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Issue #457 : : January 17, 2006 |
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C o n t e n t s
CoCreate Focuses Itself Below
the Radar, and other
regular columns. |
Write the Editor. Donate to upFront.eZine through Paypal. Access nearly-daily CAD commentary at our blog: WorldCAD Access. |
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Readers are unhappy over outsourcing; none wrote in support of it. - - - "Ahh, outsourcing. My favorite. I've personal experience with that. It's ugly. "I don't think theft of IP [intellectual property] is much of a real concern. That poor Indian kid found exactly one buyer for SolidWorks code -- the FBI. What do you do with that code? Without the people who wrote it, it's useless. You have to pay an engineer to read it, he/she will be able to write twice as much, and probably better code for the same money. "Here's the real problem with outsourcing: Outsourcing works if you think of software development as a production line. The boss writes the spec, the programmer says 'yes, sir, right away sir', clicks his heels and implements the spec, preferably working 25 hours a day, 7 days a week. "But successful software isn't written that way. If you start with a spec (and for a feature of a CAD app you probably should), it has to go though several reviews. A key part of the process is the willingness of the engineer to disagree, push back, present her point of view. That is simply not possible with an offshore team. You lose the creative talent, and with that, your competitive edge. Your specs and your app will follow others. "There are obvious exceptions. If you have a highly specific task with defined input and output, offshoring may work. If you have to write an app for Chinese market, at least some of the development should be happening in China. In-house apps may be written and maintained by an offshore division. "Tell me what you outsource, and I can tell you what's not
important to you." The editor replies: "A programmer friend in California spends two hours on the phone every morning with the overseas programming team."
"Wouldn't it be more cost effective for corporations to
trade in their bloated executive corps (with their multi-million
dollar salaries and bonuses) for a single $20,000-a-year Indian
executive, and leave the designers in the USA?"
"And they wring their hands, bemoan their lot in life, and wonder what the pirate groups have against their definition of free enterprise. "Well, it hard for me to feel sorry for these higher muckimucks (today's lumber barons of old) with their multi-million dollar salaries/stock options who are making the move to cheap labor. Outsource to increase profit margins to placate the stockholders. And the h**l with the endusers who suddenly find themselves out of jobs unable to purchase said merchandise. Yup, you will eventually dry up the market, no one will buy and you're left standing sucking wind, wondering what the h**l happened. "We may have to work with their products, but we don't have to like the way things are done in their greater marketing schemes." "PS: I'm currently dealing with an Excel sheet.. D**n program
does what _it_ likes, not what I want it to do. Have much the same
frustration with Word. Mickeyware: gotta love it, 'cause hating
it gets you nowhere."
"If man's purpose is to produce junk at rock-bottom prices, then what's the point? If you can cut total manufacturing costs to 10% of what the materials alone used to cost, you've most likely eliminated product quality as well. In the battle of quality vs. cost, cost (and often stupidity) wins every time. "One example of outsourcing is Ericsson (now SonyEricsson), who outsourced their production of cell phones. Whenever they release a great new phone, sales are held back because they can't meet demand. The classic end to this kind of relationship (e.g. US TV production) is that once the overseas guys learn to make other people's cell phones, they start to make their own. The assembly cost of a cell phone wasn't that big a part of its price to begin with. "A large CAD vendor has outsourced their developer support
overseas. A developer whom I meet with almost daily complains that
answers he gets these days doesn't make sense. The English is bad,
and the interest to actually solve problems seems low. The problem
is that people seem to get paid per case, regardless of whether
they actually help or not. My understanding of the deal with the
outsourcer is that the CAD vendor will also be moving enduser support
and registration over there. Seems like a recipe for disaster." CoCreate Software is one of a number of CAD packages that had their beginnings within large corporations. This is why some CAD packages are optimal for specific industries, such as CATIA for aircraft: it was developed internally by Dassault Aviation and then spun off as Dassault Systemes. CoCreate's CAD software was originally named ME/10 (for 2D) and ME/30 (for 3D) by HP, and was developed in Sindelfingen Germany for the design of laser printers and similar devices in Fort Collins CO USA. Spun off, the company initially relied on HP for most of its revenue. More recently, it has found favor with other laser printer and copier vendors, many in Japan. After going independent, CoCreate unfortunately gave its products vague names, such as "OneSpace Designer Modeling." Like PTC, CoCreate de-emphasized CAD in favor of collaboration. With moves like these, "muddled" became the impression. About a year ago, the company began the process of putting itself into focus. For example, it is pushing the concept that its 3D modeling method (dynamic modeling) is superior to history-based modeling employed by PTC, Inventor, SolidWorks, and others. The advantages to dynamic modeling over history modeling are: (1) it's easier to import 3D models; (2) it's easier to make changes; (3) it's faster to base new models on earlier data. Yet it's the history-based modelers that hold the top positions in sales, while dynamic modelers, like IronCAD, Kubotek, and CoCreate, are second tier in market share. Second tier perhaps, but the CoCreate now calls itself "world's #1 provider of dynamic modeling."
