ERP solution, enabling users to export data to Excel for analysis and reporting, and sometimes import data back into the system.
Features:
- Data export from ByDesign to Excel, create custom reports using ByDesign data, analytical reporting, financial data analysis, import data for certain master data or transactions (limited), integration with ByDesign OData services
Pricing:
- Paid
- Allows users to leverage Excel's flexibility for analyzing and reporting on data from SAP Business ByDesign, useful for creating custom views and performing ad-hoc analysis.
- Requires SAP Business ByDesign subscription, functionality for data import might be limited compared to export, primarily for users within the ByDesign ecosystem.
Best for:
- Users of SAP Business ByDesign (typically in small to medium-sized enterprises) who need to extract data for analysis, create custom reports, or perform limited data uploads using Microsoft Excel.
- Excel
- Automation, Data Analytics, Finance, PLM & ERP
- Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Financial, Predictive Maintenance Algorithms, Quality Management System (QMS), Statistical Analysis, User experience (UX)
An Excel add-in that allows users to connect to SAP data sources (SAP BW, SAP S/4HANA, SAP HANA) to perform analysis, create reports, and plan directly within Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
Features:
- Access SAP BW queries and InfoProviders, connect to SAP HANA views, ad-hoc analysis of SAP data, create interactive reports and dashboards, planning and forecasting capabilities (with SAP BPC or SAC), drill-down and navigation in SAP data, refreshable reports
Pricing:
- Paid
- Seamless integration with SAP backend systems, empowers business users to analyze live SAP data using familiar Excel interface, supports complex reporting and planning scenarios, widely used by SAP customers.
- Requires licenses for SAP backend systems and the Analysis for Office add-in, specific to the SAP ecosystem, setup and configuration can be complex, performance can depend on SAP system performance and query design.
Best for:
- Business users, financial analysts, and planners in organizations using SAP BW, S/4HANA, or HANA who need to perform data analysis, reporting, and planning using live SAP data within Microsoft Excel.
- Excel
- Data Analytics, Finance, Mathematics, Simulation
- Financial, Project Management, Risk Analysis, Simulation, Statistical Analysis, User experience (UX)
An Excel add-in for Monte Carlo simulation and risk analysis, providing tools to model uncertainty and analyze a range of possible outcomes directly in spreadsheets.
Features:
- Monte Carlo simulation, probability distributions (Normal, Lognormal, Uniform, Triangular, etc.), correlation modeling, sensitivity analysis, scenario analysis, results visualization (histograms, cumulative charts), simple to use functions
Pricing:
- Paid
- User-friendly for Monte Carlo simulation in Excel, makes it easy to add uncertainty to spreadsheet models, good for financial modeling, project risk, and general decision analysis under uncertainty.
- Commercial software, may have fewer advanced features or distributions compared to more comprehensive risk analysis suites (like @RISK or ModelRisk), documentation and support resources might be less extensive.
Best for:
- Excel users needing a straightforward and easy-to-use tool for performing Monte Carlo simulations and basic risk analysis directly within their spreadsheets, particularly for financial and project models.
- Excel
- AI and Machine Learning, Automation, Data Analytics, Process Control
- Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Predictive Maintenance Algorithms, Process Optimization, Quality Management, Statistical Analysis, User experience (UX)
RapidMiner Studio is a data science platform that offers strong Excel integration, allowing users to read data from Excel, process it, build machine learning models, and write results back to Excel within its visual workflow environment.
Features:
- Data preparation and blending, machine learning algorithms (classification, regression, clustering), model validation and deployment, text mining, process automation, visual workflow designer, Excel data import/export, reporting capabilities
Pricing:
- Freemium
- Powerful data science platform with a user-friendly visual interface, extensive library of operators for data mining and ML, free version available for many core tasks, good for end-to-end analytical workflows involving Excel data.
- Standalone platform (not just an Excel add-in), can be resource-intensive, learning curve for advanced features and workflow design, free version has limitations (e.g., on data size or processing power for cloud execution).
Best for:
- Data scientists, analysts, and researchers who want a visual platform to build and automate data science workflows, including data import from and export to Excel, for tasks like predictive modeling and text mining.
Disclaimer: due to complexity, the prices and the vast features of the software, the directory above is based on a mix of personal hands-on experience with some of them and an online information collected. In other words, we have tested some of them, but not all of them. Furthermore, many of these software have versions or plugins extending their features.
If you see any info that is not accurate anymore, or we made a mistake, or could be completed, or suggest another software solution, reach us via the comment section or the contact form.
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