National Manufacturing Week 2006 Wrap Up - Part 1

Here are some highlights of the show not covered by previous posts.

Crowd gathers for SolidWorks presentation. Despite a big booth at the show, which is typical for SolidWorks, the show was not attended by SolidWorks's top executives. Neither John McEleney (CEO) or Jon Hirschtick (co-founder) were there. NDES has become a second-tier show for SolidWorks. They may prefer to concentrate show dollars on SolidWorks World, their annual user meeting, which they now bill as the "biggest MCAD show."

Fluent was showing how well their CFD product works with the major MCAD programs from CATIA, UGS, SolidWorks and Pro/E. However, no one would supply any dirt on the biggest CAE merger in recent years: ANSYS buying Fluent. In fact, they say they only heard of the deal (reported in February) through the wire. Gotta love those corporate communication people. However, they see it more as a merger of equals rather than an acquisition as both ANSYS were each among the biggest players in their respective areas (ANSYS in FEA and Fluent in CFD).

The deal positions ANSYS as a CAE juggernaut, finally eclipsing MSC as a CAE leader. But how will it shake up the two companies? "We expect to operate as before," said a Fluent employee. That may be overly optimistic as most companies will trim back staff after a merger. "Support" divisions often suffer the most. We at TenLinks often notice a decrease in personnel in marketing and PR staff. Usually, one CEO is put out to pasture and the remaining CEO picks his faithful for top spots. However, there does seem to be a greater tendency to leave companies where they were rather than try to house them all under one roof. Not surprising since cross country relocations can cost $25,000 to $100,000 a shot.

CADENCE editor reunion: me with Peter Sheerin, former tech editor for CADENCE magazine, now a HAM radio buff

A greeter lures attendees at National Manufacturing Week into the NDES pavilion.

Comments

[John McEleney]

Roopinder,

Unfortunately I was not able to attend NDES this year (I had a prior commitment) - this was the first time that I have missed this show.

As you point out, it is unfortunate that this show has been declining in attendance - we have spoken with show personnel and have shared our views on how to attract more visitors. Suffice it to say, many of our thoughts are consistent with what you suggested in your section "if I were King."

John