Still too many CAD systems within Detroit's auto industry

[Capt Worley PE]

Much has happened since last year when I wrote in two parts, Exposing CAD Monopolies, but the problem of portability of skills is far from resolved. It seems the auto industry has gotten the message, though, at least in part, as it deals with the latest, designer brain drain.
Where there were multiples of computer-aided design (CAD) systems within the OEM segment of the auto industry, there are now two dominant players, Catia and UG. Toyota and Ford favor Catia; Chrysler used to favor Catia but is now switching to UG; and GM was UG for over a decade. On the supplier side, the dominant players have been SolidWorks and AutoCAD, the with defense industry favoring Pro/E.

Don’t be fooled, though, by the CAD and auto industry rhetoric. There are still too many systems in the auto industry, and especially among suppliers. And I do not have a favorite here. Point: me and a host of other designers can work in any system. However, the industry would be best served if it had a single system, much like a single operating system like Windows for desk top computers. Here’s why: portability, ease of education and skill proficiency.

CAD vendors such as Dassault Systemes, Autodesk, Siemens, and Parametric Technologies continue to charge $5,000, $10,000, and upwards of $20,000 per seat for products such as Solidworks, Inventor, Solid Edge, Pro/E, NX, and CATIA.

There are no home versions at a price a laid-off worker can afford either. Point 2: it's a closed society.

Read more:

http://www.examiner.com/automotive-technol...s-auto-industry

 

[OSUguy98]

No love for Bentley?

I learned on the board, and then in AutoCAD... switched to Microstation when I started work here with the state... took a little while to adapt, and I still have the occasional "I wish Microstation had _____" moment.... But I have noticed over the years that Microstation and AutoCAD are moving closer together... I know nothing of other CADD programs besides the poor man's CADD (Google Sketchup)...

There is one flaw in his logic.... Yes, the majority of the people in the world use Windows... but many server-side OS choices are Oracle or some flavor of Unix... We don't need everyone to use the same software, we just need a standard filetype/structure that makes things interchangeable... Microstation and AutoCAD can use *.dxf files, but if you want full function you have to use the *.dwg or *.dgn extension... What the industry really needs is a standard file format (like a jpg or tif) that most everyone can open... But, you do that, and you lose your $20k license here and there and everywhere..... proprietary = $$$$$$$$

 

[NCcarguy]

I don't EVER like the idea of creating a monopoly for any industry. Sure, some things seem to be a pain when trying to switch from one to another, but the bottom line is that helps create competition, which makes the products better. Think about this.....how good would cars be if we ONLY had GM? not very good.