PLM fosters business agility, if you do it right
No business is static. Everything changes, all the time. The successful business adapts, figures out what to change in its offerings, in the technology it uses and in the way its people work. This means identifying the change and brainstorming ways to succeed in spite...
Where are we going? A simulation view
The good news: we’re no longer evangelizing about the benefits of simulation. Most people and companies understand that CAE can help create better products, more quickly. The bad news: many still don’t get the fact that simulating one facet of a product isn’t...
AspenTech snaps up KBC for refinery ops
Now this is interesting. AspenTech, which makes software used for the design and costing of chemical processes (think the molecular changes required to turn crude into jet fuel) and for optimizing the overall oil and gas supply chain (think "how much crude do I have,...
Plant design in a world of $30 oil
I get asked this a lot: what are oil producers (and their contractors) doing when the price of oil is so low? Why keep producing? Why do they need engineering services — and CAD, PLM, visualization, and other engineering-related technologies? The questions usually...
ESI Group acquires ITI GmbH to add 0D/1D to its offering
ESI Group just announced that it has acquired 96% of ITI GmbH, maker of the 0D/1D SimulationX solution, and has the option to purchase the remaining 4% in three years. All ITI staff will join ESI (and it sounds like it will be business as usual for ITI customers, at...
Welcome to 2016! Deals continue …
Happy New Year! May 2016 bring you nothing but happiness, health and prosperity! It's starting the way 2015 ended: with news of acquisitions and divestitures. Nemetschek says that it has concluded its acquisition of all of the shares of Solibri. You may remember from...
Happy holidays from us to you!
Nemetschek adds Solibri to its BIM offering
Do you BIM? If so, you've probably heard of Solibri, soon to be a Nemetschek company. Solibri makes what could be called quality assurance solutions for BIM, validating that models meet specific country/region and project standards and performing various...
AVEVA and Schneider break up
Word just came that AVEVA and Schneider Electric have decided to break off talks to merge/acquire one another's software businesses. No real reason was given, just "unable to reach agreement and discussions have been terminated by mutual consent". Since the deal...
AU 2015 – something for everyone, even Star Wars fans
By any measure, Autodesk University is big. 800+ sessions. 10,000 attendees in Las Vegas and a lot more watching the web-streamed sessions from home, during and after the event. The Venetian and Palazzo complex filled to overflowing with design techies of all sorts,...