Solid Edge App Marketplace now online

The launch of the Solid Edge App Marketplace is a significant step on our path to make professional 3D CAD software for product development easier to access for students, inventors, start-ups and manufacturing companies around the world. In an earlier blog Managing design resources to meet customer needs I discussed how the introduction of monthly subscriptions for Solid Edge is giving manufacturers more flexibility in how they purchase and access professional 3D CAD software. These subscriptions are now available in 26 countries and are proving popular with both start-ups who need to minimize capital expenditure and larger manufacturers who need the flexibility to meet peaks and troughs in demand for design resources.

Recent research confirms that manufacturing companies are increasingly purchasing online. According to the 2014 UPS B2B Purchasing Insights Study  “63% of industrial supplies buyers purchase through websites, whether directly from suppliers or through a third-party provider … the reasons cited were factors related to speed, ease and convenience”. The report also states that 54% of industrial companies are spending more than half of their purchasing budget online, with 39% seeing this proportion growing over the next four years. This report focused on industrial goods (consumables, equipment etc.), but software is an even more natural fit for online purchasing as outlined by Michelle Boucher, Vice President of Tech-Clarity, Inc. “Embodying a modern online shopping experience, the Solid Edge App Marketplace connects customers and partners, reducing the cost of doing business. Overall, this announcement strengthens the value of being part of the Solid Edge community.”



The Solid Edge App Marketplace offers online review and purchase of a range of 3^rd party apps that meet the wide ranging requirements of our customers. The initial set of apps available today includes apps for technical publishing, kinematic and dynamic motion analysis, 3D plant and piping design, 2D piping and instrumentation diagramming (P&ID) and a revision cloud generator for AEC drawings. These apps are available to customers globally (subject to any restrictions from the individual software suppliers), and more apps will be added over time. Some of our software partners will offer a complete suite of their products, others will offer their entry level products online while using their traditional channels to offer their full suite of solutions.



For example, Quadrispace provides software that enables easy reuse of 3D CAD models for documentation and collaborative communication and is one of the first group of vendors to offer a solution on the Solid Edge App Marketplace. According to Brian Roberts, President of Quadrispace Corporation “The addition of a Solid Edge App Marketplace enables us to offer our low-cost Publisher3D PDF product directly to companies already using Solid Edge for CAD design … the marketplace provides immediate value in helping customers of all sizes to easily understand what complementary applications are available for improving their product development process.” And from Werner Heckl, CEO of CAD Partner GmbH, a provider of an integrated plant and piping design solution for Solid Edge, SMAP 3D “We are convinced that the Solid Edge Marketplace will benefit all involved as a win-win situation.”

Adding to the online purchase of monthly subscriptions of Solid Edge, the new Solid Edge App Marketplace gives our Solid Edge users faster, easier ways to access the software they need to speed their product development processes.