The Format Advantage In a recent interview, CoCreate's vp of R&D Ulrich Mahle told me that their CAD software's files are up to 10x smaller than that of competitors, such as CATIA and I-DEAS. This gives CoCreate advantages: models load faster, larger assemblies can be loaded, and PLM data can be attached to the 3D model. (The 64-bit version of its CAD software loads models that are 40x larger, such as with 150,000 parts.) With the 3D CAD model at the center of the design universe, it stores the data that can be accessed by everyone: clash analysis, simulation and motion, industrial design, sheet metal specs, and links to Web-based info. And I should talk about the PLM aspect of CoCreate's software, but then my eyes begin to glaze over. I'll leave it for John Stark to handle it at some point in his "2PLM" ezine < http://www.johnstark.com >. This is, after all, a CAD 'zine.
True Subscription CoCreate's head of marketing communications Todd Black told me he is not impressed with competitor CAD vendors who use the term "subscription." It's a maintenance fee, he insisted. True, CoCreate has a true subscription model, where you don't pay upfront for the software + the annual "subscription." Instead, you pay by the month, albeit with an initial 12-month commitment. For instance, the 3D CAD package costs US$234/month. Mr Black says the advantage is to the customer, because CoCreate has to work to keep the customer after the 12 months are up. And the customer has a lowered barrier to taking on CoCreate software.
Corporate Specs CoCreate has 300 employees, and over 100 thousand seats of its software at 16,500 sites distributed as follows:
Revenues in 2005 were US$75 million, with EBITA earnings of nearly 35%. CoCreate plans to ship its One Space 2006 suite of CAD and PLM software within two weeks. http://www.cocreate.com A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere, or that I found interesting: - - - GlobeXplorer's ImageConnect v2.6 provides earth images to Autodesk software users -- high-resolution aerial, satellite, and topographic maps through downloadable Web extensions. Fourteen-day watermarked trial at www.globexplorer.com/products/imageconnect Delcam's ScanIP takes image data from MRI and CT scanners, and converts them to STL files or meshed volumetric models (with the addition of the +ScanFE module). www.delcam.com AutoSolids releases AS Mechanical, a 3D mechanical add-on for AutoCAD and AutoCAD-based applications. Creates 3D nuts, bolts, bearings, structural shapes and more. No-charge edition with fewer items but no time limit is at www.autosolids.com DOSCH 3D Ships (US$199) contains fully textured 3D models of ships for 3DS, 3dsmax (v5+), Lightwave (v6+), OBJ, Maya (v5+), VRML, and Cinema 4D (v7+). www.doschdesign.com ProgeSOFT.US has corporate pricing for ProgeCAD 2006 Professional and ProgeCAD DWG Viewer: location licensing (use the software on any PC at one location) and country licensing (distribute copies of the software to all corporate locations within one country). www.progesoft.us CAD Schroer releases STHENO/PRO v2.0 in four editions, which provides drafting for Pro/ENGINEER users:
IronCAD v8.0 is now available in Japanese. jp.ironcad.com CADLock ups the feature set for securing AutoCAD drawing files, by limiting access to graphical and non-graphical data. The new product is scheduled to ship in February. www.cadlock.com Gecko Software Mapping Solutions -- the longest name in mapping softwar e -- releases GPSxCAD (US$300), an extension that lets AutoCAD 2000+ access and view GPS position data. www.gecko-sw.com Avatech Solutions -- who failed to send me a press release even though they fed me salmon lunch at Autodesk University and gave me a kewl USB thumbdrive disguised as a ballpoint pen -- are beta-testing their Earth Connector as a free plug-in for AutoCAD. It creates KML files from AutoCAD drawings (after custom objects are exploded) for placement in Google Earth. www.avat.com D-Cubed updates its component software: 3D Dimensional Constraint Manager, Assembly Engineering Manager, Collision Detection Manager, and Hidden Line Manager. www.ugs.com/products/open/d-cubed/latest_releases.shtml upFront.reSearch offers a free research paper from Alexander A. Yampolsky that describes the basis for an "Operating System for Structural Design." Download the PDF document from www.upfrontezine.com/research - - - These news items were posted during the Christmas break at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski <worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/> Weblog:
Seminars & Conferences SolidWorks World 2006 is Jan 22-25 in Las Vegas NV USA. I'll be there Jan 23-25. www.solidworks.com/pages/swworld/index.html ACS Software hosts a three-day, hands-on, instructor-led, classroom training for installing, supporting, and managing AutoEDMS in Redondo Beach CA, March 1-3. www.acssoftware.com COFES2006 takes place April 20-23 in Scottsale AZ USA. www.cofes.com International ARCHIBUS/FM Users' Conference is in New York City on April 30-May 3. www.archibus.com BE Conference 2006 by Bentley Systems is May 21-25 in Charlotte NC USA and June 11-15 in Prague, Czech Republic. www.be.org GeoTec Event is June 18-21 in Ottawa Canada. www.geoplace.com/gt Redo "ProSteel and XSteel aren't analysis programs, they're steel
detailing software. Currently, Revit Structure exports to the following
analysis software: RISA 3D, Etabs, and ROBOT Millennium."
