The CAD Insider

Tony Blair Visits Gasabo3D in Rwanda

KIGALI, Rwanda, November 14, 2008 - Driving to the Gasabo 3D office, CEO John Rugamba announces "Tony Blair is coming."

Great. Doesn't everyone do Africa? Once it was to shoot animals with bullets, then with cameras, now to build huts or dig wells.  The great white powers have given up on subjugating and exploiting, and are now are here for humanitarian causes -- at least on the surface.

"He is coming to Kigali?" I can already see the standard pictures of African head-of-state meeting ex-head of state from some powerful western country. Didn't President Bush come here? Didn't Clinton pause in Kigali to apologize for ignoring the Rwandan genocide?

"Yes, he is coming here." John is adding a odd emphasis.

"To the office?" I joke.

"Yes, he will be here on Thursday. He will have him for 8 minutes."

Tony Blair with the Gasabo 3D team in Kigali, Rwanda
(click for larger picture)

I can't believe it. Will I get to meet him? Maybe shake his hand. Get a photo of the two of us? I realize I have gone from cynic to star struck in a nanosecond.

The next day, John is not changing his tune. He's fully expecting the former British PM to show up and is gearing the team up. I had better get ready to cover the story.

Gasabo 3D is abuzz in anticipation. So are other tenants in the office building, who pop in to discuss. The day before, a Rwandan government official comes by confirm that we will not embarrass. The next morning, Gasabo practices the presentation, arranges images on the screens that are bound to impress, and even practices how to quickly assemble around Mr Blair if a photo op develops. The appointed hour comes and goes and still no Mr. Blair. But 2 security personnel come in to inspect the office. Blair must be on the way.

I expect a motorcade but I miss seeing it and a group files into through the door. Blair, handsome and immaculately dressed in a dark suit, is immediately recognizable.

Calm as ever, John takes over. He explains what Gasabo 3D is doing then asks politely if he can give a short presentation. Blair appears attentive and interested throughout. I wonder if he can "see" the part from the 2D drawing John has handed him.

Clement Nshubijeho (left) and John Rugamba explain to ex-prime minister Tony Blair the wonders of 3D

"So you take what is given here," says Blair indicating the paper, "and make it into 3D?"

He gets it! Good work, John.

Blair isn't done. He starts asking questions. He seemed to be particularly interested in how the service Gasabo 3D is offering is being received by an international market.

We try to explain to Mr. Blair that nowadays everyone is connected by the Internet and with talent anyone can compete in the world economy. Why shouldn't Rwanda compete for work against established firms from India and China?

Blair wants to know what are the biggest challenges? We have to admit the world does not yet associate Rwanda with engineering services and educating the world may be an expensive proposition.

How do labor rates here compare to US? to India? We tell him Rwanda is a bargain.

It's a wrap. Our time is just about up. John asks if we can take a group shot.

"Yes," says the ex Prime Minister. Sweet. I jump for the camera and am lucky to squeeze off a couple of shots.

Star struck editor (that's me) meets the ex prime minister

See Also:
Local coverage of event in The New Times here.

Ensuring the Success of Solid Edge and Synchronous Technology, Part 1

Ask any CAD insider about Solid Edge, and they'll tell you "great product." And now, with Synchronous Technology, Siemens could be on sitting on gold. But can Siemens extract the gold? 

In the race for market domination, Solid Edge is far behind front runners SolidWorks and Inventor. It's no accident that those products are owned by companies that emphasize merketing. By comparison, the companies that have owned Solid Edge (first Intergraph, then UGS and now Siemens) seem to be lightweights.

Without marketing, Solid Edge must rely solely on the merits of its technology. As an engineer, I can certainly appreciate technological advantages. But it is not enough. 

Let's take an example, though it is from a different industry. To make a $100 million movie, a studio may spend $50 million in marketing. That's a little nuts. However, you can't make money unless you spend it. With CAD, it's expensive to educate potential buyers and convince them that you have the better product.

So three words of advice for the success of Siement: spend, spend spend!

[Disclosure: TenLinks, Inc. is supported by advertising revenue]

TenLinks Visits Chillington Rwanda

KIGALI, Rwanda, November 13, 2008 - A man with a machete eyes me rather seriously as we drive by. For me, it is a grim reminder of Rwanda's genocide. That was 14 years ago, I tell myself, he's just gardening. Exhale.

