PDM ROI: Myths or Reality?

May 24, 2012

In personal life, the justification of your buying decision is simple. You want to have the next cool device, period. In business, it is different. The magic acronym ROI (Return on Investment) will be the first question you need to answer. Cost is real thing. Benefits must be real too. Last year, I posted about PDM ROI Calculator for SolidWorks. It generated interesting discussion about how possible to create a calculator to measure investment in PDM.

Few days ago, I bumped into another SolidWorks article – Top Five Return on Investment Areas for EPDM. According to Eric van Essen is a Product Group Manager atJavelin Technologies, the areas include – productivity, error reduction, team growth management and training, sales and distribution. The picture from the article is convincing that cumulative benefits of CAD 1.5M after 3 years.

One of the key areas of saving according to PDM ROI calculator is risk reduction saving. I assume it translates into error reduction described by article. The following passage presents 4 questions that can lead us to the right measurement of error reduction.

1. How often do we accidentally manufacture to the incorrect revision?

2. What is the potential cost if we do manufacture to the wrong revision?

3. How many change orders are created a year and how many of them could have been avoided if proper collaboration processes were in place?

4. What is the cost of processing a change order?

The questions represent problems in a very clear way. To have answers to the question is the key. To spot industry numbers providing answers on the question above can be an interesting exercise.

What is my conclusion? The question of ROI and PDM is fascinating. It is well-know fact that 60-70% of MCAD seats in the industry is not managed by PDM and use files or alternative solutions (excel, etc.) to manage data. If ROI is obvious as we can see from examples, why 60-70% of MCAD customers are still not running to buy PDM solutions. Just my thoughts. YMMV.

Best, Oleg

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First Look of 3DS SolidWorks e-Drawings for iPad

May 1, 2012

For the last couple of years, I’ve been following iPad application appearance in the space of engineering and manufacturing. I expected this application to come much earlier. So, I wanted to say the same word Ricky Jordan said in his blog. Finally! SolidWorks (or how it is named now 3DS SolidWorks) just made a release of e-Drawing iPAD application. It is available on the App Store. I installed it on my iPad just few hours ago. It looks very nice. Email integration is supported. In addition, it is capable of viewing other formats (you may note licensing terms going to TechSoft3D, Open Design Alliance and few others) in about section.

Home screen, menus, controls – everything looks familiar to somebody who is using iPad. Side bar is nice and allows you to navigate inside of assembly. I didn’t find support for views, measurement, and other useful functions. I believe SolidWorks keeps it for future versions.

Below you can see a video SolidWorks released with a short demo.

How to buy?

The price is $1.99. The Apple iTunes policy is complicated when it comes to corporate purchasing. Does e-Drawing iPad app worth $1.99? My answer is yes. Will engineers buy e-Drawing iPad for $1.99? A good question. I’d be very interested to see the number of uploads within few weeks and months.

What is my conclusion? Later is better than never. I think, many of SolidWorks users will appreciate e-Drawing iPad app. I’m going to experiment how easy to use e-Drawing as a viewer on my iPad in addition to other mobile apps I already have from Autodesk and other vendors. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

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SolidWorks, Cloud and Product Data Management

February 15, 2012

Cloud is one of my favorite topics. Back, two years ago, on SWW 2010, SolidWorks made a broad statement about the future of SolidWorks on the cloud and SolidWorks technological experiments in that space. I can see lots of changes happened since that time. Cloud computing is clearly going mainstream. It takes companies to understand what and how they should behave on the cloud. I wanted to put some thoughts about SolidWorks, cloud computing, and product data management. Until now, SolidWorks didn’t make any new announcement related to "cloud products".

SolidWorks Users and PDM

As I mentioned yesterday in my post, SolidWorks keeps the status quo in PDM. Enterprise PDM remains the mainstream PDM story for SolidWorks and as I can hear from many people at the conference, the adoption of EPDM is growing. At the same time, the overall PDM adoption in SolidWorks community is relatively low. My very conservative assessment is that about 70-80% of SolidWorks customers today have no product data management solution. The problem of these customers to adopt PDM solution mainly related to two major factors: complexity and IT resources.

