Autodesk Accelerate highlights the Fusion of CAx, PLM, CPQ & IoT
It's always fascinating to watch a product come to life. What problems does its creator think it solves? How do early adopter customers actually use it? What kind of partner ecosystem grows up around it? Autodesk's PLM 360 (yes, I know that's not what we're calling it...
Siemens unleashes the potential of 3D printing
Ahh, Fall! Here in the Northern hemisphere, a time of cooler temperatures, changing foliage and ... PLMish conferences. Analyst events, user conferences, product launches -- it's a busy time in our little world. In order to keep up with it all, I'm switching it up a...
Altair revs its rendering engine
Altair announced today that it has acquired Solid Iris Technologies, maker of the Thea Render photorealistic rendering engine that's already in use in Altair's solidThinking Evolve concept design solution. Thea Render results are gorgeous --check out the gallery,...
Quickie: GE all in on 3D printing
General Electric, the global megacorp that includes aircraft engines in its huge manufacturing portfolio, announced today that it is acquiring two European 3D printing companies for a total of $1.4 billion, making ever more real its vision to supply more complex...
Big changes coming at ANSYS
ANSYS just announced that longtime CEO Jim Cashman will be stepping aside as CEO but will remain with ANSYS as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Taking the CEO reins will be Dr. Ajei Gopal, who has been a member of ANSYS' Board since 2011. Dr. Gopal became President...
Quickies: Acquisitions continue in the PLMish world
Just because you're lying on a beach, don't assume everyone is. We've had a couple of acquisition announcements come across the transom in the last week, and they're noteworthy. SofTech continues its shift in focus away from PLM. You may have known Softech for CADRA...
Q&A Friday: CD-adapco and CAE at the Olympics
It's a gorgeous summer day here in New England -- a perfect time for a little A to some of the Qs that have come in to the Schnitger Corp. website: Who is the CEO of CD-adapco? Bob Ryan has been the CEO of CD-adapco since June. You may know Mr. Ryan from his time at...
Hexagon acquisition boosts construction accountability
Dire reports about poor productivity on construction sites (plus, to be honest, the public perception that most workers are just standing around) means that this is an industry ripe for PLMization. Bentley, Trimble and Autodesk have been selling technology to this...
A primer: How do I pick the best [CAD/CAE/PLM/CAM/etc] solution?
I get a lot of question from readers but, by FAR, the most common one is: What's the best [CAD/CAM/CAE/CFD/PIDO/PLM/etc] on the market? It would be so easy, wouldn't it, if there were one easily identifiable answer to that question. And the vendors, of course, will...
Dassault Systèmes’ V6 finally gaining traction, 36% of NL* in Q2
By now, you're likely aware that Dassault Systèmes reported a Q2 that matched expectations, with good growth from the ENOVIA and SOLIDWORKS brands offsetting weaker performance from CATIA. DS left its guidance for the rest of 2016 unchanged, on the expectation that...
Q&A Tuesday: AVEVA, Bentley IoT, Geometric and earnings podcasts
Yes, I know it's Wednesday. But it IS a Q&A, so let's get to it: AVEVA NET Shell I'm going to guess that this reader was looking for information on Shell's use of AVEVA Net. Shell was an early AVEVA Net adopter, using it on a project in China more than 10 years...
Quickie: MuM intends to double profit in 2016 even in subs transition
Germany's Mensch und Maschine Software released earnings today, saying that the first half of 2016 succeeded in meeting its ambitious goals. Sales for the 6 month period were €88 million, up 8%, led by M+M Software which grew 12% to €23 million. The VAR...
PTC’s FQ3 shows surprising demand for subs
It's big-boy PLMish earnings week and, so far, so good. PTC on Wednesday (and Dassault Systèmes on Thursday, blog post in the works) reported that demand remains solid. PTC customers' appetite for subscriptions continues to surprise as it came in significantly ahead...
Quickie: DS to acquire CST for €220 million
Dassault Systèmes announced its Q2 results this morning (good, acceleration expected in the second half of the year) and also said that it has agreed to acquire acquire Computer Simulation Technology AG (CST), a maker of electromagnetic and electronics simulation, for...
Quickie: PTC’s FQ3 is right where they said it would be
Sorry to interrupt your beach day, but it's earnings season and PTC just reported that FQ3 GAAP revenue was $289 million, right in the middle of the target of $287 million to $292 million, and down 5% from a year ago. You'll recall that PTC is (also, still) in the...
Pokémon GO could change the world of design and engineering
You may have seen the news stories about Pokémon GO, the app for iPhones and Android phones, that has human beings glued to their phones while running around in the real world trying to capture Pokémon cartoon characters. Players use their phone's camera to find and...
Longdon to step aside as AVEVA’s reinvention continues
AVEVA issued another one of those trading updates that don't usually say much: business was as expected and FY17 (ending in March) is expected to be "broadly similar to F16" -- a slight step back from earlier forecasts of . The only real financial comment in the...
Platforms take CAE’s digital twin to real life
If you think about it, we are at the convergence of a number of technological trends that will change how we design products, even as those products become complicated combos of mechanical, electronic, software and control systems. But it's not all technology; how we...
Autodesk acquires PCB design for Fusion 360
Interesting. I just saw that Autodesk has acquired Cadsoft Computer GmbH, a German company, from Premier Farnell. Premier Farnell distributes electronics components though many different channels, including online markets,and maintains the element14 online...
Autodesk’s Forge DevCon opens a world of possibility
Have you ever been to a DevCon? I hadn't been to one until a few weeks ago, when I was lucky enough to attend Autodesk's Forge DevCon in San Francisco. It's very, very cool. Hacker meets maker, lots of laptops and not a suit in sight. A dev con is a developer...
