PTC acquires Onshape, the integration of design and manufacturing towards the cloud! 3D printing development is good!

On October 23, 2019, U.S. time, PTC (NASDAQ: PTC) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Onshape for a total value of approximately US$470 million. The acquisition is expected to accelerate PTC’s ability to use cloud-based modeling products to attract new customers and enable the company to profit from the trend toward cloud-based design.

The transaction is expected to be completed in November 2019 before PTC obtains regulatory approval and meets other completion conditions.

Picture: Software giant cooperation, Onshape and PTC

The cloud accumulates the potential for the integration of design and manufacturing

Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Onshape was founded in 2012 by CAD pioneers and technology legends (including Jon Hirschtick). Onshape has received more than $150 million in funding from leading venture capital companies and has more than 5,000 users worldwide. Onshape’s software products are delivered in a SaaS model and can be accessed from any connected location or device, eliminating the need to maintain expensive hardware and management personnel. Distributed and mobile teams of designers, engineers, and others can benefit from the cloud features of the product, allowing them to improve collaboration and significantly reduce the time required to bring new products to market-while keeping the latest software up to date .

This acquisition is a logical next step for PTC to fully develop a cyclical payment revenue business model. Although the SaaS model is emerging in the CAD and PLM markets, it is rapidly becoming the best practice in the industry in most other software fields. PTC hopes to open up new CAD and PLM growth opportunities through the Onshape platform. At the same time, as the market transitions to the SaaS model, PTC will become a leader.

For users, Onshape’s SaaS model can speed up work, improve collaboration and innovation, reduce upfront costs, and eliminate the need to manage and maintain IT infrastructure. For software providers, the SaaS model has been proven to generate a more stable and predictable revenue stream. As customers benefit from early adoption of technological innovations, it can increase customer loyalty and expand into new market segments. And region.

According to Jon Hirschtick, CEO and co-founder of Onshape, Onshape and PTC believe that the product development industry is approaching the’critical point’ of adopting cloud modeling and SaaS-based data management tools. Both parties look forward to empowering users through the latest innovations and improving their competitive position.

Review

More than 20 years ago, Jon Hirschtick founded SolidWorks and developed the first 3D modeling software on the Windows platform. With the simple and easy-to-use features of Windows, SolidWorks quickly became one of the most famous 3D design software. Jon Hirschtick is considered a man of vision and down-to-earth. In 2011, Jon Hirschtick left SolidWorks to concentrate on the future trends of CAD. Soon he and former SolidWorks CEO John McEleney and others established Belmont Technology Company. The name was not intended to be used for a long time. Soon Belmont Technology Company changed its name to Onshape. Onshape brought together many Solidworks veterans and claimed that its work is A new generation of computer-aided design software, so it has attracted the attention of many people.

The operation of Onshape is based on a web browser and can support any operating system: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome. It is characterized by the deep use of cloud computing technology. There is also a software in the world, such as Autodesk’s Fusion 360, which is a cloud-based 3D design software. . John, the founder of Onshape, claimed that Onshape will not only fully integrate PLM, but also take advantage of the ability of cloud computing to process problems in a distributed manner, and apply concurrency and parallel technology extensively in the 3D modeling process. The features of Onshape are as follows:

-Deep use of cloud computing technology. The emphasis here is on deep use because many companies in the industry have begun to embrace cloud platforms. For example, Autodesk’s Fusion 360 is a cloud-based 3D design software. But these current products almost all use the cloud as a storage The platform has not fully utilized its “computing” capabilities. Jon himself recognized the impact of the multi-core era early on. There is reason to believe that Onshape will not only fully integrate PLM, but also take advantage of the ability of cloud computing to deal with distributed problems. Concurrency and parallel technology are widely used in the process of 3D modeling.

-Modeling capabilities for mobile platforms. Extensive support for mobile platforms (such as iPad and other tablet devices) will become a key feature that Onshape will stand out from its rivals. At present, established 3D design companies such as Siemens, Dassault, Autodesk and PTC are in There is no outstanding performance on the mobile platform, which will give startups a very good opportunity. Onshape will not use mobile devices only as a tool for model browsing. By integrating with cloud technology, the modeling capabilities of the mobile platform can be greatly improved, thereby getting rid of the weakness of weak computing power.

-The modeling technology will not be significantly improved, but a new UI will be provided. Like SolidWorks, Onshape uses Parasolid as the modeling core and DCM to solve constraint relationships. Therefore, it will not completely abandon the current mainstream parametric design method, and it is also very likely to introduce the direct modeling technology that has been popular in recent years. With the help of parallel computing technology, Onshape may consider a top-down modeling method. Taking into account the use of mobile platforms and cloud computing technology, Onshape is expected to bring a new user interface experience.

-Emphasize product collaboration function. Collaboration has become an indispensable feature of the new generation of CAD products. Whether it is SolidWorks or Autodesk, their new products reflect this feature. As a product that closely combines cloud and mobile devices, collaboration will be a key goal of Onshape.

– support3D printing. If the collaboration is the same,3D printingIt is also an indispensable function of the new generation of 3D design software.

-The product will integrate simulation and analysis functions. Another advantage of using cloud computing technology is that a variety of different technologies can be used in the cloud, and these are transparent to users.

-CAD on the Web. Some companies have tried to design directly on the Web, such as TinkerCAD (acquired by Autodesk). It is recognized that complex model processing on the Web is not easy. However, with the continuous improvement of browsers and the continuous enhancement of the capabilities of hardware devices such as graphics cards, simple designs and modifications on the Web are fully competent. Browsing, marking or simply modifying the model through the Web will undoubtedly greatly improve the convenience of user collaboration.

An integrated layout of cloud-based design and manufacturing is emerging.And such a layout, for the manufacturing industry, is for those born with digital features.3D printingIn terms of the combination of manufacturing, it can be said to show a further release3D printingPotential time, location, people and development potential.

In 2018, PTC also acquired Frustum Inc., a cloud-based generative design software company. Frustum’s topology optimization design technology is a transformative supplement to PTC Creo’s product portfolio. According to the market observation of 3D Science Valley, it lies in the strategic partnership between PTC and ANSYS. The acquisition of Frustum is also a complement to the strategic relationship between the two parties, leading the analysis to the upstream to the very early stages of the design process. With the embedded functions of Frustum and ANSYS, Creo will be able to use generative design recommendations, use ANSYS Discovery Live to guide users through the iterative design process, and finally use the wider ANSYS Discovery suite to verify the complete product design on a large scale. After embedding these functions into Creo, engineers will be able to quickly promote product innovation with unprecedented capabilities.

“Winners challenge the status quo”, the winner is forward. PTC has always been unique in the PLM industry. 3D Science Valley sees that PTC is not only in the layout of the integration from CAD to the Internet of Things, but also in the process of product design, simulation and optimization. , With the help of the Internet of Things platform, we are committed to creating a complete, closed, interactive process and environment between the reality and the virtual world. And all this is moving to the cloud!

(Editor in charge: admin)