Article originally published on the Novedge Blog
Something must be right for jewelry design in Spain. Not only are several jewelry designers active in Spain, but Spain is also the source of some of the best and most popular software tools for jewelry design. Among those tools, RhinoGold stands out as a reference point, setting standards both for features and customer support. The manufacturer of RhinoGold is TDM Solutions, a young company founded and led by Rafael del Molino. I interviewed Rafael to better understand how RhinoGold is developed and sold worldwide.
Rafael, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company?
TDM is working over 25 countries with more than 75 resellers
About myself. Since I was in university, I worked in engineering, specializing in the automobile industry. Sometime later, I found TDM Solutions to help me apply my CAD/CAM knowledge in companies. Since then, TDM Solutions has been an official distributor, training center, and developer of Rhino-based applications.
Nowadays, TDM is working in over 25 countries with more than 75 resellers. Developer of design and manufacturing applications, enhancing RhinoGold and other Rhino plug-ins such as RhinoMold, RhinoNest, and RhinoShoe.
What are the major reasons jewelry designers choose RhinoGold?
the designer finds confidence and security in our software and therefore chooses it
It is no secret that a product works in a combination of factors. First of all, without any doubt, we must offer a quality product. A product that truly meets the customer and helps/improves their work.
But, this is not the only requirement. This is not about selling a quality product and making a profit. We must provide a post-service. From TDM Solutions, we provide personalized support by responding to their problems and concerns within 48 hours via our forum, e-mail, phone, or by connecting directly to their computers. In addition, we offer this service even before the customer buys the product, meaning that when designers use our 30-day evaluation version on our website.
On these grounds, the designer/client finds confidence and security in our software and therefore chooses it.
What are the benefits for a company such as TDM to create software programs as plug-ins for Rhino rather than standalone applications?
our client can start working with our software even the first day
Rhino is a software with thousands and thousands of users across many areas. Creating plug-ins allows us to specify and thus improve Rhino’s capabilities in each sector. Furthermore, our software’s learning time is shorter, given that the buyer already knows (or wants to know) how to use Rhino. Our client can start working with our software on the first day.
Nowadays, RhinoGold can be considered standalone software, with its own interface, and allows the designer to use only the jewelry tools.
Which new technologies from the Rhino platform (e.g., GrassHopper, T-Splines, etc.) will benefit TDM products and their users?
we have had some conversations to implement some of our products in other platforms
Well, right now, RhinoNest and GrassHopper are working together with a program called D.O.F., for architecture… very interesting. Furthermore, we have had some conversations to implement some of our products on other platforms, and we are working on it. So far, I cannot talk that much about that, we will see in the next months how it runs.
In your experience, what are the major differences between the US and the European market for your products?
our customers are designers, so, they are different one from the other
Honestly, our customers are designers, so they are all different. They are creative; it doesn’t matter if it’s European, American, or Asian. Maybe some prefer rings to bracelets, and others a specific pendant, but all they need are different tools, or at least, they use the tools in different ways.
Fortunately, RhinoGold offers such a wide variety of tools, so, so far, we have been successful in all the markets. Hopefully!
How do you involve and engage the jewelry designer community in the product development of new releases?
using RhinoGold, designers can spend more time in the creative part of the work
Goldsmiths must adapt to new technologies to be more efficient and effective in their business (for example, offering a better, faster, and clearer service to their customers). There are other sectors that, some years ago, no one thought about implementing software in the business, and now those sectors cannot run without it.
We firmly believe that using RhinoGold, designers can spend more time on the creative part of the work (which we guess is the preferred one) and complete the tough ones faster.
What kind of feedback from your customers and beta testing do you value the most, and how do you incorporate that feedback back into new versions and products?
we are continuously improving our software
Any feedback is very welcome. Everything helps to improve our software. We are continuously improving our software. For example, this week we have released a new Service for RhinoGold 2.0.
Also, we have RhinoGold labs. On our website and Forum, users can share their opinions and post ideas. And, since the moment the user posts it, our developer team starts working on these ideas. We have launched RhinoGold 2.0, but we already know, and we are working on some new ideas for the next version.
I would like to thank Rafael for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Rafael or for Novedge, please leave a comment below, and we will be glad to answer.
Franco Folini