Autodesk frames global vision for design software industry

Namratha Jagtap

SAN FRANCISCO: Carl Bass, president and chief executive officer of Autodesk, Inc., outlined the company’s strategic direction at its World Press Day event, and articulated his vision of a fundamental transformation in the design process to encompass performance, aesthetics and user experience.

Addressing scores of attending media and analysts from around the world, Bass detailed the major global factors impacting design and laid out Autodesk’s intention to help companies redefine design processes to spur innovation and achieve competitive advantage. With state-of-the-art 2D and 3D design technologies, Autodesk plans to empower customers in diverse industries around the world to experience, change and improve their ideas early in the design process, and save time and money, improve quality and increase innovation.

“In a world where globalization is constantly expanding the range of choices available to consumers, great design has become a way to stand out from the crowd,” said Bass. “Fortunately for Autodesk, there has never been a better time to be a leader in the design software category. Autodesk is on a mission to democratize this powerful ability to experience ideas before they're real, with 2D and 3D design tools that help customers of all sizes, shapes, locations and industries to fully leverage the power of design innovation.”

Design innovation demands more than aesthetics

Bass identified five major global forces that exert great pressure on companies to innovate as well as address social and environmental issues. Emerging economies; a boom in worldwide infrastructure, from highways to utility lines; the rise of the middle classes in nations such as China; the necessity for sustainable design; and the advent of technology and “digital” lifestyles have raised the stakes for success, requiring companies to innovate in order to remain competitive and profitable.

Bass observed that as a result, Autodesk customers are rethinking the design process in order to understand the information implied by the geometry of a drawing, namely, the function and user’s likely experience of a design. Citing examples from leading customer work, Bass explained how early insight into user experience has helped companies gain an edge in bringing successful concepts to market.

“In order to experience ideas before they are real, companies must envision not only how an idea will look, but also how it will work in the real world. Autodesk is equipping customers to do exactly that with advanced 3D design technologies for the creation of fully functional digital prototypes, which in turn allow companies to visualize, simulate and analyze the real-world performance of concepts. This integrated environment lets customers not only see but also experience their ideas before they actually create anything, and take proactive steps to change designs and uphold sustainable design principles,” Bass said.

By making changes early in the development process, companies reap the benefits of design innovation — namely, cost-effectiveness, efficiency, faster time to market, better quality and performance — that add up to competitive advantage in a fast-changing global economy.

HOK, Palumbo Motorcar experience ideas before they are real

Global architecture and engineering firm HOK and Palumbo Motorcar, a new concept car design and manufacturing company, were among the customers who joined Bass to explain how they are taking advantage of building digital prototypes for increased productivity and competitive advantage.

In the building sector, the architecture, engineering and construction disciplines are improving efficiency and client satisfaction by using building information modeling (BIM) to create digital prototypes of buildings. Patrick MacLeamy, CEO of HOK, discussed how HOK has aggressively adopted Revit, Autodesk’s BIM platform, throughout the firm and is using Autodesk software including Revit, 3ds Max and Autodesk VIZ for building design, engineering and visualization. For HOK teams, the Revit platform enables integrated practice – which allows architects, engineers, designers and contractors to design and estimate the cost of construction using digital prototypes and fine-tune ideas to improve the building and stay within budget, rather than having to cut costs after the fact or during construction. Revit is also a critical component to HOK’s sustainable design practice and the firm’s efforts to address worldwide resource conservation. HOK, the world’s largest architecture firm, is renowned for buildings including the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Jason and Joe Palumbo explained how Palumbo Motorcar is poised to take advantage of the market growth of hybrid vehicles and the high-performance sports car market, estimated to be a $3 billion opportunity. The company is designing the Palumbo M-80 concept car that has a hybrid gas-electric drive train built to deliver speed and acceleration with outstanding fuel economy and minimal environmental impact. Using Autodesk Inventor software and Autodesk AliasStudio software to create digital prototypes, Palumbo Motorcar engineers have reduced the design stage of prototyping by nearly 75 percent, speeding time to production.

The ability to anticipate user experience has powerful implications for those areas of excellence that are the hallmarks of the world’s top innovators. According to global strategy and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, the most successful companies in its Global Innovation 1000 index are those that show strong capabilities across four key areas: ideation, project selection, product development and commercialization (“A Select Set of Companies Sustain Superior Financial Performance While Spending Less on R&D Than Their Competitors,” November 13, 2006). With the tools for visualization, analysis and simulation, innovative companies can accelerate decisions in each of these functions to save costs and speed great ideas to market.

(This correspondent is in San Francisco on Autodesk invitation)

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