SolidWorks n!Fuze

SolidWorks introduced first (and for the moment, only one) cloud data management product – SolidWorks n!Fuze. The initial kickoff of this product wasn’t very successful. Some mistakes were made in terms of product usability as well as pricing. It was mentioned during the Q&A session with SolidWorks VP R&D Gian Paolo Bassi. I’ve heard the same opinion from others’ people, including SolidWorks product managers and R&D people. Version 2 of n!Fuse is expected to come later this year. I’m expecting to see improvements in user experience. Maybe some changes in pricing will be done as well.

Cloud and SolidWorks opportunity

Back in SWW 2010, cloud topic raised lots of debates. However, if I analyze them in a detailed way, most of criticism was about taking SolidWorks CAD to the cloud. At the same time, I was able to hear that use of cloud to improve data-sharing capabilities and collaboration can be a very interesting option. Today, it is even clearer to me. The opportunity to improve product data access and data management using cloud technology is huge, in my view. Two major showstoppers for EPDM adoption – complexity and IT resources can be removed by cloud. Even very small teams and individual engineers will be able to access CAD models, drawings and other product data inside the company and beyond using mobile devices.

What SolidWorks competitors are doing?

In my view, the opportunity is well understood by competitors and the community. Few years ago, PTC introducedWindchill Product Point. PTC tried to leverage SharePoint to address problem of complexity and IT resources. In my view, it didn’t work and PTC retired ProductPoint. Autodesk is clearly coming after the opportunity by focusing on smaller manufacturing companies. At the same time, it is not clear how Autodesk Nexus PLM will address the need of "PDM-less customers". Autodesk announcements clearly stated a combination of Autodesk Vault on premises and Autodesk Nexus PLM on the cloud as two main components of the solution. From my conversation with Autodesk people, I understood that they are aware about the potential of PDM-less customers and thinking how to address that. I can see potential forAutodesk Cloud (introduced few months ago), but in my view, it suffers from similar problems you can see in SolidWorks n!Fuze.

What is my conclusion? Cloud is a game changer. The ability of cloud products to solve the problem of complexity of deployment and IT resources with a combination of low-cost and availability cannot be missed. The opportunity is well understood by both SolidWorks and Autodesk selling products to smaller manufacturing companies. I can see everything that was done, until now, as "trials". It will be interesting to see next steps. The simplicity is hard to address, and we all know that. I will be heading to SolidWorks 3rd day general session in few hours, which is traditionally focused on product announcements. Maybe some news will be coming from there. Stay tuned…

Best, Oleg

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SolidWorks and PLM Story

February 13, 2012

I’m attending SolidWorks World these days in a sunny San Diego, California. If you are in the engineering and manufacturing, it is probably "must go" event for you. Of course, if you are using SolidWorks and Dassault software. However, even if you’re not, it is a great place to see people and have some hands-on technology. I’ve been told by SolidWorks exec that SWW 2012 is expecting to have 5500 registered attendees this year and also few hundreds of "walk-in" visitors. As I promise, I will be following up SolidWorks World with my "PLM eye" to see what is going on and what PLM technologies and products you can expect to see here.

SolidWorks and Data Management… Meh?

Long time ago, I had a conversation with former CEO of SolidWorks John McEleney, who said – data-management pain is what slow down every SolidWorks deal. By the way, I still agree with John – along all these years, SolidWorks was very careful with regards to what data-management technology (PDM, PLM) is used by SolidWorks customers and sold by SolidWorks partners. Both PDM products SolidWorks used to have (and still selling with SolidWorks) are PDM Works Workgroup and Enterprise PDM are the result of acquisitions. SolidWorks selected these products carefully after ensuring that products fit customer needs.

Who is doing SolidWorks PLM today?

There quite many companies these days selling PDM/PLM solutions for SolidWorks. You can see them all on the listSolidWorks Partners (filter for Data Manageemnt and PDM / PLM). Some interesting development was done recently by Aras PLM providing product called EPLM and connected to SolidWorks Enterprise PDM. Read my previous post – Aras, SolidWorks and Disrupting PLM strategies.

SolidWorks and Big Dassault Brother

SolidWorks (oops… Dassault Systems SolidWorks Corp) has deep roots and connection with PLM technologies developed by Dassault and specifically Enovia. Back in 2010 we’ve seen the announcement of SolidWorks claiming development of new products based on Enovia V6. Earlier in 2011, SolidWorks released n!Fuze – first product to do some work between SolidWorks and V6. However, this product was far from full-blown PLM system. You can read my previous post about that – SolidWorks n!Fuze: The Cloud Remake of PLM Collaboration?

