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SolidWorks, an arm of the French firm Dassault Systems, has made its 2D designing software solution (CAD or computer-aided design) available for free for manufacturing, engineering and infrastructure companies and the academic community.
The move is interesting because SolidWorks only believed in the 3D story of designing. In fact, that is its strong point. But then why is it promoting 2D design software by giving it gratis?
Growth rate
“We will be able to reach out to the big design community in India that is largely dominated by 2D. While giving it for free, we will be able to reach out to them and persuade them to move on to 3D by spending the saved amount,” Mr Manoj Mehta, Country Manager (India and SAARC) of SolidWorks, told Business Line on the sidelines of the four-day SolidWorks World 2011 recently.
“The CAD industry is witnessing a growth rate of 35 per cent in 3D segment. At present, about 70 per cent of CAD users depend on 2D, while the remaining 30 per cent use 3D,” he said
Though the company started offering downloads (from its 3D Web site) from September globally, it has recently begun a drive in India to push the free-to-download initiative in January 2011 just around the time when it announced a revamp of its operations.
An analyst, who didn't want to be identified, commented that this could be a ploy to kill competition. “By giving it free, they can easily outwit those who are leaders in 2D, paving the way for itself,” he commented.
Mr Ved Narayan Vice-President (Asia-Pacific Operations, however, discounted this argument. “The move will help us in building bridges with a large untapped pool of 2D users,” he said.
Organisational structure
Meanwhile, the company has revamped its organisational structure in the country by creating four zones – North, East, South-West and West.
The next edition of SolidWorks conference would be held in San Diego (the US) from February 12 to 15, 2012.
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