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-   -   PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate (https://www.cocreateusers.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6505)

dszostak 10-31-2007 05:50 AM

PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Hot off the press!

PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate For $250 Million


With the acquisition of CoCreate, PTC will broaden its portfolio and offer support for the most comprehensive range of modeling techniques in the MCAD industry. PTC plans to integrate the CoCreate modeling solutions with the PTC Product Development System (PDS) in order to offer CoCreate customers additional product development capabilities including engineering calculations, dynamic publishing, visualization, high-speed machining, and enterprise content and process management, and ultimately, the option of using their modeling solutions also as part of the PTC PDS.

Read the PTC Press Release.

www.ptc.com

Marten 10-31-2007 07:10 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Well, not sure if I like this news. I thought CoCreate was busy to take over another company, not that it was for sale itself. I hope this doesn't shift development power to integration with PTC's products, because that doesn't help focusing on important enhancements to OneSpace Designer itself.

It also makes me wonder what the future plans/goals for the CoCreate products will be. Often, large companies don't listen very well to small customers needs...

Regards,

Marten Verhoeven

DRF57 10-31-2007 07:24 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Anybody remember CV (CADDS5)?

We still use it. We get no support. No training is even available.
And we get the arrogant PTC when we have to call them.

I just hope this turns out better.

Steve 10-31-2007 07:52 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Here's what I bet is going on:

PTC saw the new non-history modeler come on the block - SpaceClaim - and they have decided that they need to play in that market segment of CAD also.

I just called one of my buddies at PTC and he said that while PTC has not given a public reason for the acquisition (he had just heard about it this morning, too), my assessment "seemed reasonable".

It was also his opinion that PTC could leverage this by giving CoCreate users the ability to have access to higher-end CAD functionality as it was integrated into the CoCreate tool, perhaps even to the point of having some level of interoperability between OneSpace and Pro/Engineer. This could give CoCreate users an upgrade path that they would not otherwise have. SpaceClaim users will have no recourse should they outgrow the SpaceClaim software, other than totally switching software packages.

Ultimately, PTC has seen that there is a segment of the CAD market that does not understand or want embedded logic in their CAD geometry, and so they have bought a tool that caters to that market segment.

Steve 10-31-2007 07:53 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Wow, I was a CADDS4x users. CV was the first CAD package I used, back around 1988. I could type commands into the keyboard buffer, and fix typos, faster than the software could process them! :)

tom kirkman 10-31-2007 09:01 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
We once were big PTC customers, but their customer service is so lousy that we switched to CoCreate. This is not good news. If PTC keeps up to their usual standards, we will be looking for new software soon.

Tom

clausb 10-31-2007 09:52 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Some more information, including a FAQ list, is available at http://www.ptc.com/company/cocreate/index.htm

Claus

Lim Chee Beng 10-31-2007 04:05 PM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve (Post 18592)
....PTC saw the new non-history modeler come on the block - SpaceClaim - and they have decided that they need to play in that market segment of CAD also...

Can PTC possibly be just interested in the PLM, rather than CAD from CoCreate? :(

dszostak 10-31-2007 07:39 PM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
With this acquisition, PTC embraces all the accepted approaches within (CAD and product development) – parametric (feature-based), explicit (geometry-based), derived and 2D. Any of these CAD approaches and techniques combined with the PTC Product Development System (PDS) offers customers a competitive advantage unmatched by any other vendor in the industry.

“The combination of PTC and CoCreate products will enable PTC to offer the manufacturing industry the flexibility to select the most appropriate (CAD system) for their business requirements from a financially secure, trusted worldwide product development technology leader,” said Jim Heppelmann, executive vice president and chief product officer of PTC. “Each (CAD) approach has its own advantages, and only PTC will have an objective view that allows us to map the appropriate (CAD) approach to a given customer situation, yet encase that (CAD) approach in a full product development system. In line with industry trends, we expect the majority of our (CAD) business will continue to come from our flagship parametric (feature-based) 3D CAD system, Pro/ENGINEER®. CoCreate customers who prefer an explicit (geometry-based) 3D CAD system will now have a complete product development system as a viable option.”

Read the full PTC press release.

Steve 11-01-2007 05:02 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
I do not think that PTC is going to rush out and try and change OSD into a parametric modeler. They are clearly trying to enter the "explicit" modeling market (I very much like this new term, by the way, as it precisely describes the modeling experience - the user must explicitly manage all geometric manipulations and relationships by himself). So I don't think they are going to try and radically alter their vehicle for getting into that market.

What I do hope will happen is that over time PTC will figure out a way to add some of the logic-embedding tools available to parametric, history-based systems into OSD, thus giving the best of both worlds. The ideal tool would be one where the user could approach geometry creation/manipulation from either a boolean push/pull/cut/add approach or through an embedded logic approach.

It could be a tough row to hoe, though, as I saw this kind of thing happen with Unigraphics when they evolved the software from a "dumb" solid modeler to a parametric modeler. The problem they had was when a user went to edit, say, a hole in a block, they first had to identify whether it was a dumb cylindrical face, and if so use boolean tools to modify/move it, or if it was a parametric feature, and if so use feature-modification tools to modify/move it. Another problem that I saw was some users at a company would use the tool as a dumb modeler, while others would use it as a parametric modeler, and it would drive each other crazy when they opened each other's models. The experience needs to be seamless to the end user in order to be effective.

Already I see part of this functionality in Solid Edge, which I am using now. It is fundamentally a history-based, parametric modeler, but it also has the ability to move, rotate or delete faces, and other "dumb" solid manipulation routines.

Marten 11-01-2007 05:28 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Combining dynamic modeling and history-based modeling can be done. Hicad proves this, and it is actually a great technique. Their implementation combines the best of both worlds (as far as I can see).

Regards,

Marten Verhoeven

jbruce 11-01-2007 06:03 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
As with others, I hope that this will turn out to be a good thing.

We work in a very fast paced /dynamic design environment here, and we make HUGE changes late in the game -that is one of the reasons we love the non-history based approach.

We have used these products since the start with HP ME-30 rev 1.3 (EARLY 90s) and have had great success with them.

I hope that we can continue to expect the same level of service and support that we now get.

I guess we will all find out more in the next 3 months or so.

BTW
Here is an idea for the new merged product name - Pro|Create. :D
NO ONE will forget that.

JB

Marten 11-01-2007 06:18 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
:) I like that one, Pro|Create :)

Regards,

Marten

Lim Chee Beng 11-01-2007 03:59 PM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
I like it too.... Pro|Create, Pro|E.... :p

ludw 11-04-2007 01:39 AM

Re: PTC To Acquire Leading Product Development Software Provider CoCreate
 
Do you really think about product merging you talked above? Do you really imagine features from one side (parametric) merged to the other one (explicit) and vice-versa. Do you really think this as PTC/CoCreate objectives?
Look at famous previous acquisitions: Dassault/SolidWorks, Agile/Eigner, UGS, etc. I never seen any product merge combining best-of-both. Or it needs decades!
From my point of view, this acquisition is just a tactical, commercial, market share strategy.
It will serve PTC to react to new competitors (SpaceClaim)
It will serve CoCreate and HBK to get money, and to make a new market recognition.
Innovation, new products are facts from new companies (PTC a long time ago, SolidWorks, Space Claim); in a preferred way founded by some people coming from the acquired companies. See curriculums of executive of CV, PTC, SolidWorks, SpaceClaim.
This event is potentially able to sign for a birth of a new company founded by former CoCreate people.


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