The CAD Insider

SOLIDWORKS Propping up Dassault Systemes

The $310 million Bernard Charles paid to acquire the American startup SOLIDWORKS in 1999 continues to pay big dividends for the French CAD giant, Dassault Systemes. In the last quarter, the company disclosed that SOLIDWORKS revenue grew 16 percent, making it the top performing brand in DS portfolio (measured in constant currencies). Licenses for SOLIDWORKS grew by double digits in Q3, with over 15,000 new customers so far in 2017. Many new customers are “3D to 3D win,” said Charles, referring to users migrating to SOLIDWORKS from other MCAD products.

Overall revenue for Dassault Systemes declined 7 percent to EUR​€​751 million for the quarter.(Chart from TenLinks.)

SOLIDWORKS has proved to be the best investment for Dassault Systemes, and with SOLIDWORKS 2018, the division continues its strong growth.

Meanwhile, CATIA, Dassault’s flagship enterprise CAD system, suffered a small decline with revenue down 1 percent. The company blames disappointing sales in China. South Korea and India sales were up, for a 6 percent increase in Asia-Pacific for the quarter.

GEOVIA, the division with mining software, was the next cited for highest growth with 12 percent, coming off a “deep and difficult” period in the mining industry. Dassault Systemes bought Gemcon in 2012 for $360 million.

 

Big Aero and Auto

A deal at Boeing was Dassault Systemes’ biggest ever, according to Charles. The company seems to be losing ground in the automotive sector with a couple of big auto account defections—Daimler Mercedes in 2014 and Yamaha earlier this year—but counted among its wins Scania, a maker of heavy trucks and buses, and a subsidiary of Volkswagen Scania had cast a roving eye at PTC’s PLM but ended up staying with ENOVIA. There also have been stumbles at Jaguar Land Rover.

Both Boeing and Scania were previous customers, so Dassault Systemes appears to be locking down big customers with long-term commitments as well as expanding the scope of its product use at these companies.

The company hopes to complete the $400 million Exa acquisition. The fluid simulation company Exa lists a $73 million revenue for 2016.

Nature Can Adapt Internal Structure – Why Can’t We?

(picture courtesy of www.digitalefolien.de) 

If you study the internal structure inside the head of a human femur, cutaway above, you can see the variations of the internal structure. The structure is very dense inside the surface of the ball, where most of the stress would be from contact with socket. The fibers of the structure get long as it delivers the load to the long part of the bone. The structure is sparse in the lower left of the ball, where there would be little stress.

You could not have designed it any better. Because you don’t have the software tools.

Image from Autodesk’s Netfabb product page shows and internal structure that is of uniform size and shape in all three directions.

So as we are used to making parts solid, but then asked to make them lighter and/or use material, we should consider an internal structure. CAD programs, if they offer that option, will give you a few choices of shapes and structures. They all seem to use the 3D lattice approach, which means geometrically perfect, made of uniformly sized cells or members and extending linearly and unwaveringly in 3 dimensions.

Not at all like our femur.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the design software would have enough insight to “grow” the internal structure, varying the cell size for example, decreasing it when stresses were high, increasing it when stresses are low? And, while we are at it, can we position the structure so that it lines up along the stress path? Once it is done, it can be subjected to another load case, which adds material to compensate for a stress flow – without taking away from the first solution. Each successive load case builds up the part so, in the end, it has grown up exactly as needed. It is no more and no less of the part it needs to be.

In the world of engineering and design software, we are increasingly seeing “upfront optimization.” Programs such as Dassault System’s Tosca and Hyperworks Optistruct do exactly this – but only for solid parts. I’ve not seen anything that can optimize shells with internal structures.

Should any vendor be able to create an internal structure that can accommodate various load cases with an adaptive internal structure, it would certainly have our vote for software of the year.

An Engineer Dreams of a SOLIDWORKS-Proto Labs Merger

As an engineer, I can totally specify a part. Concept, shape, material . . . done! I can render in glorious 3D . . . . It almost looks like the real thing. I can tell if it will survive in the field with stress tests, or drop it in an assembly and find interferences or animate it. I have singlehandedly created this part from thin air for someone who didn’t know what they wanted until I made it. I am a god! I am living the dream.

Now, I want the part in my hands. The dream is interrupted. To get the part made, I have to hand my design over, convey the part to mere mortals, in language they understand. Their machines that only they can talk to. I have to wait. And hope they get it right, not butcher it, not change it.

