Mining heats up: Trimble acquires MIS
As you know, I was at Hexagon's user conference, HxGN LIVE, last week, where mining was featured as an emerging market for Hexagon's offerings. Hexagon's team told investors that mining is an underserved industry, technologically, and that even in times when new mines...
SIMULIA SCC highlights simulation in an enterprise context
It took an entire day, but Dassault Systèmes (DS) finally got its point across during the last session of day one at the SIMULIA Customer Conference 2014: the 3DExperience platform may be new, but is comprised of the same Abaqus CAE, iSIGHT, Tosca and other products...
Solid Edge U showcases cool toys and happy customers
It's a sleepy Tuesday morning in Atlanta. Siemens PLM and Solid Edge welcome us to the latest iteration of Solid Edge University, etcetera etcetera etcetera. Just as we're settling in for some serious corporate presentations, in zooms a guy on a go-kart -- but it's...
Quickies: Hexagon & Trimble acquire to extend their capabilities
I'm at the Hexagon user conference, HxGN LIVE in Las Vegas, and you know the event wouldn't be complete without an announcement or two or ten. Yesterday, Hexagon announced that it has acquired iLab Sistemas, a Brazilian provider of planning and optimization solutions...
Musings on analyst craftsmen and the rest of the world
Many old-school simulation experts are craftsmen, honing their meshes and input decks to fine precision. That competence is often stashed in simulation centers of excellence that act as internal service bureaus for project teams -- great for the kind of simulation...
Morning coffee: BRIC troubles and Reading Rainbows
Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend, and forgot all about work. Let’s get caught up with recent news. It’s the Economy … The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) were the engines of the world's economic growth and a huge target of opportunity for...
Exa’s Q1 falls short — but for a good reason
Exa announced Q1 results on Thursday that were good, not great. Revenue was just under $14 million, at the low end of the company's guidance but still up 10% year/year (y/y). Exa CEO Steve Remondi told investors that a few passenger car and heavy vehicle projects in...
AVEVA’s marine woes may be over, eyes acquisitions in FY15
New product gaining traction in the market? Check. Problematic end-industry apparently reviving? Looks like it. Costs under control? Yup. More acquisitions? Yes, please. AVEVA's recent earnings announcement hit all the high notes and investors loved it, sending the...
Autodesk’s Q1 a study in moving parts
There's been no shortage of news from Autodesk lately, what with new licensing options, acquisitions, 3D printing and an RV touring the US*, so it's no surprise that the Q1 earning call tried to put it all in perspective. CEO Carl Bass addressed the 3D printing hoopla...
Morning coffee: deals, cars and snowmelt. Yup.
So here we are, just a few days from June. Where does the time go? It's full-on user conference season so there's more to cover than ever -- let's get right to it. It’s the Economy … ... And it continues to send and receive mixed signals. One report out last...
Happy Memorial Day!
Today is Memorial Day, when the US pauses to honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to the country. Unofficially, it's also the long weekend that kicks off summer, when many people eat too much at the first cookout of the season. If you're a former or...
Rev up to trounce the competition!
Are you using the latest version of the software you rely on to do your job? Why not? You'd be amazed at how often I talk with users who are a couple of revs back -- they tell me they don't have the money to upgrade, or they're too busy, they don't want to learn...
Quickie: Update on Autodesk and NEi
My goodness -- the piece I posted yesterday about Autodesk acquiring certain asset of NEi Software really poked the bear! You've been commenting and emailing like crazy, which leads to this quick update: No, I don't know more that what I originally posted. There are...
Autodesk adds Nastran to its CAE offering
Autodesk confirmed yesterday that it has acquired certain assets of NEi Software, including its flagship Nastran solver. Autodesk isn't ready to say anything about its plans for Nastran but we can speculate that it wants to add its powerful linear and nonlinear as...
Is Hexagon’s strategy starting to pay off?
Hexagon has been on a quite a buying spree lately, adding point solutions for precision agriculture (Arvus) and mine modeling (Mintec), traffic safety (SAFEmine, initially targeted at mines) and multicopters (Aibotix), as well as precise positioning for all sorts of...
Morning coffee: Automotive edition
Welcome to a new week! Spring finally arrived in New England on Saturday and it's hard to concentrate on work this fine day. But it's a busy week, so let's get right to it. I'll be in Atlanta for Solid Edge University and hope to see you there. I'm told that...
ANSYS channel worries, Russia drag down Q1
ANSYS's announcement that it was buying SpaceClaim took the spotlight off its Q1 earnings, but those deserve a look, too. The company reported Q1 revenue of $215 million, up 9% from a year ago, with software revenue up 6% to $126 million and maintenance and services...
Encouraging new license sales lead DS to “decent” Q1 2014
Dassault Systèmes reported Q1 results that were decidedly mixed. Total revenue was up but that growth was largely due to acquisitions -- and, even then, most of the increase was in services, thanks to the RTT acquisition. Unusual for a traditional software company,...
Don’t wait: simulate earlier!
OK, I hear you say: "You keep telling me I should add simulation into my design process. I know, I know, I know, but I JUST DON'T HAVE TIME." You probably do, you just need to approach things a bit differently. Many companies start simulating too late to do much good....
ANSYS buys SpaceClaim (finally!)
Yes, yes, yes, ANSYS announced Q1 results today and we'll get to that. What's really got you buzzing is the second press release out of ANSYS this morning: For those who follow simulation but not CAD, SpaceClaim has ruffled a lot of feathers since 2007 by saying that...
