.png?h=790&iar=0&w=1920&hash=D8A170A0018CDCD9407D2FD9F2FB2828)
Token-based licensing: Value Based Licensing
Whatever configuration you choose, you can extend your CAD/CAM/CAE capabilities with more than 140 add-on modules across 15 core domains: specialized design tools, standard parts applications, integrated simulation solutions, programming toolkits and direct translators.
Access works through floating licenses: your team purchases a shared token pool, then checks modules in and out as needed. Each component has a token value that is deducted from the pool while in use and returned once it's no longer needed, so you never pay for idle capacity.
Siemens releases a new version of its add-ons every six months (most recently in June 2026), with immediate access to new modules through the same token pool. The system covers both Designcenter and Designcenter X, so it's not a cloud-only feature.
Designcenter X (NX CAD): Value Based Licensing
Boost your license with over 100 add-on modules, only when you actually need them. Value Based Licensing (VBL) for Designcenter X NX is a token-based system that extends the Standard, Advanced and Premium configurations with specialized add-on modules (format translators, mold design, quality inspection and analysis tools) that you activate on demand instead of buying them as separate licenses. VBL is not available for the Essentials tier: it requires a Standard, Advanced or Premium core license as a base.
Not available for the Essentials tier: a Standard, Advanced or Premium core license is required as a base.
How does it work?
The system is based on a shared token pool (floating license): your team purchases a token package, and each member can draw from it to activate (check out) an add-on module. Each module has its own token value; when the module is no longer needed, the tokens return to the shared pool (check in) and are immediately available to another user or module.
A practical example
A team of four engineers, each with a named Designcenter X NX Design Standard license and a shared pool of 100 tokens, is developing the digital twin of a coffee machine.
- The first engineer uses Designcenter NX Draw Shape to add a coffee bean–shaped logo to the housing: 17 tokens, two hours of work
- The second uses Designcenter NX Algorithmic Modeling to add visual interest to the bean hopper: 25 tokens, two hours — leaving 58 tokens in the pool
- The third needs to analyze the performance of the tamping mechanism with Performance Predictor: this requires 89 tokens, more than are currently available, but in the meantime the first two engineers have finished and returned their tokens to the pool, so the job can start
- The fourth engineer uses Animation Designer to create marketing material on the internal mechanism: 24 tokens, but they have to wait until the Performance Predictor analysis is complete before the pool has enough tokens again
Featured modules
With more than 100 modules in the catalog, listing them all here wouldn't make sense, but a few concrete names give a better idea of the kind of functionality covered than a generic "advanced tools" label would:
- Designcenter NX Translator for STEP AP242 — bidirectional translation using the STEP AP242 protocol, for data exchange with external proprietary systems
- Jigs, Fixtures and Tooling — automates the entire tooling development process: part design, assembly layout, detailed design and validation
- Designcenter NX Mold Wizard — a dedicated mold design environment, with a process-thread approach to the critical functions of mold design
- Designcenter NX Molded Part Designer — validation and simulation tools for molded parts, bringing the design closer to the finished product without physical prototyping iterations
- Designcenter NX VDA 4955 Checker — quality checks on curves, faces, solids and drawing data according to the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) standard
- Designcenter NX HD3D Visual Reporting — displays business data directly in the 3D design environment
- Designcenter NX One-Step Formability Analysis — finite element sheet metal forming analysis, with flat blank generation from complex geometry
- Designcenter NX Mold Cooling — guided simulation of the thermal performance of injection mold inserts, with hot spot identification
FAQ
No. Value Based Licensing can only be used with the Standard, Advanced and Premium configurations. Essentials does not qualify as a base license.
No, they are two separate add-on product catalogs with different module names (the NX catalog includes, for example, Mold Wizard and VDA 4955 Checker, while the Solid Edge catalog includes Generative Design Pro and XpresRoute). Don't assume that a token pack purchased for one product line will work with the other.
Yes, new add-on modules are released every six months as part of Designcenter's continuous release cycle.
Over 140 modules for every CAD/CAM/CAE need
Request more information or your custom quote