If only I could push a button and get the part!

Push button manufacturing could be the unsung lament of the mechanical design community. But as engineers, we dare not say it, voice it. We are not supposed to believe in magic — that a part can appear from our designs. We defer to our manufacturing counterparts for that. They need to specify the process, pick the right material and place the bits in the machine . . . right?

3D printing promised the dream of push-button manufacturing. We flocked to it, only to discover it usually couldn’t do the job. Materials are limited, plastic is weak, the chemicals are messy, it’s slower than grass growing. And the good 3D printers cost more than cars.

We are desperate. MarkOne stole the show with its composites part printer (see Best of Show). We’d been making composite parts for so long. But here was a chance to push a button to get a composite part — from the computer into my hands. No layups. No messy chemicals. No annoying humans. But Mark One is a one-trick pony. It only makes small carbon fiber parts.

Enter Proto Labs

There is one company with the imagination and purpose to make this push button manufacturing a reality.

Proto Labs, a Minnesota-based firm with multiple locations and thousands of machines (not just 3D printers), says it wants you to push a button and send it 3D part files. You get to select the material, the process, the quantity. The part lands on your desk a few days later. You’ll know upfront what it will cost. You don’t have to deal with anyone. Unless you want to. Proto Labs has manufacturing engineers who can step in to assist. They are like good waiters — invisible, but who pop up when needed.

Proto Labs tries to automate as much of the manufacturing process as it can. Its software will check for typical manufacturing mistakes (thin walls, overdrafts, etc.) and flag your design. You may never have to call on a live manufacturing engineer. As such, it comes closest to putting and manufacturing an engineer’s brain in your computer for a hands-off, rapid part creation — the closest thing to this-is-what-I-want-now-just-make-it push button manufacturing. For all of us Spock-types (RIP, Leonard Nimoy) for whom humans are puzzles, it can be a straight shot, a machine birth without human complications. At least some of the time.

For the design engineer who considers their part totally defined and ready, nothing at this moment would be simpler than sending their 3D part file to Proto Labs. No other company is as far down the road to push button manufacturing.

What about Autodesk and Delcam?

The biggest deal so far in the CAD/CAM world so far has been Autodesk and Delcam. With it came the promise that the worlds of 3D mechanical design would merge with part manufacturing. However, Autodesk remains scattered as to its approach to manufacturing. Delcam continues to exist as a separate manufacturing portfolio, its products operated by those on the manufacturing side, just as before. Though it adds to Autodesk’s top line, Autodesk is making little attempt to automate the manufacturing process from inside Inventor using any its acquired manufacturing software, either Delcam or HSMWorks — to create anything that resembles push button manufacturing. The closest Autodesk comes to push-button manufacturing is its 3D printer, one more in the growing sea of 3D printers available. And as with them all, it is a point solution in the spectrum of manufacturing possibilities.

All major CAD programs are tied up with CAM, somehow. Many are in 3rd party partner programs. Some CAM products are under the roof of CAD companies, yet they continue to be operated as separate camps. Autodesk maintains a third party CAM vendor list, though it has withered after its CAM acquisitions. SOLIDWORKS has its CAM partners, notably MasterCAM, GibbsCAM, CAMWorks, SolidCAM and others. PTC and Siemens also have long-standing, trusted CAM partners.

Despite CAD tie-ins, CAM exists as a specialized discipline. Few design engineers can hope to match knowledge with a manufacturing engineer, or even a machinist. It’s a whole different world, with machine code, speeds and feeds. It’s messy, the cutting fluids, chips are flying . . . . Engineers can scratch the surface of this world, many dabble in it, some even make a hobby of it, but in the end, our day job is at a desk with a workstation with design software.

Let’s Get Together

It’s been a while since we looked at Proto Labs (Get Real - Proto Labs One Off Parts Made with Actual Engineering Materials, Feb 10, 2011).

I am reminded of them at SOLIDWORKS World 2015, where it occurs to me that . . . Proto Labs could be the answer to my dreams! Push button manufacturing comes true!

But for push button manufacturing to happen, there has to be a merger of the companies. Proto Labs was the first SOLIDWORKS manufacturing networks partner (Proto Labs Joins MySolidWorks Manufacturing Network ). (Could this be a dance before that wedding?)

