A quick update on the Additive Ball
Remember how last month there was a will they/won’t they dance going on in the world of additive manufacturing? Well, the dance continues, with news on several fronts. To recap: Desktop Metal and Stratasys had planned a merger, then another company stepped in to say...
How close are we, really, to AI in PLM?
(Newsletter subscribers: sorry if you're seeing this twice. The first one went out with weird formatting.) Did you hear the news yesterday? My local radio station advised me NOT to rely on Siri and Alexa for help if I need to perform CPR (cardio-pulmonary...
Quickie: PTC announces CEO change; Rockwell sells its stake in PTC
Earnings season rolls along, and I will eventually get to capsules covering PLMish results (mixed so far, nothing horrible), but there are two PTC items to cover outside of earnings. The first is that PTC has announced that current CEO Jim Heppelmann will step down...
Partnering up at the Additive Ball
Have you kept up with the Stratasys + Desktop Metal + 3D Systems + Nano Dimension saga? It’s been a captivating will they/won’t they that the striking Hollywood writers might want to turn into a movie when they’re back in the office … 3D printing, aka additive...
4 on a Monday: ESI to become part of Keysight Technologies; Hexagon and Cadence acquire; and the cost of AI to you and the developer
ESI announced that Keysight Technologies would acquire it in two stages for about EU 913 million. For those keeping track, that’s roughly a 6.5x revenue multiple. Who? Keysight had revenue of $5.4 billion in 2022, roughly half from commercial communications companies,...
The PLMish VAR economy: mixed Q2 so far
As PLMish earnings start, it’s helpful to look at the results reported by the (very few) publicly traded value-added resellers (VARs). They’re the canary in the coal mine, on the front lines with the buyers of PLMish solutions. They’re also a middleman, buffeted by...
And we’re off: Sandvik reports 9th consecutive quarter of revenue growth
It’s that time again: PLMish earnings season. If you recall, a year ago, we heard of companies winding down their businesses and exiting operations in Russia, often at a considerable cost in lost sales and asset write-downs. What will this year’s Q2 results bring?...
Can PLM save the planet?
Creating sustainable product lifecycles was a big-stage topic at every event I attended this spring. Presenters started their talks with dire statistics about a planet in peril and wound up encouraging us to focus on those aspects we can do something about. Using less...
Realize LIVE 2023: Siemens says it’s shifting the conversation
There’s something special about being at a user conference in person. The random encounters. A roomful of people nodding when they agree with a speaker — or the look of confusion when the room’s experience doesn’t match. The band that plays the audience into the hall...
Dassault Systèmes in 2023: nothing but potential
I recently spent a few days with the Dassault Systèmes team in Paris. I’m still digesting it all — there was a LOT, and since my job is to find patterns, make comparisons, and note contrasts, I still much to ponder— so this post will cover some general thoughts about...
It’s a wrap: A recap of PTC Liveworx 2023
Big user events are back! PTC’s Liveworx filled the Boston Convention Center, a full 12-minute walk from end to end. We had Creo users, Windchill admins, Codebeamer coders, Vuforia wizards, Servigitics partners, Thingworx implementers, ServiceMax users — and even some...
Ansys acquires Diakopto, adding to its IC simulation arsenal
I'm missing a Vuforia party, so this will be brief: Ansys just announced that it will acquire Diakopto, maker of integrated circuit (IC) simulation solutions -- specifically, to find problems "caused by layout parasitics." I need to find out what that is, but I...
LiveWorx, the preview (notes from day 0)
I loved set-up time at Daratech conferences. I would stand on a balcony or walkway and watch it all come together on the exhibit floor below me. Vendors building their booths, the service people laying down cables and bringing in counters, plants, and lighting, and...
Digital Twins, Threads, and Tapestries – oh my
A couple of weeks ago, I attended the CIMdata PLM Road Map & Eurostep PDT North America 2023 event in Washington DC and, I’ve got to say, it was terrific. A great speaker lineup, high-level content, vendor neutrality, and no sales pitches — a refreshing event in a...
Hexagon’s Q1 showed growth –also in China– even as the company exited unprofitable US defense contracts
Hexagon reported results this morning — and they tell a different story of the environment in China. Read on. Total revenue in Q1 was €1287 million, up 11% as reported and up 8% on an organic constant currency basis (occ) By geo, CEO Paolo Guglielmini said revenue was...
PTC’s ramp deals: “nothing but goodness” in a solid FQ2
PTC reported results last night that were quite good, though a lot of what interests me (at any rate) is buried inside unhelpful product buckets. When PTC says “CAD” in these earnings announcements, they mean any authoring tool, whether it’s Creo, Onshape, or...
Dassault Systèmes wobbles on license, otherwise good Q1
Dassault Systèmes reported Q1 results this morning — they were decent but some investors were unhappy about the (tiny in € terms) miss in the (tiny) license revenue category. The details: Total revenue increased 8% as reported (7% in constant currencies, cc) to €1,434...
PLMish earnings start strong, with good news from MuM and Sandvik
Two reports start us off this earnings season: Mensch und Maschine, the Autodesk reseller, and Sandvik, the Swedish company buying its way into CAM. First, MuM. Mensch und Maschine Software reported "another best quarter ever in M+M's history" yesterday, with revenue...
From poet Kate Baer: What to Write After Yet Another School Shooting
It's been a ridiculously busy week, but I can’t get the Nashville school shooting off my mind. This, from poet Kate J Baer via https://www.instagram.com/p/CeOfd76uKep/, says what I can't. We'll be back to PLMish news next week, I hope. If you happen to know which of...
Happy Pi Day!
Have I ever told you my butter ruler story? No? Well … In the US, butter typically comes in sticks wrapped in wax paper. The paper usually has the maker's logo, the stick's weight and a magical butter ruler. We (in the US) do things volumetrically, so recipes...
