For more information: keytech PLM Software

Interview: A Few Minutes With keytech PLM
During the course of this product review, I spoke to Mark Driscoll, Vice President, North America for keytech PLM Inc. about his company and his views on the PLM industry. Mark joined keytech PLM earlier this year, after having spent the past 10 years with SolidWorks Corporation. While there Mark managed the SolidWorks certification program and launched SolidWorks’ global OEM program. He has been involved in CAD for more than 20 years and is currently building the North American business for keytech PLM.

                            
      Mark Driscoll, Vice President, North America, keytech PLM Inc.

MCADCafe: Mark, can you briefly tell us what makes keytech PLM unique and sets it apart from the competition?
If I were to sum it up in three words they would be independent, focused and secure. You see, keytech PLM is independent in a number of ways; first, we are free from larger corporate bureaucracies that limit flexibility and a company’s ability to respond to the needs of customers. We are also financially independent and secure which allows us to invest in our future, both from a product and a staffing point of view.

When I talk about being focused, I mean that we are focused on PLM . . . period. We don’t focus on other products or systems. Product-wise, we are focused on PLM and that shows in the richness and reliability of our product. This also allows us to focus on our customers and ensuring that they have a data management system that allows them to realize the cost and time saving benefits of fully integrated PLM.

Finally, security is the minimum that you expect from your data management solution and keytech PLM provides that security, paying the utmost respect to the integrity of your data. And again, our financial independence adds to this security because our customers never have to worry about the focus that their PLM solution provider has.


MCADCafe: Can you discuss the relationship keytech PLM products have with its diverse line of services?
Of course our product and our service go hand in hand. BUT because our product is developed with customer success in mind, service is much easier to handle. The key for us is to make it easy to implement our product in the hundreds of varied customer environments we support. To do this we made it easy to migrate data and get into production quickly.

Both our product and our service adhere to the same philosophy, Think Big but Start Small. Having this focus on implementations allows us to stay focused on the immediate needs of customers while setting them up for the greater benefits of a fully integrated PLM solution.


MCADCafe: What have been the fundamental challenges to your customers’ success with 3D modeling and how has keytech PLM overcome these challenges?
Many of our customers tell us about the difficulty of getting their PLM system up and running. How difficult it was to migrate 3D CAD data, how difficult it was to map information correctly, how complex it was to roll out the software across the whole organization. Many of them complained about a lack of focus from their vendor and slow response in getting their fixes implemented.

With keytech PLM, customers realize the benefits of a one stop shop. We write the software and run it. We know how to integrate our software in to almost every production environment. Our product interfaces with dozens of ERP and CAD systems as well as the full suite of Microsoft products.

Our success lies in getting our product to fit into the customer’s process, not getting the customer to change their processes to fit our software.


MCADCafe: What are the main goals keytech PLM and your customers are seeking from 3D modeling and PLM?
Clearly efficient access to the correct data is the key. Our customers expect keytech PLM to be a bridge between the engineering data created by R&D or the other engineering groups and the other functional groups in the company such as purchasing, manufacturing, logistics, IT and even marketing.

Keytech PLM offers our customers the ability to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for. Customers trust us to provide the correct version, and trust us to maintain the integrity of the data. Beyond just data retrieval, we provide, workflow management, project planning and tracking, notifications of status changes and actions required, full and robust bill of materials management, management of standard parts, management of semi-finished parts, data management between internal users and external vendors and of course, bi-directional integration with some of the most popular ERP systems in the world.

MCADCafe: Can you discuss what we might expect to see from keytech PLM in the coming year?
We are really excited about the upcoming launch of keytech PLM Version 12. This release will feature an updated user interface and a number of new features.

We are a young and dynamic company and you can expect to see us and hear from us quite often.

MCADCafe: To sum up, what is your vision and strategy to maintaining and increasing the value of your company to your customers and other shareholders?
I come back to my original comments, Focus, Independence and Security. We are an independent PLM company that focuses ONLY on PLM, free from the distractions of other product missions and we provide security and peace of mind that our customer’s get the best product possible.

For more information, go to www.keytechplm.com.


The Week’s Top 5

At MCADCafé we track many things, including the stories that have attracted the most interest from our subscribers. Below are the five news items that were the most viewed during last week.


Autodesk, Inc. and Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. Settle Lawsuit
Autodesk and Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks agreed to settle a lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In the lawsuit, Autodesk’s allegations included that SolidWorks inappropriately used Autodesk’s trademarks AutoCAD and DWG. SolidWorks asserted counterclaims against Autodesk. To resolve the matter, Autodesk and SolidWorks have each agreed to dismiss all claims and have entered into a confidential settlement agreement. The lawsuit is Case No. 3:08-cv-04397-WHA, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Editor’s Note: More on this lawsuit and outcome next time.

TransMagic 64-Bit Shatters the Limits to Large CAD File Translation
TransMagic announced the first release of a 64-bit version of its flagship product, TransMagic EXPERT. Translating large 3D design files is a memory-intensive operation has traditionally been very challenging, primarily due to system memory restrictions. TransMagic 64-Bit changes large CAD file translation by solving this common problem. TransMagic reports that the new platform offers 10-20% better performance and an increase in file size capability. Translating multi-gigabyte files on a single computer is now possible with TransMagic 64-Bit. The new TransMagic 64-Bit release renders the 3GB memory limit of 32-bit applications obsolete for the purpose of translating large files. To translate a file in a standalone application the computer must simultaneously maintain both the source file and the target file in memory during the process until the translation is complete. This creates an upper limit on the file size capability of all 32-bit 3D translation products. With TransMagic’s 64-bit application, memory access and file size issues can be virtually unlimited.

Delcam adds Parasolid kernel to PowerSHAPE CAD software
Delcam has launched the first version of its PowerSHAPE CAD system to incorporate Parasolid software. The integration of Parasolid reinforces PowerSHAPE’s solid modelling capabilities, alongside its surface modeling capabilities developed over more than 30 years. The combination of the two technologies provides a solution for designers that undertake conceptual design with PowerSHAPE and for toolmakers that use imported data extensively for tooling design. PowerSHAPE 2010 provides comprehensive tools for creating valid Parasolid models from existing PowerSHAPE models and from data imported from systems that operate at lower precision than Parasolid. PowerSHAPE 2010 uses the checker mechanism in Parasolid to report any inconsistencies in the model when data is imported. It then offers a series of automatic and interactive strategies to adjust surfaces as necessary, using its extensive tools to create a valid Parasolid model.



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-- Jeff Rowe, MCADCafe.com Contributing Editor.