Proto Labs’ functions need to exist in a SOLIDWORKS menu, as SOLIDWORKS commands. SOLIDWORKS is already a common, comfortable interface to more than a million users. It is a trusted design tool. To take a part out of SOLIDWORKS and send it to Proto Labs still seems like throwing it over the wall, with the uncertainty of dealing with a new company, a new process. Getting a new vendor is work. To work inside of SOLIDWORKS, better than one of its Gold Partners, talk in the language of design engineers, not machinists, reduce the number of pop-up warnings one can get in Proto Labs, increase the automations with less back-and-forth . . . . This can only happen if the developers of both companies meet under one roof, with one goal: push button manufacturing from a CAD program.

Buy Proto Labs Already

	Proto Labs	Dassault Systemes
Annual Sales (2014)	$185M	$2.7B
Market Cap	$1.74B	$14.8B
Employees	749	10,764

source: Forbes 

An acquisition by Dassault Systemes (SOLIDWORKS’ parent company) seems doable. Let’s say Proto Labs could be had for 3x revenue,* a very general rule of thumb for acquisition, its price would be $555M. DS is used to deals this size, having just paid $750M earlier this year for Accelrys, maker of molecular modeling software. It bought RTT, maker of visualization software at the end of 2013, which had about the same number of employees as does Proto Labs. It paid $350M for SOLIDWORKS in 1997, which judging from more recent acquisitions and SOLIDWORKS ongoing success, seems to have quite a bargain and its best deal ever.

Happy Ending?

The dream now has a happy ending. Both sides of the equation are solved. I imagine tens of millions of part orders raining down on Proto Labs from all of the SOLIDWORKS users, who now can go all the way to a physical part, rather than be interrupted by having to deal with a manufacturing process, which only slows them down. It gets better, if you can imagine. Their creativity unleashed, the engineers only too happy to be masters of their own destiny, create more, better designs, more often. Proto Labs can’t keep up and has to increase their capacity, buying more manufacturing machines, more 3D printers to meet demand as it is now handling the production from the vast majority of engineers out there. As Proto Labs has to ship physical parts to customers, it must locate its facilities to avoid borders, taxes and tariffs and reduce shipping costs. Engineers find that their designs are actually being manufactured in their own countries. Manufacturing returns to its own shores, rather than it being sent to cheap labor markets in Asia. It is the manufacturing of today, fast turnaround, one-offs and custom products, small production runs — but all done on a ridiculously large scale, as everyone becomes a manufacturer as manufacturing is suddenly accessible to all who have access to design software.

Will The Marriage Take Place?

Acquisitions are difficult to predict with any certainty. Applying a logic and reason or exposing a crying need is insufficient to close a deal. Companies do secret dances and engage in back room discussions which are never revealed. Often, a deal in the works can be derailed due to “cultural incompatibility,” greed (acquired company execs want to get too rich in the transaction), or some business issue. Even the most obvious matches-made-in-heaven just never happen and we never know why.

Software vendors, even big ones, are in the habit of saying “they are not in the hardware business” and Proto Labs is essentially a hardware company. As if saying that you would not want them to try to make a product they had no experience making, all the time planning acquisitions that lands them smack in an industry they know nothing about. (PTC buys Arbortext, Dassault buys Accelrys, Autodesk buys Socialcam, to name just a few). CAD companies refer to their products as “solutions.” But a real solution solves a problem or fills a need. The picture on the screen, no matter how pretty, is only a means to an end. An engineer needs a part he can hold and use. Design and manufacturing are interlinked to the point that neither can function without the other, yet both exist as pieces of the solution. A true CAD visionary with means needs to lead the way for Proto Labs acquisition — and practically everyone who uses CAD, now or in the future, will thank him.

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*Should the CAD CEOs panic at the thought of being left behind, a bidding war for Proto Labs could increase the price well over 3x.

Crashing a Perfectly Good Car

LAS VEGAS (3DEXPERIENCE 2014) — Does it bother anyone that a brand new car has to be run into a concrete barrier? I am watching an Acura SUV ramming into a barrier in an offset frontal crash test. In slow motion, carefully-styled fenders, bumpers, never-used wheels, brakes and other parts become an explosion of debris. There goes a $40,000 vehicle.

 

The dummy is barely hurt. What really hurts is the actual cost of such a test. Dassault puts the cost of a crash test at one million dollars, give or take — a cost they claim to be able to cut by seventy-five percent with their simulation software.

