It's all about reliability and ease of use.
That's what Design News subscribers said when we asked how they chose a new engineering software platform, in a CAD/CAE Market Insight Study conducted in January by Cahners Research.
Those were the top two answers out of 14 choices, so the moral is: To keep an engineer happy, make sure his CAD app works well inside his shop.
"Please rate the importance of the following criteria when specifying CAD/CAE software."
-
product reliability/accuracy
-
ease of use
-
product capabilities
-
technical assistance available
-
supplier response to needs
-
good value for price
-
hardware choices/compatibility
-
integration with other software
-
supplier reputation
-
customization/programmability
-
integration to a collaborative environment
-
previous experience with supplier
-
integration with your customers'software
-
brand name
This result echoes the response we got when we asked readers a similar question 18 months ago (see DN 6/19/00, "How CAD keeps it simple"). Back then, engineers told us the three most important things they needed in a CAD package were: ease of use, the ability to make changes, and interoperability.
But what does "CAD" actually mean? Long ago, the acronym was self-explanatory—computer-aided design. But today's software market has fragmented the products into dozens of applications. In this survey, the top three flavors of CAD our readers use are: 3D solids modeling, drafting, and 2D mechanical design. That's not surprising, but a glance at our survey results from 1999 reveals that the top three were inverted—most of our readers back then were 2D users.
Another way to find out what's important to CAD users is to ask if they plan to switch brands. Most (65%) said they plan no change in the next 12 months, with 33% saying they'll upgrade their existing CAD platform. But 9% said they may add or change software vendors in that time (figures don't add to 100 because multiple responses were allowed).
"What is the primary reason that you plan to add or change software?"
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improved capabilities/better analysis, performance
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newer technology
-
cost
-
ease of use/learning
-
need 3D modeling
-
customer requirement
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increase in number of workstations/employees
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speed
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standardize with other department/division
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web-enabled
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other
| "What types of software does your engineering department currently use?" |
|
2001 Answer
|
1999 Rank
|
| 1. 3D solids modeling |
3 |
| 2. drafting |
2 |
| 3. 2D mechanical design |
1 |
| 4. assembly modeling |
6 |
| 5. parametric feature-based |
5 |
| 6. 3D wireframe mechanical design |
4 |
| 7. document management |
7 |
| 8. presentation graphics |
8 |
| 9. surface modeling |
9 |
| 10. rapid prototyping |
10 |
| 11. photorealistic rendering |
11 |
| 12. animation |
12 |
| 13. translation software for rapid prototyping |
13 |
| 14. web-enabled/collaborative |
N/A |
| 15. other |
14 |
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