u p F r o n t . e Z i n e
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Issue #616 | September 29, 2009 | English Edition
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In This Issue
1. The upFront.eZine Tour of Russia
Part I: ASCON (upFront.eZine #614; also available in Russian at isicad.ru/ru/articles.php?article_num=13302)
Part II: SoftDev (upFront.eZine #615; also available in Russian at isicad.ru/ru/articles.php?article_num=13314)
Part III: "The Future of MCAD" Roundtable Q&A (also available in Russian at isicad.ru/ru/articles.php?article_num=13334)
- Directed Q&A Session
- Free-for-all Q&A Session
Part IV: TOP Systems (next week)
2. Out of the Inbox, and our other regular columns
[Disclosure: Some of the firms mention in the "The upFront.eZine Tour of Russia" provided assistance with the airfare, accommodation, ground transportation, and meals.]
The upFront.eZine Tour of Russia
Part III: "The Future of MCAD" Roundtable Q&A
Location: Moscow, Russia
Time Stamp: Tue 08 Sep 2009 02:31:40 PM MSD
On a Tuesday afternoon at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Moscow, all major MCAD vendors and several computer journalists gathered to discuss the future of mechanical CAD in Russia. The meeting was historic, for it was the first time Russian CAD vendors met together on their own. (Previous gatherings had also included customers.)
The meeting began with me answering questions previously posed by participants. You can read my prepared Q&A here:
The floor was then opened up to questions in two formats. One format was dedicated to directed questions, where vendors answered questions in-turn; the second format allowed a free-for-all Q&A session, where anyone asked and/or answered. The following transcript is based on the Russian-English translation whispered in my ear, and so may not be 100% accurate. Photos of the event are available at the isicad Web site: isicad.ru/ru/articles.php?article_num=13276
Directed Q&A Session
In this session of the roundtable, co-moderator Vladimir Malukh, director of PLM services at isicad, and Elena Goretkina of PC Week Russia posed questions and then prompted each vendor to answer in turn.
isiscad: How is the problem of low general awareness of CAD by top management solved in Russia? For they are now in middle age, and as students did not have CAD).
Ascon: Solve the problem on a case-by-case basis. We cannot impose our view on CEOs; the CEO is free is improve his skill and knowledge. We commonly suggest steps at a kindergarten level. CEOs have their own competence, such as managing space rockers. I cannot tell them they must learn CAD. We talk to them about which area we can improve their business.
TOP Systems: Maybe the problem is not with CEO, or to go into technical detail in order to choose the CAD software; it is IT [information technology department] or the CIO [chief information officer] who makes the decision. Unfortunately, this country does not really have CIOs; companies with skillful CIOs make great steps forward, boosting their efficiency. But many companies have CIOs who do not spend money efficiently, because they do no have HR [human resource] sklls and don't know how to train engineers.
[Unidentified responder]: The problem is with middle managers.
Siemens: We talk to CIOs, and so I disagree with [unidentified responder], because what they need is an explanation of how our products help them. [Russian prime minister] Putin's challenge is to improve productivity, and Russian firms are struggling how to do this. More Russians companies are working with foreign firms, where English is language of choice. It is a cultural challenge; middle management is reluctant to improve processes. The new generation of engineers graduating from university is changing Russia. New technology is key to improving Russian productivity.
Autodesk: It is a larger problem of general business culture in Russia: if top management understands, then it is fine. But many are still in the past. "I don't know how performance is going to be raised?" No concept of ROI [return on investment] by a person of the past. They do not measure improvements due to buying new technology. Not only in Russia, but conservative executives are everywhere. But they are so conservative in Russia that they do not introduce new technology. We don't need to migrate everyone to 3D; 2D is good enough in many cases.
Top managers and middle managers need to be educated, which we and our partners are working at. We need a real market, where companies produce things to sell, where companies operate fairly without government subsidy. If we form an association, our common voice will be heard by executives. If we go one-by-one to executives, they will see it as marketing; we could invite executives to our group conference -- even to make the government hear our voice.
PTC: 80% of my time is with top executives; this is our method. The general level of competence [of technology] is not high, but is growing very fast. (We are not talking about IT people.) We talk about methods, processes, CAD instruments with executives in a business discussion. We talk about spreading Western management methods. We can measure improvement, not through money, but through better quality of products.
isiscad: All CAD vendors hear the question from customers, 'How much will my performance/productivity of designers grow?'