Physical crashes may never go away, as we seem to be most assured with a real car crash, rather than electrons. Electrons can lie. But simulating even a few crashes could save a lot of money.

Dassault has succeeded in making crash testing about as real looking as you can get — or better. Watching a sequence onscreen at the show, I had to constantly ask if it was real or simulation. I am told to look for debris flying around, which is a telltale sign of the real thing. The RTT software (acquired by Dassault, now renamed 3DEXCITE) and the underlying analysis software (LS-DYNA) is not able to model disintegrating parts. But it is amazing what it can do. RTT used to create pretty pictures that auto companies could put on their brochures and websites. You’ve seen them. Super sexy stuff. Now it has been pressed into service for crash tests and has transformed how crash tests can be seen, in ways you could never do with simulation tools and certainly in ways you could never do in real life.

Simulation software allows you to see what is happening to the frame during a crash, unobscured by the sheet metal exterior.

For example, you can remove the concrete barrier for an unobscured view of the front end crumpling. You can remove the fenders and hood to see how the engine and components move during a crash. You can isolate the fuel system to see how it is being compromised. From automotive safety engineers to automotive executives and even the general public, 3DEXCITE offers a fascinating look at what is happening during the 150 milliseconds of a crash. It is clear and obvious and needs no explanation, unlike FEA tools.

Can You Believe What You See?

The graphics are scarily good. However, we should be on guard, for visual realism is no substitute for physics. It may look real, but it may not necessarily be true behavior. Analysts know how wrong analyses can go. A wrong assumption, an extra zero and incorrect material may still yield believable graphics but will not correlate with physical results. This is of particular importance in cases where our intuition is of no help. We have no frame of reference for materials and systems during impact. We are likely to believe what we see.

Getting the 3DEXPERIENCE in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV (3DEXPERIENCE) — In a city that is famous for experience, though most of them negative ones, we are being advised how experience counts more than product and services.

Ken Clayton, VP Americas Market and Global Sales Operations, opens Dassault's 3DEXPERIENCE in Las Vegas. Click here for the opening keynote video on YouTube.

You thought it was about the coffee? Nope, it's the experience.

What else would account for Starbucks? Ken Clayton, Dassault’s vice president of worldwide sales, tells how he goes there with his daughters, paying premium prices for coffee he could make at home. But he and his daughters have made it an event, an annual let’s-say-we-are-shopping-for-mom Christmas Eve that has become a fond memory. It wasn’t about the coffee, after all. It was the experience.

Product, Nature and Life. Bernard Charles preaches the new Trinity

Bernard Charlès, Dassault’s CEO, whose vision often exceeds the grasp of mere mortals, is preaching of a harmony between “product, nature and life.”

It is a message of a higher ideal, a balance of things, applicable to our existence, but can it be applied to our business? It is delivered by Ken, Monica Menghini (executive vice president, Corporate Strategy, Industry and Marketing), and Bernard, as they stand on the main stage, on top of the still very cryptic symbol they call the compass, (see below) which has all the mystery of secret sect. Does it control them?

Dassault's compass exerts its mysterious power over presenters at the 3DEXPERIENCE

Bernard has to tie a lot together. The company, once known primarily for its design software, CATIA, has grown by leap and bounds to encompass (get it?) mining, chemical modeling, Web technology (Netvibes, Exalead) and more. It’s a struggle for those who have followed Dassault from early on to keep up.

One analyst asks Bernard why Dassault keeps going after other verticals—ones the analyst is not familiar with.

With infinite patience, the wise Bernard tells how Dassault has reached saturation with the tools we have in place for design and manufacture. We must now adjust the process.

And what of industries which are new to Dassault?

“We want to be the catalyst,” Bernard says. Connecting disciplines that were never before connected.

He points to Accelrys (now called Biovia) as a perfect example. Here were chemists who were modeling molecular interaction in 2D. When they were showed 3D, it made the more complicated modeling behavior possible. Would this lead to more scientific discoveries, as suggested by one Dassault ad?

Dassault a Company with Heart

Dassault modeled the heart in 3D and it is being used in medical research. Click here for video.

The living heart is another example in medicine. Dassault has modeled a human heart, using modeling and simulation tools that previously had been used for aviation and automotive, accomplishing what medical technology, with all its billions of dollars, has not. Doctors have to explain to patients their conditions using fuzzy 2D images, grade-school quality charts and, if they are lucky, plastic models. Spines and knee joints form some recent unfortunate memories. Dassault has already made a walk-thru beating heart at its US headquarters in Waltham and displayed a holographic-type display at the show. Bernard dreams of a near future where state-of-the-art CAD technology is used in multiple new ways.

