With an experience of more than thirteen years in the IT industry, Ved
Narayan, controls the reins as vice president of Asia Pacific operations of
Dassault Systmes SolidWorks. He has chalked out ambitious plans for the company
to take it to a new horizon. In a tte--tte with Dataquest, Narayan throws
light on the companys recent achievements, and its future plans, for India in
paricular. Excerpts
As the leading innovator in the field of 3D CAD technology, what has
ensured that your company stays ahead in the race?
Our ability to stay ahead in the race can be attributed to numerous factors.
First, we have been able to gauge what our customers need, and then provide
services in accordance to their needs. Secondly, our ability to constantly
innovate has enabled our customers to stay ahead. Thirdly, another plus point
has been our ability to incorporate a significant amount of our customers
suggestions in each release. For example, the recently introduced SolidWorks
2010, in which more than 200 new enhancements have been included. Approximately
more than 90% of these enhancements were directly requested by customers.
How would you describe the importance of 3D CAD in the current business
ecosystem?
Today 3D CAD is very much the pivotal point of a design-to-manufacture project.
The various benefits offered by 3D CAD have made it an integral part of the
whole design process. With many aces up its sleeve, some of the key benefits
offered by 3D CAD are that it increases speed of the product design process. It
also enables design changes to be made on the fly, maximizes the value of
product data, and offers a single model for all parties. Apart from the above
mentioned benefits, it also enhances viewing capabilities, enables to discard
printing and prototyping, and allows the use of allied technologies like
simulation, environment testing, and documentation. Last but not the least, it
enables to easily design large and complex assemblies, and also easily design
curves.
Ved Narayan, VP, Asia Pacific operations, Dassault Systmes SolidWorks |
The companys 1,000,000th license was shipped in April 2009. Any comments?
This is a landmark achievement for us, and we are very excited about this
milestone, and express our gratitude to every customer who has helped us move
closer towards it. This is a symbol of our customers trust, signifying the
success they have been able to achieve in their enterprises by using our
services. We see a future with some exciting possibilities for us. It was the
Utah based extreme sports gear designer, OGIO International, that bought the 1
mn license number for aluminum design engineerSean Petersonwho is working on
OGIOs new line of motocross racing accessories. Peterson will use SolidWorks
software to design products such as ramps, stands, and hardware for motocross
bikes. OGIO is famous for designing creative and edgy athletic bags with
innovative features like zipper-less ball pocket on its golf bags. The companys
designers use SolidWorks software to model injection-molded plastic pieces such
as carrying handles, wheels, and golf bag frames.
Could you elaborate more on your companys role with Design that Matters
in creating a low-cost and low-maintenance incubator for the developing world?
Design that Matters (DtM), the non-profit social development organization
has designed a low-cost infant incubator not for production, but to prove that
its possible to create affordable, low-maintenance incubators for the
third-world countries. For this purpose, DtM used SolidWorks CAD software as the
design platform to bring together a national team of fifty professional
engineers and engineering students from MIT, the Rhode Island School of Design,
Stanford University, and Arizona State University. DtM challenged the team to
design an incubator from automotive components, because they are available even
in the poorest regions of the world.
The thought behind the incubator project was to demonstrate to manufacturers
and donors that it is possible to build an incubator for less than $1,000,
compared to the $30,000 that a typical commercial unit costs. Access to
incubators sharply reduces infant mortality, but regions that need incubators
the most, are also the least able to buy and maintain them. On studying the
circumstances, DtM realized it was a combination of acquisition cost,
maintenance cost, and availability of maintenance skills that made an incubator
a rarity, and not just what it took to keep a baby warm. Cars and trucks are
everywhere, so they decided to take advantage of that supply chain and local car
repair resources to make a better incubator for those regions.
DtMs biggest challenges were adapting automotive parts to a new purpose and
fitting the components into a form factor small enough to transport to remote
locations. The engineers and students modified parts and designed assemblies in
SolidWorks. Then, they distributed the 3D models over email to each other and to
DtM.
SolidWorks was a logical choice for a standard design platform because its
widely used in professional and educational settings, and its easy to learn and
use. DtM reconciled the teams contributions into a final design, then
demonstrated it to potential users. SolidWorks enabled DtM to show the incubator
design to potential users all over the world without the expense of transporting
a physical prototype.
In addition to the incubator, DtM has developed other products for medical,
economic, and social needs in the developing world. They include an intravenous
drip controller, ATM cards for third-world micro credit projects. The incubator
project is an example of product design reaching past economics to address
persistent social problems, in this case, the third-worlds infant mortality.
What are the R&D activities your company plans to carry out in India?
Our R&D operations in India are carried out through Geometric Software based
in Pune. We have a team of over seventy professionals there. The team in Pune
plays a key role in SolidWorks global product development program.
What are your future plans for India? Which are the areas where you see an
opportunity for your company?
India is a very critical location for us, both from R&D and sales aspect. We
will continue to grow these teams to meet the requirements of the market here,
in addition to expanding our VAR network.
Is there any other information that you would like to share?.
It is interesting to note that as a part of the SolidWorks 2010, we have
introduced SolidWorks Sustainability. SolidWorks Sustainability software for the
first time. The software helps users determine the carbon footprint, energy
consumption, and air/water impacts in a product designs raw material sourcing,
manufacture, use, and disposal. An assembly visualization tool color-codes
parts, based on their total environmental impact. Configuration support in the
software also lets users compare multiple design iterations for sustainability
concerns. Included with every license of SolidWorks software, SolidWorks
SustainabilityXpress helps users immediately determine the environmental impact
of any part. SolidWorks Sustainability products include an environmental impact
dashboard, customizable reports, and a tool to find alternative materials to
easily compare and instantly improve the sustainability of a part. Both
SolidWorks Sustainability and SolidWorks SustainabilityXpress draw on the
expertise, research, development, and data of Germany based partner PE
INTERNATIONAL, the largest and oldest network of sustainability experts in the
world, and PE Americas, its US division. Together, the new products give
SolidWorks community a way to make a significant collective impact on the
environment by incrementally improving every design.
Shilpa Shanbhag
shilpas@cybermedia.co.in