Autodesk flies in the media to show
off its new Inventor 6 and Streamline 4 software. August 15, 2002.
Autodesk flies in the media to show
off its new Inventor 6 and Streamline 4 software. August 15, 2002.
Waiting out a lightning storm
at BNA, the Nashville international airport.
Air travel: Either you're killing time, or else you're killing yourself trying to be on-time.
On the plane to Nashville, I'm reading 'Red Herring,' August issue, "Is Our Children Learning?" I agree with the contention that it is dubious that computers in schools are helping children learn (identified, presumably, by higher marks), despite the self-serving studies generated by hardware and software vendors. Kids are make nicer reports with fine-looking fonts and color images stolen off the Internet, but they are learning only how to use software, how to type, and how to replace the public library with Google -- not learning better. The hundreds of millions overspent on computers would be better spent on smaller class sizes.
We land in Nashville during a lightning storm; I'm glad my will and life insurance are up-to-date. Our hotel is across the street from the Vanderbilt University <http://www.vanderbilt.edu/>, whose 10,000 students pay a typical US$38,000 a year tuition and fees, according to the Grayline van driver who's gone into sing-song mode describing city features for his two tourist passengers.
The newly renovated Loews Vanderbilt hotel <http://www.loewshotels.com/hotels/nashville/default.asp> uses generic labeling: the restaurant is called Eat; the bar Drink. Soap is labeled Clean. I wasn't sure which of the four bottles was the shampoo, but finally guessed it must be the one also labeled Clean. The towels, however, are labeled Loews Hotel. The bottled water is not complimentary, but US$4.95.
The Press Conference
Autodesk flew journalists to Nashville for a press conference to show off Inventor 6, Streamline 4, and customers using Inventor.
One of Autodesk's visions for Inventor is "the mainstream adoption of the full product model," which includes full design capture and authoring for up- and downstream processes. Robert Kross vp of mechanical market group told us that Autodesk has an "open business model" to work with other vendors in those areas where Autodesk does not yet have software, such as model analysis. Note the "not yet" qualifier; Mr Kross says Autodesk will be aggressive in acquiring additional MCAD capabilities -- does this mean the business model will become increasingly closed?
Future directions will include collaborative engineering and life cycle management.
Of 3,000 Inventor Series (a bundle that includes Mechanical 2D, Mechanical Desktop 3D, and Inventor) customers who answered Autodesk's survey, 54% were using Inventor in production, 10% were not using it, and 36% were testing in pilot projects.
Autodesk was asked about "3rd-party lag," the lag between a new release of Inventor and when third-party apps are updated. The delay should be minimized because the API does not change -- it just gets added to.
What about the education market? Autodesk has created a curriculum, and does not intend to "seed" colleges with software.
Inventor 6
Inventor is Autodesk's mid-range 3D mechanical CAD software. This next release of Inventor is said to have over 200 enhancements, necessitating a press release running five pages. Despite the largess, not much time was spent demo'ing to the software to us, much to my disappointment. Perhaps a number of features were not ready for public showing.
Autodesk will continue its all-but-the-kitchen-sink approach, adding features to Inventor itself rather than through modules, as it has been doing with AutoCAD.
Some of the new features are called "shape description tools" and mix solids with surfaces. Mr Kross says he is proudest of surface/solids integration: tools for both look the same. Autodesk's ShapeManager kernel allows manipulations such as loft with rails, embossed text, parametric delete face or lump, and replace face.
Some of the features demo'ed were weldments, BOM as-an-object, and creating a plastic case by apparently effortless switching between solids and surface modeling. Not demo'ed for us was 3D routing for tubes, wires, and so on.
To go one better than SolidWorks' floor shadow, Inventor now has a variable-density shadow. What's next, a mirror?
Release date is during October this year <http://www.autodesk.com/inventor>. Registration for the beta program began July 24 at http://betaprograms.autodesk.com/betaweb.htm
Streamline 4
Streamline has been re-built on ProjectPoint technology, which Autodesk acquired from its re-acquisition of Buzzsaw. Streamline is software for shared viewing and markup of Inventor, MDT, and now AutoCAD models over the Internet.