Click to see Bernard's keynote at 3DEXPERIENCE 2014 on YouTube

The affable Bernard again answered question patiently, smiling—never to condescend though clearly the room could not rise to his visionary prowess.

What are you doing with IoT, said one reporter, citing the Internet of Things, which seems to be the buzzword these days.

“Netvibes [acquired by Dassault] will be able to connect smart objects on the Internet,” said Bernard, deftly affirming that Dassault’s role had exceeded what is seen as the current cutting edge technology. No further questions on that subject.

Obviously, the press cannot keep up with Bernard. Dassault is not content with just designing the airplane anymore. That’s just a little bit of what an aircraft company does. That company needs to do market research, create winning proposals and collaborate with diverse and far-flung teams who not only have to devise a new airplane, they have to put it together. Then they have to sell it.

Dassault Systemes Takes Off From Planes

Aviation has long been Dassault’s forte. Automotive also. But only insofar as the design and manufacture. Through acquisition, Dassault has bought its way into other industries, something its followers from the press contingent are having trouble with. What would a company like Dassault know about arranging shelves in a retail store, would be another question that Bernard would have to field.

Again, the chief visionary to the rescue. Bernard explains how some of these industries would benefit from the automation that our industries have taken for granted. There may be NO other software for arranging shelves. Wouldn’t a retailer love the kind of tools we have? Tools that can model? Visualize?

It remains to be seen if industries such as retail would embrace modeling as much as manufacturing industries have. Other industries, such as mining, where there may be some software penetration already (Bentley, Trimble), may be less of a stretch. 

On Top of Everything Else, SOLIDWORKS 2015 Does 3D Printing

WALTHAM, MA, Sep 24, 2014 - With every major release of a CAD program comes a dilemma. How to convey all that information? SOLIDWORKS 2015 is no exception. Dassault did its best to dumb down the changes --- there were literally thousands – for the assembled press. As most of the press are not CAD users the significance of most of the enhancements are lost upon us. For example, is the new Treehouse feature going to be a hit? No idea.

But SOLIDWORKS almost missed a opportunity to trumpet one enhancement that would have resonated with all the media present. Saying “3D printing” would have stirred even the sleepiest old journalist in a post-meatball-calzone-lunch induced daze.

With SOLIDWORKS 2015, you can make a 3D print right from the menu. You have to have Windows 8.1. Microsoft had introduced 3D printing back in November 2013 but neglected to mention that it was going to be up to software and hardware vendors to create the drivers to actually make 3D objects actually appear.

SOLIDWORKS 2015 is the first CAD vendor to come through on the 3D printing promise, says Aaron Kelly, product manager at Dassault, who was kind enough to wheel a Makerbot 3D printer to where the press had already started to file out, to show me how it was done.

Currently, the Print to 3D command only works with MakerBot 3D printers, though.

Sure enough, Aaron clicks on the menu and the MakerBot print head starts whizzing. The print volume is displayed on the SOLIDWORKS screen. The MakerBot display shows it is printing a SLDPRT file – the native part file. The conversion to STL files is either not happening or is invisible to the user.

I ask about support structures, which were not needed for the simple part being made.

“The program creates support structures if needed," says Aaron, as if by magic. Support structures are not displayed on the screen, however.

Dassault 3D Experience is Explained

LAS VEGAS (Dassault 3DEXPERIENCE), Nov 13, 2013 -  I love listening to Bernard Charles. I might be a sucker for the thick French accent. Or is it his delivery? The Dassault CEO gives a big smile after every sentence. He must be friendly in person, though I haven't met him.

Bernard Charles, CEO of Dassault Systemes, and the dashing Monica Menghini, EVP of Dassault marketing (seated), are trying very hard to explain 3DEXPERIENCE to the press at Dassault's annual American gathering of users. They've been at it for over a year. (see previous coverage).

The Smartest People in the Room

Are they just too smart...their concepts too advanced? "3DEXPERIENCE is a platform. V6 is an architecture." Huh? Us CAD guys are used to connecting functions to software. Design with CATIA. Analyze with SIMULIA. Like that. But these guys are trying to raise us to a new level. From the back of the room, I see pens in mid air. Normally, we're a dutiful crowd, busy with our pens, recording it all. But words are failing us now. And then, finally, some gather the courage to question, to try to bring the talk down to a level we can all get. But Charles and Monica remain undaunted. Their higher ideals are not to be brought down to the mundane, this product for this purpose for this price. I do admire people with ideals. 

