Direct, parametric — better together?
Debating the merits of direct and parametric modeling is all the rage. Is one better than the other? Which one should you use? Are you doing something wrong if you're not using [direct|parametric], if you're using [parametric|direct] now? No, depends, definitely not....
Autodesk Accelerate: Customers talk PLM 360
Heard over and over in Boston's District Hall last week: "I got a trial license of PLM 360, played with it for 6* months (although I was still doing my real job most of the time) and then started rolling out workspaces. As we got further into it, we realized what...
Stratasys to acquire GrabCAD
I'm at the Autodesk #AcceleratePLM14 conference about PLM 360, so can really only reblab the press release -- deeper analysis to come. But you knew something like this was the endgame, right? The juicy parts of the press release: "Stratasys ... today announced that it...
ESI’s Q2 down due to currency, realignment, deals pushed to Q4
The second report in a few days shows that it's getting tougher out there. On Friday, AVEVA reported that currency was taking its toll and that its sales force realignment was taking time to prove positive benefit. Yesterday, ESI Group reported that FQ2 2014 revenue...
AVEVA’s H1 update = uh oh
AVEVA issues periodic trading updates in between the more formal and detailed announcements every six months. These interim press releases typically don't say much -- but every so often something interesting slips through. This time, the nuggets aren't joyous. In the...
AVEVA kicks off earnings amid takeover rumbles
PLMish results start in earnest this week, as both PTC and Dassault Systèmes talk about their June quarter results. But AVEVA kicked things off in their uniquely British way last week, updating us on how things are going so far in fiscal 2015 -- and all seems to be to...
Siemens PLM grows into the AG — a good thing
Altair today announced that it is acquiring Visual Solutions, makers of the VisSim graphical block diagram language for modeling and simulating complex dynamic systems, including embedded systems. Visual Solutions says it has over 250,000 users worldwide, scientists...
Unlocking the value of legacy data
Over at the PTC Creo blog this week, I'm musing on how to recapture the value of legacy data -- all those CAD models you created in the past, now stored on drives all over the place (or archived in a PDM/PLM if you're so inclined), gathering the equivalent of digital...
Trimble acquisition boosts public safety offering
The AEC world continues to expand and contract at the same time, as the big providers branch out into new areas by acquiring smaller companies. Trimble is a perfect example, making more than 100 acquisitions since 2000 (spending over $3.2 billion in the process)....
DS adds SIMPACK’s multi-body sim to its offering
Dassault Systèmes today announced that it has acquired SIMPACK (formerly INTEC), developer of the SIMPACK general purpose multi-body simulation software that's been used for decades to analyze the motion, coupling forces and stresses on mechanical and mechatronic...