Release 4 is available now, with the behind-the-firewall edition in September. New features include: move components around (and click Reset Position to return); edge highlighting and texture mapping; create DWP files (Streamline Drawing Package); and more.
Some customers are uncomfortable with Autodesk storing their drawings, which is the point to Streamline. So the company (1) is making Streamline 4 available for local installation; and (2) spent US$30 million on a secure facility that stores your data with hourly data backups archived in three locations. The site has food and supplies to survive a disaster for six weeks.
Streamline is the closest Autodesk seems to be getting to document management. In answer to a question, the company said it might get back into document management -- or might not (after being burned by the failure of WorkCenter and its corporate successor Motiva).
Similarly, Autodesk feels that customers --and hence Autodesk -- are not interested in PLM, at least not today. When Inventor customers attending the event were asked about PLM, the response was: "PLM?" <http://www.autodesk.com/streamline>
Q & A
Reaction to certain questions was interesting, such as the ones Autodesk was not keen to answer. The analyst from IDG, for example, asked about competitors, and after some urging got this response: 1. SolidWorks, 2. CATIA v5, and 3. replacing existing installations of Pro/E. Including CATIA raised some eyebrows, because it hadn't been mentioned by Autodesk before.
A sales graph displayed during the event showed Inventor sales soaring above those of SolidWorks. The graph had to be viewed with two caveats: it showed quarterly sales, not total seats; it showed sales of "AIS" (Autodesk Inventor Series), the package that includes Mechanical Desktop, et al. Autodesk claims to be "far exceeding the seats sold by any other 3D modeler on the market for three consecutive quarters." Reading press releases from SolidWorks and Autodesk, however, shows quarterly numbers to be more of a tie:
Q SW AIS
------------------------
Q4 15,000 12,500
Q1 15,000 16,000
Q2 13,000 14,000
------------------------
Total 43,000 42,500
An important question still not answered by Autodesk is: "How many?" The assumption is that Autodesk will not announce total Inventor seats until the number exceeds SolidWorks'. My estimate is that 68,000 seats of Inventor have been sold as of the end of July, compared with 188,000 of SolidWorks.
VP Kross hopes his MCAD division one day generates as much revenue as all of Autodesk duz today ($1b). Last quarter, MCAD revenues were US$33.7 million, so the division has yet to grow 30x.
Customer Site Visit
During the afternoon, we headed out to RTS Wright Industries, a company that makes the machinery that lets other companies make parts -- from airbag canisters to riding lawnmower parts to cluster bombs. You know those small plastic cylinders that hold moisture absorbers? RTS built a machine that spits out 1,200 of them every minute.
RTS started with MicroStation in the 1980s "because it was the best there was at the time." For 3D modeling, they added SolidWorks in the 1990s. At some point they switch from uStn to AutoCAD, and then decided to standardize on Autodesk software, hence Inventor. The added benefit was that the firm's engineers could get working on Inventor after a couple of days; no need to hire engineers trained specifically with Inventor.
We were impressed by the 200,000 sq.ft.'s cleanliness, spaciousness, and air conditioning. Numerous projects were curtained off due to confidentially agreements with clients. Indeed, some clients just flash the proposed item just long enough for a glimpse, and then ask for a quote. Some items need round-the-clock security, such as the blanks for punching the new American 'state' quarters.
This company is one that would be at the leading edge of an economic recovery. We asked, "Is a recovery happening?" Yes, but very slowly.
Leaving Nashville
It's time to leave Nashville; at the airport, the rain is heavy, the lightning strikes are frequent, and the power goes out a few times briefly before the emergency power kicks in. I ask the pilot waiting for our flight if lightning affects takeoffs. "No, only if it hits the aircraft," is his reassuring reply.
By the time the SkyWest/United Express flight leaves 35 minutes late, the storm is gone. My seatmate on the cramped Challenger short-haul jet is furious: the airline had earlier broken her notebook computer and was denying responsibility. "They can't afford it, I guess," I commiserated, snapping apart the folding keyboard for my Sony Clie. Her eye widened: "That's what I need for my Palm! No more notebook computer." I spent the remainder of the flight writing this report.
Leaving my home town of Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley.
At Loews hotel, verbs become nouns.
An interesting facade for a nearby restaurant in Nashville TN.