NTP: This is the wrong question. If we sell calculation software to a company that makes no calculations, does this improve their performance? No, it will lower it, because they are wasting their time using our software.
PTC: We do not sell software, we sell technical solutions. When we talk about technical solutions, we can raise quality and efficiency.
Autodesk: Improved quality is a component of efficiency.
TOP Systemes: Designing in half the time is also an improvement of performance.
isiscad: Can you forecast for the customer how much they can save through faster design?
Autodesk: Each company has its own methods of calculation. You have to ask each company how they do it; there are some general methods used in Russia and abroad.
Siemens: What is a purchase of software? It is an investment. Companies invest their money in software, a capital expense. You can calculate ROI: you invest, you develop product, you sell. If sales grow, what are the factors [that assisted the growth]?
NanoCAD: Much depends on the level of skill of top management. Top management has a lot of issues: when they introduce new software, they have to have specialists. Often a company introduces new software, trains engineers, and then the engineers go to the competition who offers higher wages -- it is a complex issue. In this case, companies can see efficiency go down after spending money on training, and so the manager has to think about it. CAD is only part of the productivity solution.
Dassault: The most efficient way to show customers is to show another customer who has already implemented the product. It is easy when you have reference customers, who can talk to managers of similar companies. They both talk the same language they can understand, including the mistakes made.
ASCON: CAD is just a tool. Much depends on the engineering culture. If the processes are havoc, then installing management tools can cause havoc management, instead of havoc control. Different firms with different maturity gain by different amounts.
isiscad: What will happen to a firm when it does nothing?
TOP Systems: Then we have to find what kind of resources the customer has to improve processes. In some companies, this means buying just a computer. In other companies, it means training employees. It depends on the available budget.
PTC: Any company in the market that earns money has a budget. Don't ask, 'What is your budget?' Ask, 'What is your headache.' The company will find the money to solve big headaches.
PC Week: How great was the market downfall? What will the future market look like?
Siemens: Every company is affected, but differently in different regions. Russia was affected greatly. We need to improve our quality. Since March until now we increased our staff by 10%, because we think there is a lot of opportunity.
TOP Systems: Siemens is right. The situation is new.
ASCON: Autodesk [has an advantage in that it] can shift its resources between countries. The Russian market is still under-automated. We saw tremendous growth in previous years, now growth has slowed down. We have to change our method of interaction with enterprises. We need to look at our own efficiency, pay attention to areas which are revolutionary, disruptive.
Autodesk: We are looking at crisis in a positive way, because the crisis will teach us to work in Russia. We are 4x less productive than the rest of the world. Before, we had lots of oil; today, we have the same problems as other country. For the first time, we have to learn about efficiency and optimization. Companies will no longer waste pertrodollars, but spend wisely. The crisis is good for Russian companies. Although Russian companies have too much debt, we will move forward.
PC Week: Don't talk about Russia in general; what about CAD companies?
ASCON: As a software vendor and system integrator, the market for out-of-the-box sales has fallen 40%; but complex solutions (integrated solutions like value-added sales) are reduced very little -- but that is only because we are still implementing old contracts. However, this will fall in the future as new contracts fail to be signed. CAE has not shrunk and does not grow; it is almost flat. The current market provides opportunity to those willing to work creatively.
PTC: We also had some downfall, as seen by share price. Our revenues did not go down. Software sales are flat, but services grew in Russia.
Dassault: Last year was successful for us; this year's plan was built on the basis of last year plus an addition. For the first half of the year, the plan continued, even thoguh some customers have problems with finances and have issues of payment for tech support. A crisis is like the movement of tectonic planes, it gives new opportunities.
START: I believe crisis will help us. The benefits [of CAD] can be clearly demonstrated now, more clearly than before.
[Unidentified respondent]: IT sales fell more than those of CAD, sometimes 2x and 4x as much; hardware is down by 20-30%. Subscriptions are not well developed in Russia, since we are focused on new sales. Without subscriptions, our revenues can dive very low after the high of new sales. Subscriptions give an even income, which we do not have in Russia. Those having subscription income are less affected by the crisis.
[Unidentified respondent]: Foreign CAD firms with Russian offices are subsidized by their overseas and home office sales, which is unfair to Russian firms.
isiscad: What about maintenance -- how can you motivate customers to pay for maintenance?
