Article originally published in September 2008 on the Novedge Blog
Starting in 1995, as designers rapidly switched to SolidWorks, they began asking for software tools to manage all their design documents and models, fully integrated with SolidWorks and the Windows platform. Tools powerful enough to handle the dynamic, flexible processes typical of small and medium-sized companies.
Franco Folini
When SolidWorks was first released in 1995, it forever changed how design and manufacturing companies approach CAD software. Compared to the contemporary 3D modeling systems, Solidworks had a significantly lower price and was much easier to learn and use, with almost no compromise on features. This was a clear call for a new generation of PDM systems. As designers rapidly switched to SolidWorks, they began asking for new software tools to manage all their design documents and models, powerful enough to handle the dynamic, flexible processes typical of small and medium-sized companies. One company stood ready to meet this demand for a new-generation document management system. That company was MechWorks. Today, MechWorks software is used by thousands of designers and remains faithful to its original mission of delivering an affordable solution without compromising functionality. The people who envisioned this new generation of PDMs and delivered it to all SolidWorks and now Inventor users are Ciro Ettorre and Gaetano Tavano. Here is my interview with Gaetano Tavano.
The interview with Gaetano Tavano
Franco: Hi, Gaetano! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?
Gaetano: MechWorks was incorporated in 1998 to develop add-ins for SolidWorks with the scope of porting our legacy CAD/CAM product. We soon realized the total lack of document management and, based on our previous experience, decided that a database-based document manager was needed.
We started developing DBWorks alongside the porting of our 3-axis CAM software. 2 years later, we decided to focus entirely on Document Management and sold our CAM product business. Today, more than 12,000 designers benefit from DBWorks/DBInventor Data Management.
More than 12000 designers are benefiting from DBWorks/DBInventor.
Gaetano Tavano
Franco: Document Management, more than any other software category, has to strike a balance between simplicity and features. How do you handle this intrinsic dilemma at MechWorks?
Gaetano: In the past, we have seen the slogan “Out of the Box” used extensively by some PDM vendors. It was needed to reassure the customer that the software could be used right after installation. This was misleading.
By its nature, the PDM implementation requires a deep understanding of the company’s processes and is therefore tailored to the company’s needs. The PDM system must offer a blend of basic functionality and a comprehensive API toolbox to make this happen in weeks, not months or years. In DBWorks, we try to accomplish this by offering a very rich set of options, giving the user the possibility to add /remove specific functionality.
In the past, we have seen the slogan “Out of the Box” used extensively by some PDM vendors. The concept of “Out of the Box” PDM is misleading.
Gaetano Tavano
Franco: Many PDM solutions force companies into rigid processes, leaving little room for flexibility. How important is flexibility for your customers, and how can it be implemented with DbWorks and DbInventor?
Gaetano: Our European customers place greater importance on flexibility than our US customers do. To accomplish this, the DBWorks and DBInventor APIs can override certain restrictions and handle the “special case” in the implementation.
Franco: You have been working with SolidWorks for many years. In the meantime, SolidWorks and parametric feature-based technology have become almost mainstream. How has the way people use SolidWorks changed through the years?
Gaetano: The most fundamental change we have seen over the years is that companies want to model their entire product in 3D. Initially, only portions of the product were modeled in 3D due to performance issues and software limitations.
Today, software limitations are easing, but we still see performance issues that limit the size of complete machinery that can be managed on today’s hardware. Of course, the more complex the machinery modeled, the more challenging it is for the PDM system. At the very end, it looks like performance is never enough.
Today the software limitations are falling quickly, but we still see performance issues.
Gaetano Tavano
Franco: How critical is a product like DbWorks to companies deciding to adopt SolidWorks as their main CAD system?
Gaetano: The choice of the PDM system that will rule the CAD implementation and product development is becoming a very important factor for all companies. While in the past the CAD system was chosen first and the PDM afterward, it has become clear that you must consider the PDM from the beginning.
As a result, many PDM implementations are underway in companies that have worked with the CAD system for years, to the point where product development became unmanageable. On the other hand, starting with the PDM may slow 3D CAD adoption at first, but it offers a long-term advantage.
Many PDM implementations are taking place in companies that have worked with the CAD system for years up to the point where product development was not manageable anymore.
Gaetano Tavano
Franco: Your products offer an extensive API to support customization and integration. Can you share with us some of the most unexpected uses of API done by your customers?
Gaetano: The ability to define relationships between documents and projects, independent from the 3D CAD documents, has been used by our customers to model their product structures in DBWorks/DBInventor from various perspectives. An interesting application of this has been the definition of spare parts kits, which are logical, generic containers for 3D CAD documents. Also, a customer managing URLs as documents was quite unusual but very effective.
Franco: How is the US market for Document Management different from that of Europe?
Gaetano: We see major differences between the two markets. Part is due to the fact that the US market is composed of bigger companies and that they are geographically present in more than one state so global collaboration is more a requirement.
The other difference is a higher level of formal product process definition in the US. Workflow is much more adopted in the US than in Europe. Partially, this depends on company size, but also on mentality. I also think that European users are more open to evaluating solutions and less marketing-driven than US users.
In the US there is a higher level of formal product process definition. Workflow is much more adopted in the US than in Europe.
Gaetano Tavano
I would like to thank Gaetano Tavano for taking the time to answer my questions.
