CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

25 November 2005

Product News

Creating Advanced Integrated Applications Compatible With All Major CAD Programs

Missler Software is ranked the number two CAD/CAM supplier in France and is one of the top 10 suppliers worldwide. Today, more than 8,000 customers use Missler Software and approximately 60 percent of all licenses are sold internationally. The company employs 210 people and runs four development centers. Missler Software resellers (more than 70 worldwide) are located in Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South America.

Missler Software provides an integrated software solution for product design, manufacturing and data management. Its product lines include TopSolid, TopManufacturing and GOelan. An important factor in Missler Software's success has been its broad line of vertical applications (for mold tool design, CAM, wood design,, progressive design, sheet metal applications and so on). Missler Software's developers work constantly to ensure that these applications deliver leading-edge functionality. In addition, Missler Software must ensure that its software is compatible with all leading CAD programs. It also needs to permit customers who purchase the GOelan product line to upgrade to TopSolid with no loss of legacy data.

Missler Software has been using Parasolid as the geometry engine for its CAD/CAM applications since 1994. Recently, in a periodic reexamination of its technology infrastructure, the company compared Parasolid against all other leading geometry engines in a benchmarking effort that lasted six months. The evaluation committee also considered whether or not it would be better to develop 3D modeling capabilities in house.

At the completion of the benchmark, Parasolid emerged as the clear leader over its competitors and Missler Software made a long-term commitment to continue using Parasolid as the 3D geometry foundation for its all of its applications. According to Christian Arber, managing director, Missler Software, there were several areas where Parasolid stood out. One was the critical area of product quality, which includes both the fact that Parasolid always incorporates the latest modeling advances as well as its robustness and reliability. Another aspect of Parasolid that appealed to Missler Software is how open it is to developers. "UGS opens the entire body of the geometric modeler and publishes the numerical data, which is an advantage for us compared to its competitors," Arber says.

The broad industry acceptance of Parasolid, now exceeding 1.5 million users, and the fact that it is known and trusted all over the world, were other factors in its favor. "When we say our kernel is Parasolid, people know it's the de facto standard," says Dominique Laffret, vice president of international sales at Missler Software. "It's a strong part of our sales presentation." Arber adds: "Geometric compatibility is important to our customers. They are conscious of Parasolid's proven compatibility so that is a selling point, too."

Another factor behind the continued vote of confidence in Parasolid is the consistently positive experience Missler Software has enjoyed with UGS as a vendor. The technical support has been very good, according to Arber. And as Laffret says, "There is a stable company behind Parasolid. UGS is not going to disappear tomorrow."

UGS is also continually improving Parasolid, which is important because "that means we always have the latest in modeling technology," says Laffret. "That is important to our customers." And UGS is responsive to Missler Software's requests for enhancements to the kernel. "We put out improvement requests and they usually come out in the subsequent release," Laffret adds.

Parasolid is able to support the breadth of Missler Software's vertical applications, giving the company the economy and simplicity of using one geometric modeler for all its applications. The Parasolid foundation benefits Missler Software's customers as well because they get continual advancements in their applications. "The time we don't spend developing the kernel can be focused on developing the added value applications our customers need," says Laffret. "Parasolid lets us develop vertical applications faster and get enhancements to market sooner. And of course, we still have compatibility with existing software."

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