CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
25 March 2009
Company News
COADE President/CEO Van Laan Interviewed in Pump Engineer Magazine Discussing Today’s Challenges for Plant Designers and Engineers
COADE announced that Thomas J. Van Laan, PE, the company’s president/CEO, is featured in an interview in the January issue of Pump Engineer magazine in which he discusses the challenges in the plant design and engineering industry and COADE’s response to these challenges. As discussed in the article, COADE’s approach emphasizes monitoring plant design industry trends, listening to customers and designing products and support for customers that deliver responsive solutions that save them time and money.
The Pump Engineer article discusses how COADE’s approach has resulted in 7,500 different customers in 85 countries and sales growth of 30%+ compounded annually. In fact, the company saw a sales increase for this year (fiscal year ending March 31) despite the economic downturn of the last several months.
“Our aim has been to help engineers and designers solve their problems,” states Van Laan in the article. “We also believe in listening closely to the needs of our customers.” He describes how, with over 50% of COADE’s employees having a background as engineers or designers in the plant design industry, they can relate in a personal way to the challenges facing plant engineers today. Because the support staff at COADE is also the development staff, unique in the software industry, customers receive knowledgeable support in real time directly from those responsible for the software without any intermediate personnel to confuse the issue.
The article also discusses the changing face of plant design and engineering for software developers, with today’s engineers being much younger and often with little if any specialized training. “On average, our customer base had a much higher level of experience 10-15 years ago than they do today,” Van Laan explains regarding the company’s current approach to product development for these less experienced designers and engineers. “We want them to be able to press a button to get the answers they need.”
Information on COADE and its products can be found at http://www.coade.com.
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