Let’s talk about AI
I'm seeing two very different strategies as engineering/design/manufacturing/construction companies think about artificial intelligence: On the one hand, many bigger companies have teams (usually in IT) who stay on top of machine learning, large language models, and...
US government tells vendors to stop selling EDA in China
During the Synopsys earnings call on Wednesday, an investor asked management if they knew about the Trump administration's letter telling EDA vendors to stop selling in China. Synopsys said no, it hadn't received one, but Ansys, Cadence, and Synopsys shares tumbled...
US FTC weighs in on Synopsys + Ansys, enters public comment period
Late yesterday, the US Federal Trade Commission said that it would approve Synopsys's acquisition of Ansys if the companies divest specific assets that the FTC believes could otherwise lead to "higher costs for the countless everyday products that use computer chips,...
Siemens, Graitec, Trace One, Procore all do deals; Synopsys+Ansys still not closed
I'm still digging out from under the news that accumulated while I was on vacation. Still, I already see that there were (of course) more PLMish deals announcemed over the last few weeks: Siemens Digital Industries Software said it will acquire Wevolver, a site...
FARO to be acquired for $920 million
News came this morning that AMETEK, Inc. is going to acquire all outstanding shares of FARO Technologies' common stock for $44 per share in cash, for a total of around $920 million -- and that per share price is roughly 40% above FARO's closing price on May 5, 2025....
Hannover Messe: Manufacturing’s big show
Over the last few weeks, I've been briefed by a lot of PLMish companies about what they'd be showcasing at Hannover Messe, the giant trade fair in Germany that looks at all things smart manufacturing. Almost 130,000 people attended this year to hear from 4,000...
5 on a Tuesday: Hexagon, Siemens + Dotmatics, Nano + Desktop, Rescale, Chinese/Hungarian BIM — oh my
There is a LOT going on, so it's time for a catch up. Earnings season is about to start again, and we've already had one early report: Hexagon pre-announced Q1 results that missed expectations on both revenue growth and margins. (Recall that Hexagon doesn't issue...
So, Tariffs. What does that mean for our PLMish universe?
When I was a kid, the US imposed tariffs on Japanese cars. Why? Because high gas prices led consumers to want smaller, more efficient cars, and American automakers only produced gas-guzzlers. To make domestic cars more attractive and to buy time for the US makers to...
PTC acquires IncQuery Group for ALM business
PTC also announced an acquisition today, one that appears more of a tuck-in than a new-industry-maker: It has acquired IncQuery Group, which offers application lifecycle management (ALM) and systems engineering products and services. Neil Barua, PTC's CEO, said, "The...
Siemens makes $5 billion life sciences R&D acquisition
Never boring. The ink is barely dry on the paperwork that finally closed the Altair deal, and today, Siemens announced that it will acquire Dotmatics, a leader in life sciences R&D software, for $5.1 billion. Siemens says Dotmatics "offers a market leading...