Are You Changing CAD

Tools?

What You Should Know

© Tech-Clarity, Inc. 2015

Table of Contents
Executive Overview ....................................................................... 3
Understand Business Needs for Design ........................................ *
What Drives a Change in CAD? ..................................................... *
Set Expectations for the Change .................................................... *
Identifying Top Performers ............................................................. *
Identify the Right CAD Solution ...................................................... *
Extend CAD .................................................................................... *
Conclusion ..................................................................................... 4
Recommendations ........................................................................ 4
About the Author ........................................................................... 5
About the Research ....................................................................... 5

*This summary is an abbreviated version of the report and does not contain the full
content. A link to download the full report is available on the Tech-Clarity website,
http://www.tech-clarity.com.

If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the report, please contact the author at
[email protected].

2 © Tech-Clarity, Inc. 2015

Executive Overview
If you are competing in today’s global economy, it is not easy. Significant global
competition plus pressure from new entrants and innovative start-ups make it difficult to
stand out. To improve competitiveness, Tech-Clarity’s study, Product Lifecycle
Management Beyond Managing CAD, finds companies have shifted focus from market
factors like time-to-market or cost to product-centric strategies. Design tools, especially
CAD, are key to executing these product strategies. With the right design tools,
companies are better positioned to quickly bring high-performing, high-quality,
innovative products to market. Companies looking to upgrade these tools to keep up with
competitors may want to consider switching CAD tools.

So what should you do if you find your CAD tool is holding you back? What if your
company needs to update CAD tools? Why would you consider a change? What should
you expect? Is it worth the time to convert archived data into a new format? Most
importantly, do the benefits outweigh potential risks?

Business reasons rather than problems with CAD tools

have become more influential when choosing a CAD tool.

Tech-Clarity surveyed 192 companies to answer these questions. While there are many
interesting findings, the most striking is that business reasons rather than problems with
CAD tools have become more influential when choosing a CAD tool and are motivating
factors behind the need to switch tools. Growing influencers include supply chains,
relationships, the vendor’s vision for design, and the CAD vendors’ full breadth of
offerings. This big picture view of CAD indicates higher levels of management make
buying decisions and they view CAD as a strategic piece of a larger product development
solution.

Management views CAD as a strategic piece of a larger

product development solution.

The biggest challenges of switching CAD tools are overcoming the learning curve and
reusing legacy data. However, not all legacy data needs to be converted and in fact,
companies only convert about half of it, 52%. Despite the efforts involved, companies
who have made a CAD change tend to be very happy. Eighty-three percent (83%) rate
their satisfaction a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 5.

Since implementing their current CAD tools, Top Performers have reduced
development time by 19%, development costs by15%, and the time to implement
an ECO by 16%, putting them at a significant competitive advantage.

3 © Tech-Clarity, Inc. 2015

The study also identified what successful companies look for. When selecting a new
CAD tool, Top Performers are more likely to consider ease of use, Technical Support,
software quality, and market share, which includes the size of the user community. Since
implementing their current CAD tools, Top Performers have reduced development time
by 19%, development costs by15%, and the time to implement ECOs (engineering
change orders) by 16%, putting them at a significant competitive advantage. They have
also been able to increase the number of design iterations by 17%, which leads to greater
innovation.

Conclusion
An increased focus on products can help companies as they struggle to compete in
today’s global economy. Quickly developing high-quality, innovative products more
economically helps companies differentiate and stand out from competitors. Investments
in the design process can help companies achieve this. CAD tools in particular, have a
significant impact on the design process. CAD has evolved significantly over the last
decade and those who find their existing tool no longer meets their needs or will not
support plans for growth, may want to consider switching CAD tools. In many cases,
companies have found a switch in CAD tools has had a very positive impact on their
business.

Top Performing companies are more likely to consider ease of use and support resources
when selecting a CAD tool. This contributes to their ability to realize even more value, in
less time, from their new solution.
Recommendations
Based on industry experience and research for this report, Tech-Clarity offers the
following recommendations:

• Understand the business goals of your design process and ensure your CAD tool
will support them. If not, consider a change.
• Consider other factors beyond the features and functions of the CAD tool, but also
the ability to collaborate with your supply chain, market share including available
community, the vendor’s vision, the relationship with the vendor, and the needs
for other supporting design tools
• Consider extended applications as part of the CAD solution such as embedded
simulation, PDM, technical communications, and support for electrical
components.
• Avoid overestimating requirements for training and loss of productivity by
considering ease of use as well as available resources such as Technical Support,
market share, and potential hiring pools.
• Convert only the legacy data you need. It is likely you will only need half of it.

4 © Tech-Clarity, Inc. 2015

About the Author
Michelle Boucher is the Vice President of Research for Engineering Software for
research firm Tech-Clarity. Michelle has spent over 20 years in various roles in
engineering, marketing, management, and as an analyst. She has broad experience
with topics such as product design, simulation, systems engineering, mechatronics,
embedded systems, PCB design, improving product performance, process improvement,
and mass customization. She graduated magna cum laude with an MBA from Babson
College and earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering, with distinction, from Worcester
Polytechnic Institute.

Michelle began her career holding various roles as a mechanical engineer at Pratt &
Whitney and KONA (now Synventive Molding Solutions). She then spent over 10 years
at PTC, a leading MCAD and PLM solution provider. While at PTC, she developed a
deep understanding of end user needs through roles in technical support, management,
and product marketing. She worked in technical marketing at Moldflow Corporation
(acquired by Autodesk), the market leader in injection molding simulation. Here she was
instrumental in developing product positioning and go-to-market messages. Michelle then
joined Aberdeen Group and covered product innovation, product development, and
engineering processes, eventually running the Product Innovation and Engineering
practice.

Michelle is an experienced researcher and author. She has benchmarked over 7000
product development professionals and published over 90 reports on product
development best practices. She focuses on helping companies manage the complexity of
today’s products, markets, design environments, and value chains to achieve higher
profitability.

About the Research

Tech-Clarity gathered and analyzed 192 responses to a web-based survey on designing
software-intensive products. Survey responses were gathered by direct e-mail, social
media, and online postings by Tech-Clarity.

The respondents were comprised of 42% who were individual contributors and 39% were
manager or director level, and the remaining 19% were from VP and executive levels.

The respondents represented a mix of company sizes, including 49% from smaller
companies (less than $250 million), 7% between $250 million and $1 billion, 13%
between $1 billion and $5 billion, and 11% greater than $5billion. 20% chose not to
disclose their company size or did not know. All company sizes were reported in US
dollar equivalent.

5 © Tech-Clarity, Inc. 2015

The responding companies were a good representation of the manufacturing industries,
including Industrial Equipment and Machinery (35%), Automotive (23%), Architecture,
Engineering, and Construction (20%), Aerospace and Defense (14%), Consumer
Products (14%), High-tech and Electronics (12%), and others. Note that these numbers
add up to greater than 100% because some companies indicated that they are active in
more than one industry.

The respondents reported doing business globally, with most companies doing business
in the North America (67%), about one-third doing business in Western Europe (34%),
about another one-third doing business in the Asia-Pacific regions (32%), Eastern Europe
(13%), and Latin America (10%).

Respondents included manufacturers as well as service providers and software

companies, but responses from those determined not to be end users of CAD software
(including software vendors and consultants) were not included in the analysis. The
majority of companies were considered to have direct involvement in designing and
developing products and the report reflects their experience.

6 © Tech-Clarity, Inc. 2015