I try to get some CAD insiders to dumb it down for me, but they seem equally befuddled. And one is actually a whip-smart young dude so it's not my advanced years blocking new ideas. Whew. One or two of the analysts (these guys are paid to know a thing or two --unlike us press types) do attempt to give me an interpretation of Charles's wisdom. But they differ. 

There must be an explanation. I wend my way to the show floor, past posters of icebergs pulled across oceans and cars with wings, which only further my sense of not getting it. Some of those product guys must be able to tell me what this 3D EXPERIENCE is.

Refuge in CATIA

I go for the heart of the matter, the CATIA booth. I know CATIA, what it does well, who uses it and for what. If there is one product Dassault is known for, it's CATIA. I get CATIA. I'll ground myself there and then see if 3DEXPERIENCE can be explained from that vantage point. But what I see on the screens appears to show 2 cars in motion, looking something like systems modeling. Oh, no they've changed CATIA. It's hopeless.

Erik Bolognini, Sr Technical Sales Specialist for Dassault, is a CAD guy but able to explain 3DEXPERIENCE. Finally.

The show floor is serving as a reception, with food and drink in wide supply. Erik Bolognini is not having either. I sense this guy is serious.

"We're showing a simulation of the cruise control," says Erik. The software is showing how a car can sense another in front of it and adjust it's speed. Very cool ... but it's not CATIA.

No, it's Dynmola used for system engineering. CATIA is a modeler. But the interface blurs the lines. An automotive engineer and go from CATIA to Dymola seamlessly. In fact, there is other software they can use, including SolidWorks. Dassault will package the design, analysis and system software together. The automotive engineer can get all their needs met, have a good experience...ohhhhh! a 3DEXPERIENCE. So the 3DEXPERIENCE is really a package of software? Erik nods. Oh, for gods sake. Why don't they just say that? I can handle packages and bundles.

I can't help but ask how much for the automotive 3DEXPERIENCE? Erik, Sr Technical Sales Specialist, can't tell me. I guess there is still some knowledge just out of reach for mere mortals, even Erik.

Related articles

Hurricane Monica Sweeping Through Dassault

Dassault Conference, Pt 1 - Bernard Comes Down From the Mountain

Dassault Debuts Compass Magazine

Dassault Conference, Pt 2 - Dassault Plans World Domination

CCE CATIA to SolidWorks Translator is Free!

DALLAS, TX (Siemens PLM Connection 2013) June 4, 2013 - SolidWorks - CATIA conversions have been the source of much consternation among users, most of whom don't understand how two programs owned by the same company (Dassault Systemes) won't play well with each other.

The problem may have been somewhat alleviated with the latest edition of SolidWorks, but what of users who have not upgraded? As Josh Mings reported, there is a Dassault CATIA to SolidWorks converter (see SolidSmack post) but it cost $3K up front with another $1K a year for maintenance. I couldn't find it on Dassault's site or SolidWorks' site but i should not be surprised since it's not something that Dassault is likely to promote -- maybe for fear that it will cause a mass migration to their cheaper product.

Into the void came a few companies offering the much needed conversion, either with expensive off-the-shelf software (Can Elysium really charge $10K?) or cheapo apps by little known companies that will probably waste your time, as well as data translation specialists who would offer to customize a solution (you can imagine what that might cost!).

But here in the most unlikely place --the annual gathering of NX and Teamcenter users in Dallas --the solution to the SolidWorks/CATIA interoperability conundrum seems to present itself.

I pay a visit to the CCE booth. CCE is a heavyweight in the interoperability arena. They have launched a labs site and are determined to give away software. Its like Autodesk Labs, though on a smaller scale. in fact, there are only 4 products on it. Two are CAD viewers, one of which handles large assemblies. But most important is the CATIA V5 to SolidWorks translator. In 32 bit and 64 bit version. It's free. You have to log in (using Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter) and so CCE may end up with a way to contact you, but isn't that a small price to pay for what may have been a longtime source of frustration or as an alternative to pricey or shady alternatives?

See CCE labs site to download CAT5Works-Express: SolidWorks Integrated CATIA V5 translator. 