"The pirated Alibre product was not stolen by an outsourcing
firm or an employee of an outsourcing firm, just a dishonest employee
who after his theft absconded to Russia, his homeland." Market News US-based Autodesk completes its US$197-million acquisition of Canada's Alias software. WorthWhile Web http://floatingpoint.typepad.com/pr_marketing_and_the_busi/
http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/top_ten_lies_of_entrepreneurs_guy_gets_it_right.php
http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/002160.html
Letters to the Editor Re: SolidWorks vs. Inventor "I'm so tired of this SolidWorks vs. Inventor debate. I think both companies' marketing and PR departments do themselves a great disservice by participating, and anyone who makes a purchasing decision based on some of these so-called press releases and marketing tactics likely doesn't have mental capacity to operate an Etch-A-Sketch. "An Autodesk-sponsored Web poll about hours wasted in lost productivity by SolidWorks users? Please! As much as Autodesk would like to make you think Inventor will solve all those problems, speaking from experience I'd wager similar results about Inventor would also be posted -- provided each product's loyal user base didn't corrupt the results. "And SolidWorks' attempt to brand itself as caring for AutoCAD users more than Autodesk is just as outlandish. Aside from the virtual slap in Autodesk's face, fact is SolidWorks needs to facilitate use of DWG-based design data to sell SolidWorks because of DWG's market prevalence. Not being able to handle DWG data mean they wouldn't be able to compete as easily against Autodesk. You can label it as caring for AutoCAD users if you like, but it's done out of business necessity on the part of SolidWorks. "Fact is each is a good product (as well as many of the other competitors), and regardless of preference, most companies will be well served with either one and quite possibly best served by using both -- like the Leatherman Tool Group, who's now also caught up in this nonsense. "Each of these companies insults the intelligence of their
user base every time they participate in this garbage. It's a slap
in the face. If it weren't for real business conditions which require
their use by so many of us, I think most of us would prefer to not
use either one out of principal alone." The editor replies: "For we in the media, the marketing war is entertainment; for users, it is irrelevant."
"Have you noticed the recent flurry of posts from SolidWorks
employees traffic and postings lately? Also, they have recently
started three blogs. I know SolidWorks World is around the corner,
but they have never done this much public denouncement [= accuse
formally] of claims and tests in their history. Do you think they're
feeling a little heat, or trying to curb Autodesk's claims?" The editor replies: "Yes. And yes. They are no longer #1 in sales, and that must hurt."
Re: BSA Claims Eliminating Piracy Increases Jobs "How exactly does the reduction in piracy increase jobs? While I do not condone using illegal software, take the case of a small company that employs three designers: they have one legal seat of XYZ CAD and two pirated copies. If the company were to strictly use legal software then they would need to shell out $ for the other two copies, likely cutting into the budget for the third designer. While certainly not the best situation, it happens every day. "Furthermore, the BSA always assumes that all pirated copies would be transformed into purchased copies. We know this is not the case. While I think the BSA's goals are admirable. it's questionable statistics like this that undermine their efforts. "Of course, if all of China (who has about a 96% piracy rate) and India (74%) were forced to go legit, then most outsourced jobs would come back to the US and thereby increase employment. "Excuse me while I hold my breath." The editor replies: "IDG did the research and has accused BSA of misrepresenting their data. What IDG calls 'value of pirated software', the BSA renamed 'lost sales due to piracy.' When confronted with the adulteration, the BSA claimed the difference was so small as to not matter <koff, koff>. Seems to me like an organization attempting to impose virtue through non-virtuous means."
Re: The Leader in... "In your
NEWS#454,r you mentioned that Nemetschek calls Vectorworks Spotlight
software 'the industry standard' in entertainment and lighting design
software. Design & Drafting has been in the entertainment lighting
and event planning for more that 20 years and we can assure you
that Vectorworks Spotlight is not close to being a standard."
Re: Lower-Priced CAD "Today I
simply use General CADD Pro 4 for pure 2D drafting and SketchUp
5 for 3D modeling. Since retiring, I don't have access to all the
expensive Autodesk programs used by corporations, so I have to spend
my own money more wisely." - - - "Thanks, keep up the great work!"
Spin Doctor of the Moment "Someone is going to be responsible and someone is going
to have to pay."
Notable Quotable "However false and mawkish it may be, if false and mawkish
is the only thing on offer, the prize will go to the falsest and
most mawkish."
Copyright 2006 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Article reprint fee US$250.00.
All trademarks belong to their respective holders. "upFront.eZine,"
"Talking About CAD," and "On your desktop every Tuesday morning"
are trademarks of upFront.eZinePublishing, Ltd. |
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