SolidWorks World 2012 PLM partners

Who is exhibiting PLM-related stories at SolidWorks World 2012? I found classification of partners is a bit confusing (which is not surprising in PDM / PLM domain). The relevant categories are Data Management, PDM, PLM, Data Interoperability.

Interesting enough, there are only two (!) companies listed in PLM category in SolidWorks partner’s pavilion – Dassault System (link leads us to www.3ds.com) and Kenesto. Kenesto is a new company focusing on Process Management for manufacturing. (disclose – I’m on the advisory board of Kenesto). The CEO of Kenesto, To say that Mike Payne, Kenesto CEO is well-known in CAD industry is probably equal to say nothing (:)). More about Kenesto will be coming later on my blog. Nine companies listed in PDM category (including SolidWorks and Dassault Systems). I’ve seen most of them from the previous years. CIDEON America, Inc., keytech GmbH, MechWorks, SofTech, Inc., SolidPartners, Inc., Synergis Software, xPLM GmbH. Six companies listed as data management. Among them, Aras PLM is clearly PLM vendor. I have to mention Inforbix (disclosure – I’m co-founder). Inforbix provides applications helping people to access product data located in many enterprise systems (e.g. PDM, PLM, ERP) and files (CAD, Excel, PDF).

Separately, you need to take a look on companies providing consulting and implementation services in the manufacturing domain. At the same time, these companies are selling software they develop. In many cases, it is hard to differentiate between software and services they sell. Here is the list of companies from the list of presenters associated with PLM:Datafrond, Infotech Enterprises, Razorleaf Corporation, Zero Wait-State. I hope to learn more about what they offer this year and report on my blog.

Why SolidWorks PLM becomes attractive?

There are few factors that potential can make PLM for SolidWorks story attractive these days. First of all – PLM is getting traction. Five years ago, when you talk with people about PLM, you might be hearing "why" question. These days, the question you can hear is "how?". I think it makes a difference between 2007 and 2012. Another aspect is a competitive landscape. Long time SolidWorks rival Autodesk is coming to PLM. As you probably read before on my blog, Autodesk is about to release their Nexus PLM on the cloud very soon. In my view, it creates another level of pressure on SolidWorks execs and an opportunity for customers to come with compelling SolidWorks PLM story.

What is my conclusion? I expect to have more conversation about PLM and SolidWorks in coming days. Stay tuned to my blog and twitter. I’m looking forward to giving you more information and updates about what will happen in coming days in San-Diego.

Best, Oleg

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PDM ROI Calculator from SolidWorks

November 16, 2011

ROI is an important topic, and many times I’ve seen customers are not focusing on ROI assessment before starting PDM/PLM implementation. At the same time, I always found ROI definition and calculation as somewhat mystical. One of my best slides about ROI belongs to CIMData.

SolidWorks made available PDM ROI calculator. I find an CIMData logo on the website. The following disclaimer proves that methods were reviewed by CIMData: CIMData has reviewed this ROI model and finds its benefits ranges to of CIMData’s ROI research and ROI study undertaken by CIMData. The calculator is free and available on this link. Yesterday, I’ve made some experiments. Take a look on the example of the calculation I’ve made.

What is my conclusion? There is no conclusion today. In general, the logic of the calculator makes sense to me. Some of the assumptions are very straightforward, such as dependencies between annual revenues and time-to-market saving; number of ECOs and risk-reduction saving. Try to play with this and tell me what do think. I’d be interested to know your impression and feeling about the data. Does it feel right?

Best, Oleg

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Aras, SolidWorks and Disruptive PLM Strategies

October 27, 2011

BAM! Aras just announced Enterprise PLM for SolidWorks. Here is the new article -Enterprise PLM for Enterprise PDM. Navigate to the following article to read more – Open Source Aras Releases Commercial PLM Solution for SolidWorks. Here is the short conclusion made by Randall Newton: Our assessment: Aras just plugged a huge hole in the SolidWorks marketplace, one as big as the product name is long.