Dassault: It depends on the kind of products designed by customer. Our software is such that customers rely on our tech support. Maintenance for one year is mandatory. Some customers pretend that the crisis prevents them from paying.
ASCON: We are software vendors, but we also use our own software. We tell customers to never reduce their IT budgets, just like maintaining roadways. We did, however, reduce the headcount in our maintenance department.
TOP Systems: I do not agree with ASCON; what we tell the customer, we do ourselves. We are consistent. We cannot freeze a project, because in a year's time the project will be obsolete. If you decide to invest in a product, you must implement it as fast as possible; delays cause abandonment of projects, and a waste of previously spent money.
NTP: We run a design department for clients, as well as have an IT, and so on. We froze projects that are not urgent. Critical projects still go on. For CAD, we prioritize projects and procurements. There are some products we have to buy no matter what; others we buy when we have the software. So purchases on some areas is delayed. We talk to suppliers about delayed payments.
NanoCAD: Many [CAD] firms are ready to provide discounts, so this is a good time to grow. Find a specialist who can provide software free or at a discount, and you will save quite a lot.
Autodesk: I would like to stress that the systems we supply to customers are critically important. All buy our software with maintenance to make houses, machinery, and the like. They will never save on critical business processes. We reduce the cost of some noncritical things, like travel expenses; we still travel to key customers to talk to them one-on-one. We did not reduce spending on R&D.
PTC: A crisis is the time to invest to get out of the crisis in a better situation.
ASCON: We are using video conferencing and distant learning this year, whereas a year ago we wouldn't have. This is our first step into SaaS [software as a service] by which customers can learn to use our software.
isiscad: Are we affected by bloggers?
ASCON: No. They are visible, perhaps we will feel their influence in the future. Until now, the opinion of the blogger does not affect us.
Siemens: I agree. We work at the enter[rise level. Perhaps at the consumer level bloggers are important; corporate customers are different. We ourselves have to use blogging.
NTP: It is not as new as we think; we have had blogging for several years; they can be useful. There is a 'Love-T' forum, a semi-hacker forum. We found cracked versions of our software, but at the same time that forum attracted skilled authors and so there are good discussions going on. We have started using the forum.
ASCON: Community influence is important. It can be official or semi-official We can form an eco-system around a blogger, who has his friends to discuss opinions.
isisoft: Nanosoft is quite active in blogging. Can you share?
Nanosoft: I think that integration of internet technology and mobile tech will affect us a lot. Until now, in Russia, we have issues where even in Moscow we have poor broadband access in some areas, and there are only three ISPs. In small towns, where huge enterprises are sometimes located, they have problems with Internet access.
Free-for-all Q&A Session
In this portion of the roundtable, anyone could answer questions posed by anyone.
Q: How many CAD users are ther in Russia?
A: An estimated 200,000 for mechanical and architecture. We have low numbers in industrial production and not many people involved in CAD. [One estimate is that only 20% of SMBs use CAD and other software for production; most large industry is computerized.]
Q: How many companies operate building facilities?
A: Tens of thousands, perhaps 50,000 seats. Not seats, but the number of people who actually use these products in manufacturing.
A: Each person may be equal to 1 or 3 or 4 seats; while each has one computer, each might have software from several vendors.
Q: Why not use statistical methods [to obtain better estimates]? If you know the number of companies, number of engineers, and so on.
A: My experience is that the 200,000-number is too low. A year ago, the number of licenses of our small product [for designing floor plans] was 17,000.
Q: Why is hardware not keeping up with MCAD needs?
A: As you know, the CPU has reached a GHz limit; chip makers are using multiple cores to boost calculation speeds, but this is not 100% effective.
Q: I believe CAD vendors have spent too much time on 3D models and documentation. I think it is more important that there be software that creates efficient solutions, such as determining the optimal support points for pipelines.
A: How many users would use such software? I might have different criteria for the solution, and so there might be very few users for such software.
Q: But [I think that] everyone needs such software, which should be customizable for the needs of each customer. (We have such software in electrical design.) Until now companies have been offering only general purpose software.
A: But these are building blocks that will not provide 100% of a customer's needs. Each business has its niche. We adapt our products to the knowledge of average users; our products cannot replace engineer's minds, only help them.