After the genocide, Rwanda is best known for its gorillas. Three hundred mountain gorillas survive in and near Volcanoes National Park. But they are far from the nation's capital and I have yet to meet one.

I am visiting the Chillington Rwanda factory in Kigali, tagging along with Gasabo 3D, a 3D modeling service that is also trying to drum up local work. The main product appears to be wheelbarrows. They also cast parts, melting scrap metal from huge piles outside. As I walk around the cavernous factory, I see variety.

Tubes are bent to form the frame of the wheelbarrows at Chillington Rwanda.

I meet Chillington's chief engineer, Francis Andat Mandwa. Like any good engineer, Francis knows his machines. Chillington is fortunate to have an array of metalworking machines to fashion its products, rather than have to depend entirely on manual labor. However, keeping them running is more a challenge here than in the west as spare parts are practically nonexistent.

I inspect a broken belt drive wheel. Inspecting me is Chief Engineer Francis Andat Mandwa, who will be recasting the wheel to get his stone crusher working. 

A belt pulley wheel used in a stone crusher has broken. Ordering a new wheel would be my immediate reaction. Chillington Rwanda has to recreate the old wheel. The broken wheel was measured and a wooden version is taking shape, using hand planes and files. The resulting form will be used to make a cast from which the new wheel will emerge. 

But chief engineer Francis has a more ambitious plan -- he would like to design and manufacture a whole crusher. The previous crusher does not suit his purpose. I want to press for details: what exactly does he need, why can't he pick another crusher from a catalog? But I realize that is my US mindset. There are different realities here in Rwanda.

Chief engineer Francis shows Gasabo 3D hand sketches of a new crusher design. Listening are Gasabo's CEO John Rugamba (left) and Project Manager Clement Nshubijeho

John Rugamba, my gracious host and CEO of Gasabo 3D, is doing his best to include Chillington Rwanda to SolidWorks. It's a big jump. In Chillington's head office, I bump into an oversize table in the middle of the room. It takes me a second to realize it's a drafting table. I'm in virgin territory. There is no CAD, CAM or CNC in this company which is considered an "advanced manufacturing operation." I realize the chief engineer has no computer. Using what may be the only computer in the company, John shows parts he has created for Chillington using SolidWorks. Gasabo 3D has made the parts for no charge in the hopes the company will see the advantages of solid modeling.

It may have paid off. Chillington's acting GM, Francois Kayiranga would like a concept model of the new crusher done in SolidWorks -- by the end of day tomorrow. Perhaps not knowing CAD may infer upon it a measure of magic. John scrambles his team. A designer and workstation will be at the factory the next day. They will work closely with the chief engineer. An added demand: the designer must speak Swahili, not Rwanda's native language. 

-------------

Thank you to Geoff Briggs and Mr Boxie, who corrected my story based on their superior knowledge of the foundry process.

Synchronous Technology is Hot, Right?

I'm winding up a meeting with the CEO of one the major CAD companies when he says, "Roopinder, what do you think is happening in the industry?"

It is smart of him to ask it -- and this guy is one smart cookie. He happens to know more about the CAD industry than I do. Him asking me what I think of the CAD industry is like Paul Bocuse asking me what I think of French cooking just because I ate in one of his restaurants. For some of us in the press and analyst community (you know who you are) this is their golden moment, a chance to enlighten some poor soul stuck in his corner office, mired in the running of his company, while they, the wise men, have been following the North star of knowledge.

Though his company competes with Siemens PLM, I can't help but take a poke. "Synchronous Technology is hot," I say.

He shakes his head, and says wearily, "I just don't think that is the answer."

How can someone not agree with my genius? I happen to know his company employs a small team of people whose only job is to stay up to date on competitive products. I'm sure they've already had Synchronous Technopogy under their scopes. Have they not given their boss the straight scoop on how ST has a clear, inherent technical advantage over "traditional" MCAD products, such as theirs? Could it be that they may not even have seen it for themselves, clouded by corporate zeal and chauvinistic faith in their own stuff? But then I also realize that even if even if the "truth" had been told, the Siemens threat can still be dismissed  for a variety of non-technical reasons, chief among that there is no reason to react to ST unless they actually start to lose sales to Siemens.

I let it go and make a mental note note to not be so sadistic to good people.