Fast rewind back in 2010. SolidWorks World 2010. Anaheim, CA. SolidWorks is announcing about their future products on top of Enovia V6 platform. During that event SolidWorks made multiple mentioning of Enovia V6 to be used as a platform for future enhancements of SolidWorks. Here is the passage from razorleaf’s blog summarizing SolidWorks World 2010:

SolidWorks has a new product line, SolidWorks PLM. This line will include a number of offerings, thefirst of which is cloud-based data management named SolidWorks Product Data Sharing (PDS). This software was demonstrated on the last day of the show, operating right inside of SolidWorks. For those paying close attention, the PDS plug-in showed a label, “powered by ENOVIA V6.”

Now rewind seven month ago. SolidWorks 2011. I posted – Integrated PDM and PLM: Wrong Question? This blog was a follow up on the conversation and presentation made by Jonathan Scott of Razorleaf about SolidWorks Enterprise PDM and ENOVIA V6 integration. Slides are still here.

The interesting comment to this post was made by Marc Lind of Aras:

My sense is that the future will be about leveraging existing systems / data, like legacy PDMs, with more modern technologies to enable global processes, cross-functional collaboration and new ways of doing business. Our “view” at Aras is: Use the latest PLM technology to automate what makes economic sense, gets results quickly and gives you control over your own destiny.

I had a chance to meet Aras booth during SWW 2011. Aras presented a co-existance between Open Source Enterprise PLM and EPDM (see photo in the beginning of the post)

Another rewind. April 2011. ACE 2011 (Aras Community Event). After digesting all ACE 2011 materials and presentations, my clear conclusion was – Aras PLM lines up against Windchill, Enovia and TeamCenter. Navigate to my earlier blog to see slides presented Aras. The integration capabilities of Aras were clearly outlined and existing PLMs were presented as “PLM Legacy”.

Here is the quote from my blog post:

Integration is an important element of every PLM strategy and implementation. There are multiple aspects of integrations – desktops, CADs, PLM systems and ERP systems. Aras presented a very broad scope of integrations and integration technologies. (note: I was a bit surprised to see existing PLM systems defined as “legacy”)..

Aras Enterprise PLM vs. Enovia V6

The Enterprise PLM offering by Aras is pretty straightforward. Aras is going after 3 key areas – Engineering Bill of Material management, Change Management and Project/Portfolio Management.

All these modules are available in Enovia V6 portfolio – Enovia Engineering Central and Enovia Program Central. Now, customer can make a decision.

What is my conclusion? Aras is clearly playing a role of a disrupter on PLM market. Back in 2007, Aras disrupted PLM first time by introducing Open Source PLM. It looks like Aras is on the way to make a second disruption among large companies using SolidWorks and taking a role of Enovia V6 in a bundle EPDM / EPLM. Enovia clearly has a technological advantage of having unified development forces in their new Dassault facilities in Waltham, MA to develop “best in class” Enovia V6 / SolidWorks EPDM integration. The speed of customer adoption will be a key factor for Aras. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

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PDM Cartoons, Marketing and Unsolved Problems

October 11, 2011

cartoons-300x239.pngI was watching cartoons over the long Columbus day weekend. Not Disney… I was watching PDM cartoons. You may tell me – who is making PDM cartoons these days? Apparently large companies do. Autodesk and SolidWorks both made cartoons that actually made me think about marketing and unsolved problems. However, let’s first have a look:

Managing Data with Autodesk Vault

Autodesk Vault is getting more and more interesting these days. This cartoon is trying to convince me – Vault can do everything (even coffee)…

SolidWorks Enterprise PDM

Enterprise PDM is not a new product. EPDM came to SolidWorks via acquisition. Since them SolidWorks made few enhancements such as Bill of Material and Items management. However, the video is not talking about complicated stuff – it is about data access, processes and time management.