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Update: CCE's converter also supports older SolidWorks 2009 and 2010 and CATIA V5 up to R18. Paid products on the CCE Lab site supportss latest versions.

Beloved SolidWorks Is Intact - So Far

ORLANDO, FL, Jan 20, 2013 - If you had been freaking out about what Dassault might be doing to your beloved SolidWorks, you would probably be reassured here at SolidWorks World 2013.

SolidWorks CEO Bertrand Sicot opens the annual user conference (entire 90 minute keynote on You Tube)

At last year's event, SolidWorks newly appointed VP or R&D, Gian Paulo Bassi stated that SolidWorks future lay in two versions, each relying on different kernels (see SolidWorks: The Kernel Change). One would be the tried and true Parasolid, which SolidWorks has used since its inception. The other would be CATIA's CGM kernel.

Though meant to be reassuring at the time and an answer to FUD* campaigns from competitors, all indications pointed to the upstart CGM being the kernel of choice for the future. After all, CGM was owned by the Dassault "family," whereas Parasolid was owned by a competitor. But with the new engine would come data incompatibility...and who knows what else? Can you rip out the engine from a Mustang and put in one from a Camaro? This led to uncertainty among users and may have even shaken their faith.

Though the show has only wrapped up its first day, there has been little mention of SolidWorks V6, as the CGM version of SolidWorks was known. In fact, there has been little mention of anything by Gian Paulo. After being very much the highly visible champion of SolidWorks V6, he has not even taken the stage, not the main stage or gone up front with the other executives during the media Q&A. Could it be that plans for SolidWorks V6 have been shelved?

At the risk of reading too much into the tea leaves, consider that V6 technology has been rolled out only into Mechanical Conceptual** shown this morning on the main stage. Though underwhelming in its ability (a front-end to SolidWorks rather than a robust modeler) that is far from finished (not released til Fall), it seems to be -- at least so far -- SolidWorks' big announcement.

But sometimes, what is not said is just as important as what is not said. No shakeup. None of the "it's good for you, now open wide." A gentle rollout. Mechanical Conceptual is a tool. Use it alongside your beloved SolidWorks, not instead of it.

Maybe what we are seeing now, is a kinder, gentler Dassault. Or maybe one that just listens.

__________

**Fear, uncertainty and doubt

**Hopefully just a working name. What's wrong with SolidConcepts?

Scenes from SolidWorks World 2013, Pt 1

SolidWorks World 2013 in Orlando, FL is based in the Swan and Dolphin Hotel inside Disney World. Nearby is a man-made lake with a boardwalk around it. Florida's natural lakes are not as pretty.

Matt West, SolidWorks social media guru, lists some of the metrics of online success. Did you know YouTube is the 2nd most popular search function, 2nd to Google? SolidWorks corporate blogs got 1.1 million page views in 2012.

I don't like to brag, but..." SolidWorks goes over 2 million users, announces CEO Bertrand Sicot. Of this number, about 800,000 are industry users, the rest have educational seats.

Dassault CEO Bernard Charles again tries to explain the 3DEXPERINCE. Halo around his head is purely unintentional.

Bernard gives an overview of Dassault, of which SolidWorks is a part.

Bernard proud of Dassault being among Forbes top "innovative companies." Zoom in and you can see they are ahead of PTC, Autodesk and SAP.

Bernard determined to raise the global awareness of Dassault. Here he shows a few of Dassault's ads. If you have gone through a major airport recently, you have probably done a double take. Trade press is conspiciously absent.

Feel worn out after a flight? Try breaking sound barrier - without an airplane. Hearing about Felix Baumgartner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Baumgartner) Keynote speakers detail how they sent Felix to a height of 128,000 feet and had him jump, going over Mach 1 on the way down -- and surviving! As the video showed him stepped off the gondola, all 4,500 people in the audience seemed to hold their breath.

Mcor prints anything --including an all too lifelike head--using ordinary copy paper and some glue, and claims the lowest cost per model. Color models being done with their new Iris machine. http://www.mcortechnologies.com/

The press room lists over 125 media members invited to SolidWorks World 2013

SolidWorks CEO Bertrand Sicot makes the rounds on the exhibit floor, stopping at the My.SolidWorks.com booth. My.SolidWorks.com, a customer information portal, was announced at the show. In the foreground (in black) is Greg Jankowski, author, and contributor for the portal.