PLM as the ‘One Right Path to Progress’ is not a universal
covenant in the industry. Autodesk, the largest pure software
player in our industry, disowns PLM in favor of another mission,
with another term: “Digital Prototyping.”
Among those leading the charge at Autodesk is Dr. Andrew J.
Anagnost, PhD., vice president of CAD/CAM in the Mechanical
Solutions Division. He sat down recently for an interview with
CADCAMNet and a shorter version you can watch online at
CCNtv.
Defining Digital Prototyping
Anagnost says Autodesk defines Digital Prototyping as, “The
use of a design to digitally validate a concept, digitally model
the form and fit, engineer it, and test its function. And then
to hand that information digitally to the manufacturers. Form,
fit and function from concept to manufacturing.”
The new Autodesk Inventor LT, now available for
free download as a pre-release product at Autodesk Labs, is
Autodesk’s way of bringing Digital Prototyping to the masses.
“The main philosophy behind Inventor LT is to democratize
digital prototyping for any size company, for anyone that wants
to do it. This is the primary objective we are focused on; we
think it is what the market needs. The concept of digital
prototyping has been out there for 15 years but the truth of the
matter is that only a very small percentage of companies
actually do it.”
PLM is Dead; Long Live Digital Prototyping
Autodesk is so certain about Digital Prototyping that it
disowns the PLM message adopted by its competitors in the MCAD
market.
Says Anagnost, “Carl Bass made a very important point. He
said ‘the only companies that have a problem with PLM are
Dassault, Unigraphics [now Siemens PLM] and PTC.’ And he really
hates it. That same core feeling and philosophy permeates all of
Autodesk. We think the real problem our customers are struggling
with is creating digital prototypes. That’s the real business
problem that’s going to make the difference for the most number
of people in the market.”
PLM is Dead; Long Live PDM
Anagnost emphasizes that the use of Product Data Management (PDM)
tools continues to be important in the industry, and that they
are important to Digital Prototyping. Anagnost argues that much
of what we call PLM today is simply a renaming of PDM. Autodesk
already offers a PDM solution called Autodesk Productstream,
which, Anagnost says, is focused on delivering data in the
format people need.
Read more...
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- CADCAMNet Comments
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