What is my conclusion? Few weeks ago, I’ve been interviewed during Autodesk Forum in Moscow. The conversation was about social networks and the question I’ve been asked was – What is next after "Like"? For the sake of the story, my answer was "+". However, let me shift gears a bit. Thinking about PDM Cartoons I came to the question – "What is next after PLM?". I found many things marketed as "PLM" functionality presented in these PDM cartoons. Does it mean "PDM" will be the next step after "PLM". Who knows… The only thing is clear to me – lots of problems in manufacturing organizations cannot be solved by application of yet another "power point deck". It is time to think what software can do so. The complexity is not in favor these days. Companies are trying to find a different way to solve existing problems. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

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Autodesk Cloud and “Business as Usual” Question

October 6, 2011

Cloud is a hot topic these days. No, I’m not going to talk about True vs. False cloud and Mark Benioff appearance on Oracle Open World. I want talk about another place where "the cloud" world can become a potential game changer – Autodesk. Two weeks ago Autodesk announced theirexpanded cloud services plan. By doing that, Autodesk put a very bold statement behind the future of CAD and design tools on the cloud.

Cloud and Engineering Software

People having different opinions about what Autodesk cloud means for users. I can summarize them in three separate trends – 1/ cloud change the way we design stuff; 2/ it is all about licensing; 3/ don’t worry, the "business as usual" anyway.

Navigate your browser to Josh Mings’ SolidSmack post How Autodesk plan to consolidate CAD (and you) on the cloud?Josh is clearly Gen-Y representative in my eyes. His view on cloud is as a logical next step in the evolution of computer systems. I like how Josh offsets the conversation from "accessing data" to "access the capability for design". I think, this is the key – data is important, but data is just a facilitator. The real goal is to change the way people can use design tools. This is my favorite passage from SolidSmack blog:

The worst Autodesk or any software developer can do is think it’s all about accessing data anywhere. The best they can do is think about allowing people to design more freely. Sound the same? Well, it’s not. Access is nice, but being able to decide where and how to access data, programs, settings is more important. ‘Access’ can easily be limited by thinking that web-based software makes it more accessible. This goes beyond bandwidth, always on, or offsite computing power. It’s ultimately about the choice that the user has and how he’s able to use your software.

Another post that caught my attention was Dezignstuff by Matt Lombard. Navigate to Autodesk heads to the cloud post. Matt quoting Brad Holtz in the beginning by stating – "it is all about getting users to maintenance". The point Matt is trying to make in his blog is related to the fact companies will try to use cloud to ask customers to pay more and more for software and bug fixing. I recommend you to read a long list of comments to this blog article as a good reference about what people think with regards to licensing and cloud.

The last post I want to mention is Autodesk Cloud- don’t panic, business as usual by Steve Johnson of cadnauseam. As I can read Steve, he sees the cloud as something that happens on "another planet". From his standpoint the cloud products are peripherals, Autodesk is trying "cloud water" to understand how to make money there. At the same time, core products from Autodesk remain unchanged. So, all it means -"business as usual". Here is the quote from his post:

Like the vast majority of Autodesk customers, I will just carry on using conventional software in that old-fashioned 20th century way that just happens to work very well. Autodesk will go on providing its software in that way, because that’s what most customers will want for at least a while yet, and Autodesk can’t survive on wisps of Cloudy revenue. Move along, people, nothing to see here.

Autodesk Cloud: Learning from SolidWorks Mistakes?

You cannot think about what Autodesk is doing without checking out SolidWorks. As you can read, lots of comments about Autodesk cloud are crossed with remarks about SolidWorks cloud announcement almost two years ago on SWW 2010. Was it the cloud false start for SolidWorks? SolidWorks provided mixed messages about cloud the cloud. It is true that DS SolidWorks came lately with n!Fuze product as part of overall Dassault V6 cloud appearance. To see it in balance, we need to wait and watch Autodesk AU 2011 announcements as well as coming SolidWorks World 2012.

What is my conclusion? As Mark Benioff said yesterday – "You cannot stop the cloud. The cloud must go on". The power of cloud solutions cannot be diminished these days. What will be the right pathway for CAD companies to the cloud? This is the question Autodesk, SolidWorks and other companies need to answer. We are going to discover very soon. Just my thoughts.

Best, Oleg

image scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Live from SolidWorks 2012 Media Event

August 31, 2011

I’ve been attending SolidWorks Media day in Dassault SolidWorks campus in Concord, MA. Actually, I noted- this is probably the last time event happens in the current SolidWorks building. SolidWorks is moving to the new Dassault campus in Waltham, MA. While the information about SolidWorks 2012 is under embargo, you can have a feeling of the event and some interesting information about SolidWorks install base, revenue growth, eco-system. I twitted most of these photos during the event. Nevertheless, I thought most of you can benefit from them combined in a single blog. Not everybody came to come to Boston because of Hurricane Irene a day before. However, you can see an impressive crowd in the meeting room.

