SolidSmack - Latest Comments in Economic Incentive Will Drive CAD Market

Re: Economic Incentive Will Drive CAD Market

Devon T. Sowell — Wed, 16 May 2007 15:51:17 -0000

Hi Josh-

Great Blog.

I've been very fortunate to work for a Fortune 500 company that works strictly in 3D. They have to remain nameless. They don't advertise their design advantage, but they certainly understand the benefits. No formal 2D drawings are used, it's great!

Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

Re: Economic Incentive Will Drive CAD Market

Josh — Wed, 16 May 2007 15:39:49 -0000

Hey Matt, I do largely agree for the most part. Especially that management should be aware and looking at the business processes to identify the bottlenecks.

What I wanted to reinforce was the idea that the demand for 3D CAD technology could grow because it's becomes more and more expected by the customer, which could be Dave and Linda down on the corner or the guys in the shop.

I've seen this happen in small and large companies. The shop hollers for something to be a certain way. Management says ok, without even looking at the bottom line. Kind of a get it done mentality. Not to say this is right, but it is happening.

When I was with a reseller, we always got the best results starting with the guys doing the work. I just wonder what would happen if marketing targeted the shop guys.

Re: Economic Incentive Will Drive CAD Market

matt — Wed, 16 May 2007 15:07:26 -0000

Josh,

In my view, it's kind of a sentimental feeling to say that end users are either driving or constraining the transition to 3D. In smaller companies where end users may actually also be management or are at least closer to management, they can have more effect, but small companies are often driven to a CAD technology decision by a large customer.

Unless management is inept, they know where their process bottlenecks are.

There is very little that happens in business that doesn't have an economic cause. Examples of non-economic causes might be HR issues, social or political problems, and so on. Any company that allows sentimentality to drive parts of the business that can cost it its position in the market will not be around for long.

On the other hand, if engineering is not the process bottleneck, then it really doesn't make much sense to drive them to upgrade. Important money- and productivity-effecting decisions are made at the top of the company, not at the bottom.