Today, more than two-thirds of SMBs – small and medium businesses - are designing products in 3D and that number grows each day. But what is the reason for the switch to 3D and what are the challenges?
 According to a 2008 report by the Aberdeen Group, SMBs are reporting that 3D CAD dramatically reduces product development time. In fact, companies using 3D report 21% profit margins than companies using 2D CAD.
However, the migration to 3D can mean a major business task and this may be even more true in the SMB space where resources are often shorter than in larger companies. Thus, it is vital that the migration process will be as smooth as possible and this, of course, depends largely on the 3D application that is being selected.
Ease of use is a major factor: You certainly don’t want your engineers spend weeks on learning the new application while your development is on hold. Does the system offer all functionality you require or will you be forced to add – maybe costly - 3rd party applications later? This and many other questions are being addressed in a new online portal.
PTC has recently launched an Online Resource Center dedicated specifically at the 3D requirements of SMB businesses. There, you can find independent research related to the topic as well as massive amount of first-hand reports from SMB designers who have already undergone the move to 3D.
A highlight among these is maybe the “Five Things You Should Know About 3D CAD Software” feature article. Did you know, for example, that the average engineer spends 60-80% of his daily time on changing existing designs instead of creating new ones? So what capabilities should 3D CAD offer to make these changes less time-consuming?
Take a look at the SMB Resource Center here – all content is free of charge. “Moving from 2D design with AutoCAD® to 3D design with
Pro/ENGINEER sped up our development times by 80%.”
David Barbour, Re-Process Technologies, South Africa
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