Q: Today's CAD systems have become complex, and so the are difficult to use.
A: We are moving the direction mentioned, but even the best systems cannot replace designers and their creatively. The designer is responsible for the final product, not the software tool. Any specific tool must be adapted for customers, which gives the customer his edge. We have to work with students to know PLM and CAD and solve the problems.
A: This is one of the serious issues we see all the time. I feel that today's Russian universities and training courses teach students to press buttons. Students lack the engineering knowledge we had without computers. It is barbarous tool, and a barbarous approach for not learning engineering.
Q: Can this small group of vendors affect the level of training at universities and the pepple who use our software?
A: Let us think of setting up a formal organization of CAD vendors, to not only discuss problems but also offer practical solutions. Of course we compete [against each other], but we also have general issues of common interest. We could meet once a month; then we could approach the education system together, rather than separately.
Q: There is a lack of Russian manuals for CAD education, other than CAD manuals.
A: There is a need for practicing professional to write books on how to use CAD.
Out of the Inbox
TRL's roundabout software ARCADY 7 now lets traffic engineers [I used to be one, 25 years ago] design linked roundabouts, entry and exit restrictions, Puffin crossings, customizable units, and options for flow and capacity scaling. www.trlsoftware.co.uk
In related news from the same company, PERS3 assesses the quality of footways and footpaths; pedestrian crossings; bus stops, tram stops and taxi-ranks; public spaces and interchange spaces; and subways and footbridges.
In unrelated news, SIGMA software from Transoft Solutions lets traffic engineers place sign assemblies into roadway drawings, based on federal and regional libraries or user generated content. www.transoftsolutions.com/SIGMA
DWG Explorer Column Handler (from JTB World) shows the properties of .dwg files in details-like columns in Windows Explorer. More info at www.jtbworld.com/dwg-explorer-column-handler.htm
CAD Training Online provides Autodesk-related CAD training with a live instructor-led training via virtual classrooms. Servers host the latest releases of CAD software, and students remotely control the applications from their office or home. www.cadtrainingonline.com
Several years after users first began using Windows emulators on Macintosh computers, Autodesk now officially supports AutoCAD, LT, Inventor, 3ds Max, and Revit Mac OS X via Parallels Desktop.
Siemens PLM Software announces Parasolid v22 is now ready to be implemented in the likes of SolidWorks, Vectorworks, and T-flex. One new feature is: an edit can change the shape of a cut-out while simultaneously moving an adjacent face. www.siemens.com/plm
Bricsys and Sivan Design are shipping the complete CivilCAD 2010 Solution Suite for Bricscad V9. www.sivandesign.com
iCADsales.com is making available the progeBILLD HVAC/Plumbing design add-on for progeCAD 2009 Professional. www.icadsales.com
- - -
These were some of the news items posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
- AVSO: FY Down 28%
- Interviewed: Sean Flaherty on Vectorworks 2010
- Sold! CadSoft -- No, Not That One
- Can nVidia Pull Off a Tegra?
- Russian Flashback: T-FLEX V7
- 3D Models From 2D Digital Photos
- CAD from a non-CAD company
- Social Product Development
And at the Gizmos Grabowski weblog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos>:
- McAfee Be Gone!
- Myth: Your Computer is Underpowered
- Fail: Update
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[621]
Hardware News
Z Corporation plans "to alter the competitive landscape" with the world’s first automated monochrome 3D printer. Keep Oct 15 in mind.
Conferences and Events
ESRI Regional User Conference is Oct 1 in Penticton BC Canada. www.esricanada.com
Congress for the Future of Engineering Software (COFES) is Apr 15-18 in Scottsdale AZ USA. By invitation only from apply.cofes.com
People/Companies on the Move
Celeritive Technologies agrees to offer its high-speed machining toolpath engine VoluMill as an option for the GibbsCAM CAD/CAM product from with Gibbs and Associates.
Delcam establishes an office in California, following the acquisition of the assets of its former reseller VIZION.
Nemetschek Allplan enters a close cooperation ith Plancal, a supplier of HVAC software in Europe, to integrate architecture, civil engineering, and HVAC design in 3D building models.
