Commentary on the recent ANSYS acquisition of SpaceClaim. SpaceClaim significantly improves ANSYS’ geometric modeling and manipulation capabilities and ability to productively leverage most 3D CAD geometry within the simulation and analysis environment.

CIMdata has tracked the CAM software market for over 20 years. While it has had ebbs and flows over the years, there seems to be a renewed interest in CAM technology. The market has seen strong growth since 2009, achieving 10% growth in 2012. Global competition is continuing to increase pressure on manufacturers to improve product quality, time to market, and financial performance. The capture and application of company specific knowledge enables experienced staff to be more productive and less experienced staff to contribute more to company success. CAM software that supports generative machining is a key technology enabling manufacturers to compete.

CIMdata recognizes Geometric as one of the fastest growing CAM software suppliers over the past five years. In reviewing the capabilities of CAMWorks it is easy to see why. The software is easy to use and has advanced capabilities built on a modern technology platform. Feature recognition with knowledge-based generative machining, and the flexibility of Synchronous Technology is a powerful combination that should help address the pressures on manufacturing organizations. The integrations with midrange CAD solutions like Solid Edge (and SolidWorks) provide capabilities that were, at one time, only available with expensive, high-end integrated solutions. 

CIMdata recently attended Solid Edge University 2014. The two-day event brings together Solid Edge users, called “Edgers,” industry analysts, press, resellers, third-party software vendors, and the Siemens Solid Edge team to share product and business news, introduce the latest version of the software, Solid Edge ST7, and conduct informational and training classes. This year’s theme was “Re-Imagine What’s Possible.”

Autodesk has been particularly aggressive in developing new offerings with modern social capabilities built into a number of them. Connecting the development lifecycle to product concept design provides a strong collaborative foundation for more innovative and higher quality products. Autodesk has partnered with NetSuite to create a demonstration showing how they can use social feedback to connect activities across the development lifecycle. The demonstration uses a barbeque grill to show how crowd sourcing, Autodesk Fusion 360, and collaboration can all help develop a new product concept. This demo is a good start, showing how a group of people from multiple regions and disciplines can collaborate socially to design an exciting new product. CIMdata looks forward to seeing how this combination of enterprise capabilities evolves to enable better collaboration.

CIMdata recently attended Aras’ ACE2014 conference. This annual event continues to grow with 400 registrants from around the globe, up from 321 last year. The theme of this year’s conference was “Right Now,” with all the Aras presenters focusing on what could be done right now with Aras Innovator. 

Customers contacted by CIMdata report that eQ Technologic’s products perform well and support their needs. BAE MAI Division recently published a report describing their PLM solution and how they use eQube-MI to support their integration requirements. At CIMdata we see eQube-MI as supporting industry best practices for integration and the BAE Systems report reinforces what CIMdata hears from other eQ Technologic clients.

A recent CIMdata commentary entitled “Emerging Social Applications in Product Development” (20 May, 2014) focused on the applicability of social business collaboration capabilities in product development, and described how recent moves by Autodesk and others provide insights into how best to leverage these capabilities.

Looking closely at Autodesk, we see a market-leading vendor that is defining the next generation of design experience and blazing trails in the expansion of design and product development software, both CAD and PDM, to benefit from the innovations made possible by cloud, mobile, and a social technology mindset. 

In today’s competitive global markets, aerospace and defense (A&D) companies need to do more with less. Because of budgetary constraints, programs are smaller than before, and companies are now seeking new business across the globe. As a result the volume of proposals is on the rise. Companies must respond more efficiently than before to requests for proposal (RFPs). Companies must compete with innovative design and production concepts that effectively address their prospect’s needs at a competitive price while maintaining acceptable margins. This process is even riskier now, given the recent shift in A&D from competition based on the aircraft or weapon system’s performance, to competition based on the full lifecycle cost including acquisition and sustainment. 

CIMdata recently attended PTC Live Global 2014 in Boston, MA, USA. PTC Live Global gives PTC customers the opportunity to not only hear and explore PTC’s solution strategies and roadmaps, but also to showcase their own work, network with peers, share ideas, and discuss how they are addressing their challenges. PTC reported that over 3,000 attendees representing approximately 2,000 companies were present at the event. They also stated that over 500 PTC personnel were in attendance. Major themes at PTC Live Global were the Internet of Things (IoT) and its potential impact on the manufacturing industry, new Creo multi-CAD capabilities, expanded systems engineering solutions and services with the announced acquisition of Atego, and expanded Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) solutions.

On the 11th and 12th of June, Dassault Systèmes held their annual industry analyst event at their worldwide headquarters in Velizy, France. The event was attended by a few dozen industry analysts, twelve of whom were at the event for the first time. Bernard Charlès, Dassault Systèmes’ CEO and President, energetically kicked off the event by clearly articulating the company’s vision and commitment to building a robust and industry leading 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. Mr. Charlès reminded the group that Dassault Systèmes began this platform journey in 2004 as an internal set of secret projects and then made their intentions public in 2012. It is clear that the journey that they have embarked on is long and deliberate. They aren’t trying to just design and deliver the next PLM-enabling solutions; they are on a journey that they hope changes what PLM is and what it will be well into the future.