Bertrand Sicot kicking off the event. The important message: SolidWorks is about evolution and not revolution.

SolidWorks is continued to develop the 3D professional market.

Nothing specially new, but this is how SolidWorks presented as part of all Dassault Systems’ brands

Key facts, revenues and install base.

Revenues

Install base

It was interesting to see the level of non-CAD product growth in SolidWorks portfolio. Today the numbers here mostly represents Simulation, Data management and documentation products.

Fielder Hiss, VP Product Management presents historical retrospective of SolidWorks releases for the last 20 years.

SolidWorks community numbers are impressive – 436 VARs and 750 partners.

The agenda afternoon included some very entertaining engineering experiments such as magnets, motor assembly and the hit of the day – vibration driven mouse robot.

Furthermore, afternoon agenda included SolidWorks 2012 Beta customers panel and a deep dive into SolidWorks 2012 features. However, this is where embargo starts.

In addition to that, SolidWorks was innovating in organizing new activities with SolidWorks execs (speed dating). 7 minutes round-table talk with exec. You can ask questions. After 7 minutes – rotation, execs are moving to the next table.

What is my take? It is hard to make a real comment and not to talk about the product. However, I think SolidWorks can play a significant role in the future transformation of Dassault Systems. How it will happen? Time will show.

Best, Oleg

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SolidWorks PDM Customers Focus on Office. Cloud? Meh…

August 2, 2011

August is a typical vacation time. At least, I was thinking so… Not any more. Today’s news brought me at least two acquisition notices. One from Autodesk about their acquisition of Instructables – a popular online community where people can upload, discuss, rate and collaborate on a wide variety of do-it-yourself (DYI) projects. The second one, maybe less notable compared to Autodesk, but very interesting in the context of PDM and PLM – Razorleaf acquired Office2PDM product from Extensible CAD. Razorleaf is a small outfit in PDM/PLM world providing services focuses on the implementation of design automation, SharePoint, Product Data Management and PLM solutions.

So, what happened? Razorleaf acquired Office2PDM – a suite of products that better connects SolidWorks Enterprise PDM to Microsoft Office products. Read full text of Razorleaf announcement here. Here is the the top quote:

Office2PDM offers a seamless integration between Microsoft Office products and SolidWorks Enterprise PDM (EPDM). EPDM Dashboard provides real-time access to Enterprise PDM vaults, right from Microsoft Outlook, for monitoring the status of documents and workflows.

In a nutshell, Office PDM is for people that are spending their lives in Microsoft Office products. To have an ability to seamlessly accessing EPDM data is important. Take a look on following two videos.

Razorleaf published on their blog an additional information about their intents related to the future of Office2PDM:

Razorleaf plans to extend and enhance EPDM Dashboard and Office2PDM, as we strive to deliver on its pomise of making PLM tools work better for our clients. Office2PDM and EPDM Dashboard are SolidWorks Partner Products, offering one of the highest levels of integration for access to the Enterprise PDM system. The transition from Extensible CAD to Razorleaf should be transparent to existing customers, and a net benefit given Razorleaf’s long history with Enterprise PDM and its predecessor, Conisio.

SolidWorks EPDM and Office

Razorleaf acquisition made me think about some interesting aspects of PDM and PLM implementations related to Microsoft Office. The connection of EPDM and Office is a big deal, in my view. Email and Office are mainstream tools that used by all manufacturing companies implementing SolidWorks and EPDM. Seamless Office integration is a key functionality that expects to be highly demanded by everyone in SolidWorks customer community.

What is my conclusion? There is one question I have not answered reading Razorleaf announcement. What happens with V6 Enovia cloud tools and SolidWorks PDM? SolidWorks n!Fuze is the newest DS SolidWorks product on the cloud. Dassault just released n!Fuze a month ago. n!Fuze supposed to provide a first step into the future of SolidWorks data management and collaboration tool on the cloud. How fast SolidWorks EPDM will be replaced by V6 on the cloud? In my view, Razorleaf is clearly saying – Focus on Office. Cloud? Meh… Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

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