Excitech sets up a new division (Excitech Consulting) focussed exclusively on consultancy services for the construction industry. www.excitech.co.uk/cons1
And Right Hemisphere ships Deep Exploration 6 software with a highly-configurable workflow-oriented user interface, improved ability to view, select, and navigate complex 3D models; and a new XML file format. www.righthemisphere.com
Letters to the Editor
CPUs + GPUs
"I really enjoyed your interview with SoftDev. I was particularly interested in the question raised about CUDA-like GPUs [graphical processing unit] vs. CPUs. GPUs are not meant to replace the functions of CPUs, but simply offload some of the computing tasks to the GPU, effectively accelerating GPU-enabled applications.
"In fact, the model for GPU computing is to use a CPU and GPU together in a heterogeneous computing model. While they cannot replace CPUs, GPUs definitely beat CPUs in speed. The latest NVIDIA GPUs offer anywhere from a 2-800x performance increase over traditional CPUs, depending on the application -- a number that is increasing with every new product generation."
- Julie Morgan
Liaison PR, on behalf of nVidia
The Unified File Format
"Thanks for your update from Russia. I wanted to ask you about one of your answers to the question, 'Will there ever be a unified file format for all CAD programs?' [Answer by upFront.eZine: "Not between all CAD programs, because CAD vendors desire to lock in customers. They will continue to support a variety of open formats so that they cannot be accused of being monopolies."]
"I know that Dassault Systemes is accused of this, but from a mathematical standpoint, wouldn't we all have to be on the same kernel to make this feasible? And if we were, either the kernel owner/developer would end up a monopoly or it would have to be open source or something.
"Technical standards by committee don't often solve the problem either, based on my experience in multiple industries besides software."
- Stan Przybylinski, manager of market intelligence, strategy, and marketing
Dassault Systems
The editor replies: "Even DXF is no longer open, with the ShapeManager and other portion encrypted."
Heard of Ledas?
"Your Russia developer article triggered me to ask this question. Have you ever heard of one a called Ledas? One of their product is a constraint manager kernel."
- Steve Mastrangelo, director of software sevelopment
CNC Software
The editor replies: "Heh yes, since they organized my trip to Russia! I met with them in Novosibirsk, and will run my report on them at a later date. In the meantime, you can get a taste of what they are up to through my blog entry, Russia Tour, Day 7: LEDAS at worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2009/09/russia-tour-day-7-ledas.html
BIM in Russia
"One of your readers asked, 'I would be interested to know if our Russian counterparts are dealing the same BIM/specs or specs/BIM issues as we in the US and Canada?' Actually BIM (in particular Revit) is intensively appreciated by the Russian market. But it seems there are still not many sales, mainly due to the novelty of the solution and the recession. But we can see a lot of advertising and seminars (Autodesk is very active in this area), as we all professional discussions and obvious interest from the customers (in particular seen from their comments).
"As well, some impressive examples have been published. A bright specialist from Novosibirsk, Vladimir Talapov, is a great enthusiast of practical BIM, and has published many articles. One is The Building Information Model -- The Experience of Application in Architecture in the review called Architecture And Modern Information Technologies) marhi.ru/AMIT/2008/4kvart08/Talapov/Abstract.php.
"It has an English abstract. If you click Go To The Article (beneath the abstract) you will see Russian text but many convincing screen grabs. His group made an integrated BIM project of the new campus of Novosibirsk University. There is also a publication about a full BIM-based project of reconstruction of the Mariinsky theater in SPB [St Petersburg]."
- David Levin, LEDAS
Novosibirsk, Russia
Spin Doctor of the Moment
"Arctic warming has become so dramatic that the North Pole may melt this summer [of 2008], report scientists studying the effects of climate change in the field."
- National Geographic News, June 2008
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080620-north-pole.html
"This year's cooler-than-expected summer means the Arctic probably won't experience ice-free summers until 2030 or 2040, scientists say.
- National Geographic News, September 2009
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090921-arctic-sea-ice.html
Notable Quotable
"Google strategy is aimed at undercutting competitors by temporarily swallowing the full cost until it gains control of the market."
- Bottin Cartographes
www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/115/article_4550.asp
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Entire contents copyright ©2009 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. Letters sent to the editor are subject to publication. Article reprint fee: $250 and up. All trademarks belong to their respective holders. "upFront.eZine," "The Business of CAD," and "On your desktop every Tuesday morning" are trademarks of upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. Letters to the editor may be edited for clarity and brevity. Translations and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd.