Autodesk recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tinkercad, an easy-to-use browser-based 3D design tool. The addition of Tinkercad to Autodesk is aimed at helping broaden the consumer-oriented Autodesk 123D family of apps and supports Autodesk’s vision to help anybody (students, makers, and designers) imagine, design, and create anything. The acquisition will also revive the Tinkercad service and community, despite a previously announced shutdown by its founders and creators. Read the rest of this entry »

NetSuite is on a roll with whopping growth and expansion (16,000 customers, 2,000 employees, and 700 partners) and is even now talking about profitability, positive cash flow, and a hefty cash position (contrary to the popular belief that cloud software vendors are not profitable in general). The company’s third SuiteWorld annual conference brought about 5,000 attendees, which is significantly higher than the 3,000 and 1,200 attendees respectively for the previous two years’ events. While retail and multi-channel e-commerce was the main theme at SuiteWorld 2012, SuiteWorld 2013’s main theme was that manufacturing is ready for cloud computing too.

NetSuite for Manufacturing
This week’s release of NetSuite Manufacturing Edition brings to the marketplace a solution for manufacturing and product-centric companies that includes a portfolio of capabilities such as production routings and scheduling, financials for manufacturing with standard cost and work in progress (WIP) accounting, inventory management with available-to-promise (ATP), and supply chain integration. While previously NetSuite mainly targeted outsourced offshore manufacturing, NetSuite Manufacturing Edition now caters to manufacturers that make their own products. The offering is still a fairly generic discrete manufacturing solution, but it is likely that NetSuite will make it more vertical, in part based on tuck-in acquisitions and partner offerings.

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Marrying desktop and cloud design experience for more comprehensive industry workflows continues to be a theme at Autodesk. The latest Autodesk Design and Creation Suites offer access to the Autodesk 2014 software portfolio for building, product, plant, and factory design; engineering, construction, and infrastructure; and entertainment creation professionals. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a great future in composite materials, the next generation of lighter, stronger, safer, and more energy-efficient materials.

After Siemens PLM Software acquired Vistagy more than a year ago, Autodesk yesterday announced that it has completed the acquisition of Firehole Technologies (do business as Firehole Composites), a privately held software company based in Laramie, Wyoming, that specializes in design and analysis software for composite materials. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Read the rest of this entry »

Autodesk, the leader in cloud-based design and engineering software, continues with its cloud software investments. Most recently, it acquired (for an undisclosed sum) technology and a development team from Allpoint Systems LLC, a small Pittsburgh, PA–based developer of software and solutions for collecting and processing LiDAR (light detection and ranging) point cloud data. The Allpoint Systems team and technology, which offers software and data processing solutions for collecting and processing LiDAR data to the roadway and building markets, will help Autodesk expand the development of cloud-based reality capture software and solutions. Read the rest of this entry »

Autodesk has been making significant investments to enhance its portfolio of visualization and computer-aided engineering (CAE) software, primarily by acquiring niche software vendors. In an effort to achieve more depth in its visualization portfolio, Autodesk has acquired PI-VR, a privately held German software vendor that focuses on 3D visualization technology. This acquisition is in line with Autodesk’s Digital Prototyping approach that combines design, visualization, and simulation of products in a cost-effective manner. Read the rest of this entry »

In late November 2012, at the time of the Autodesk University 2012 conference, Autodesk, the leader in cloud-based design and engineering software, and INDYCAR, the auto racing sanctioning body behind popular racing events such as the Indianapolis 500, have signed a three-year technology partnership. INDYCAR already employs Autodesk’s desktop-based software within its operations for a variety of important functions. For example, the organization uses AutoCAD software to create detailed garage layouts before each event, which helps improve the logistics of load-in and load-out at venues.

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In late November 2012, Siemens and Bentley Systems announced a strategic collaboration to integrate digital product design and manufacturing processes design offerings by Siemens PLM Software with information modeling for facilities lifecycle design offerings by Bentley. Initially, the companies will focus on the digital factory for automotive and discrete manufacturing. In other words, the Siemens Industry Automation Division and Bentley will initially collaborate on common file formats and content, integrated workflows for factory layout, and the convergence of process and layout. This work is an extension of earlier collaborations between the two organizations that resulted in each deploying technology offerings developed by the other (see the related news item).

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A week before the Autodesk University 2012 conference, Aras, a provider of enterprise-class open source product lifecycle management (PLM) software solutions, announced the launch of Aras VPLM, a commercial offering designed specifically for companies that run Autodesk Vault with Inventor for three-dimensional product design and AutoCAD for two-dimensional design. Aras VPLM for Autodesk Vault provides packaged functionality for corporate-wide PLM business processes within companies that run Autodesk product data management (PDM) software.

Built on top of Autodesk Vault Professional, Aras VPLM extends the capabilities of Autodesk Vault for new product development and introduction (NPDI), complex configuration management, enterprise change management, outsourced manufacturing, quality compliance, and other functions across a company and its supply chain, by allowing collaboration between product development, operations, quality, purchasing, sales and marketing, and other groups.

Autodesk Vault is by far the best computer-aided design (CAD) file manager for designers using Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD. Read the rest of this entry »

Autodesk continues its foray into the cloud product lifecycle management (PLM) game after its recent launch of Autodesk PLM 360 and acquisition of Inforbix. Read the rest of this entry »

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS

Ventura Manufacturing selects IQMS
Industry tags: Manufacturing, Assembly
“Ventura Manufacturing, Inc. has adopted IQMS’s manufacturing ERP software after reviewing multiple top-tier ERP vendors. Venture Manufacturing is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, and provides component assembly for furniture and automotive customers. Ventura will also run IQMS’ EDI module and customer/vendor portals, and plan to implement the IQMS quality modules. The ERP system will replace Ventura’s previous in-house developed system, which reportedly lacked data integration and was missing tools to support the growing complexities of its business.”—Ted Rohm, TEC ERP Analyst

• IQMS profile
• Compare ERP systems now!

Six London boroughs select Oracle ERP
Industry tags: Public administration and defense
“Application sharing is an ongoing trend for European governmental structures, and particularly in the UK. Six boroughs of London have agreed to pool their resources and benefit from lower costs and economies of scale. The latest version (version 12) of Oracle’s E-Business Suite won the deal. But in contrast with several cases involving UNIT4 wins, separate boroughs are expecting to use the same ERP system technically, but each in its own way, so the winning system needed to support this requirement. At the same time, boroughs will be able to easily exchange or share certain data if required.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Analyst

• Oracle E-Business Suite profile
• Compare ERP systems now!

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AVEVA, a computer aided design (CAD) pioneer, opened its doors under the name CADCentre in 1967 as a breakaway of a research initiative of Cambridge University. Its history is closely related to the Silicon Fen phenomenon, which is the UK equivalent of the high-tech and information technology (IT) hub Silicon Valley.

Important milestones in the history of the company include the release of the world’s first plant design management system (PDMS), in 1976, plant visualization system, in 1988, and Internet-based solution for plant design, in 1998. These innovations, plus a series of acquisitions, make AVEVA one of the most important players in the plant design space, with more than 1,300 employees on all continents and more than 2,000 customers.

Why “The Future of Plant Design”?

“The Future of Plant Design” began as one of AVEVA’s projects, which took more than 18 months to complete and launch. It all started with a vision for a new era in plant design, but as many vendors tend to speak about new eras in their sector when releasing new solutions, I wanted to know what specific changes in the plant design industry this entailed. So I asked Simon Bennett, senior product business manager at AVEVA to tell me more about the new benchmarks in plant design and how their “Future of Plant Design” initiative can address them. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series started with the assertion that product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions are becoming increasingly important to enterprises in a strategic sense. However, not all PLM products are created equal, especially in light of their different origins. Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone who has been covering the product lifecycle management (PLM) market will have likely met Oleg Shilovitsky at some industry events or at least read one of his impartial and knowledgeable blog posts on the available PLM vendors, solutions, and market trends. Shilovitsky has been building software products for product data management (PDM), engineering, and manufacturing for the last 20 years or so.

He spent 11 years (from 1999 to 2009) working for Smart Solutions, an Israeli company with the SmarTeam PLM offering, and then for the mighty Dassault Systemes, after it acquired SmarTeam and merged it under the ENOVIA PLM brand. Over these years, he held various positions in the company’s research and development (R&D) group and management, with the most recent position being ENOVIA SmarTeam Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series started with the assertion that product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions are becoming increasingly important to enterprises, to a strategic degree. However, not all PLM products are created equal, especially in light of their different origins. Read the rest of this entry »