Very quick: Intergraph acquires Visual Vessel Design
Dashing to the airport (from warm and lovely San Diego, to a cold and possibly snowy Boston -- what am I thinking?!) and just got an email announcing that Intergraph has acquired Ohmtech, makers of Visual Vessel Design, an analytical tool to design pressure vessels,...
ESI reports strong close to 2014, ends with growth
ESI last week reported results for Q4 and the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 that were surprisingly strong, with Q4 total revenue up 8% as reported to €49 million, boosting full year revenue to €110 million, up 1.5%. That's quite a reversal, given that revenue...
Q&A: Which is better?
I get asked this a lot: Which is better, NX or CATIA? ANSYS or Nastran? Which Nastran? Onshape or Fusion 360? PDMS or SmartPlant? As with the last Q&A post, I see that search engines deposit you at Schnitger Corp as you try to discover what others recommend. I...
ASNE highlights need for affordable, flexible ships
It's ASNE time again, when the US naval engineering community gets together to figure out how to better spend the scarce resource that is taxpayer money in the defense of the nation. I wrote last year about the dynamics of the US shipbuilding industry—mostly military,...
Trimble’s Fifth Element for the Connected Forest
AEC acquisitions have been all the rage so far this year -- and Trimble keeps the ball rolling with today's announcement that it's bought Fifth Element (no, that was a movie; this is forestry), based in Finland. Financial terms were not disclosed. Fifth...
Onshape’s here! Finally, we can talk about it …
Onshape, the latest CAD company founded by Jon Hirschtick, John McEleney and other names you likely recognize, took the wraps off this morning to finally let us talk about the worst-kept secret in the CAD world. To skip right to the part you probably care about: What...
Trimble acquires Linear project to boost corridor planning
Trimble today announced that it has acquired Linear project GMBH, a privately-held provider of scheduling software for linear or corridor infrastructure projects --that's highways, railways, pipelines, tunnels, transmission lines and similar built assets that need to...
FARO snaps up kubit
Well, well, well. Another independent, gobbled up. FARO, maker of laser scanners for metrology (very tight tolerances) and infrastructure applications (huge data sets, accurate, often outdoors) just acquired kubit, a German company that has been a leader in developing...
REAL 2015 showcases opportunities in capture, compute & create
What do custom-made dresses for Dita Von Teese, military airfield runways, Ebola containment/patient care and museum displays have in common? Thinking … thinking … At as first glance, not much. But all were prominently featured at last week’s REAL 2015, a gathering to...
ANSYS Q4 2014: SpaceClaim isn’t cute or little, but isn’t material either
Ansys reported record sales for the fourth quarter and full fiscal 2014 last week. Total revenue for Q4 was $254 million, up 8% year/year (y/y) as reported and up 12% in constant currencies (cc), ahead of both the company’s forecast and analyst consensus. Software...
Autodesk’s FQ4 caps off a great year
Last night, Autodesk reported results for fiscal Q4 and fiscal 2015 (ended January 31) that, well, beat just about all expectations. I need to study the details but: Total revenue was up 13% percent to $665 million in FQ4, versus an analyst consensus of $650 million...
A quick preview on a busy earnings day: ANSYS, 3D Systems, FARO
I’m at REAL 2015, the reality capture/compute/create event hosted by Autodesk in San Francisco. It’s been stunning so far to hear from artists, museum curators, city planners, architects, builders and others how they view today’s emerging technologies — and the...
Rand’s CQ4 suffers from a tough comparable in 2013
Rand Worldwide’s fiscal Q2, ending on December 31, 2014 revenue was down as reported year/year (y/y) to $22.4 million — but, excluding one really big sale a year ago, total revenue was up nearly 8%. You may remember that Rand has been reinventing itself, buying back...
MSC acquires Simufact for forming, welding
MSC Software just announced that it has acquired Simufact, maker of Simufact.forming and Simufact.welding, nonlinear simulation software technology for manufacturers. Yes, for forming and welding -- it costs a lot of money to trial these manufacturing processes, and...
DS’s Q4 results show that diversification works — no surprise!
Dassault Systèmes recently announced results for its fourth quarter and full-year 2014 (summarized here) that show how well the company's diversification strategy is working. Start with a growing cushion of repeatable revenue from core products and industries, add...
MuM’s Q4 revenue up 15%
Yesterday's gloomy Trimble news wasn't the start of a trend, it would appear. Today, Mensch und Maschine, the Autodesk VAR and developer of software under the OPEN MIND and other brands, reported that Q4 revenue was up 15% to €37 million, boosting sales for 2014 up...
Trimble had a tough Q4, revenue down 6% y/y
Well, this is a bit of a shock after the mostly upbeat results we've been getting from engineering software companies: Trimble's Q4 revenue was $564 million, down 6% and at the low end of the company's guidance. Wall Street consensus was $579.4 million, so this is...
Bentley acquires maker of 123D Catch technology
The AEC acquisitions keep rolling -- and, so far this year, show a fascinating extension into newer traditional realms. Bentley Systems just announced that it has acquired Acute3D, the French provider of Smart3DCapture software. Smart3DCapture turns photos into 3D...
3D Systems + Cimatron a done deal — circle get tighter
3D Systems announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Cimatron for $97 million. We all knew it was coming, after the deal was first confirmed back in November, but it's still a bit of a shock to realize that there are just two large, pureplay CAM...
FARO acquires ARAS 360 — nope, not that Aras
Things are so hectic right now that I read the headline quickly, did a double-take -- and then read it again: FARO Technologies, the 3D measurement and laser scanning company, acquired ARAS 360 Technologies to add to its accident and crime reconstruction offering. Not...
