understanding catia packaging

Understanding CATIA packaging http://www.newslettersonline.com/user/user.fas/s=63/fp=3...

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Understanding CATIA packaging

May 15, 2003 -- Dassault Systèmes’ CATIA software line is divided into a complexarray of products and packages that potential new customers may find bewildering.This article explains how the scheme is supposed to work and why it can createunexpected costs for buyers.

In CATIA parlance, a product is not necessarily a piece of software capable ofworking independently. Nor must it provide a solution to a particular class of designor manufacturing problems. A product is simply a software module that requires aseparate license and for which IBM Corporation, the sole sales agent for CATIA,levies an additional charge.

To simplify distribution, IBM sells CATIA products in packages with other softwareproducts. Such packages (also called configurations) typically make up a fairlycomplete set of tools for a particular activity. For instance, the Styled Mechanical Design 2 configuration of CATIA version five contains 14 separate softwareproducts for design and drafting of products that incorporate free-form surfaces. Some of these are the Freestyle Shaper, Assembly Design 2, Generative Drafting 2,Generative Shape Optimizer, and Healing Assistant 1.

Dassault Systèmes is not alone in bundling an array of products into packages.Parametric Technology also has separate product codes and prices for a variety ofPro/Engineer modules that it groups into application-specific packages and sells at adiscount.

Platform portfolios

To further confuse potential customers, Dassault Systèmes groups CATIA V5products into three classes. So-called “platform 1” (P1) products (designated by anumber one at the end of the product or package name) are intended for small ormedium-sized organizations.


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What Dassault calls P2 products, which make up the largest number, are intended forCATIA’s core customer base of large aircraft and automobile makers. A number twofollowing the product name indicates P2 products. P2 products and packagesgenerally have more sophisticated functions than P1 software. They also cost more.

Platform 3 products are specialized applications for high-value niches. Examplesinclude the Automotive Class A 3 product for creating visible surfaces of car bodiesand Automotive Body-in-White Fastening 3 for designing welded joints in vehicleunibodies.

CATIA’s platform designations are unique among the leading high-priced CADsoftware. Neither Pro/Engineer nor Unigraphics segment individual products intofully functional and junior varieties.

Method to the madness

There’s an underlying logic to Dassault Systèmes’ seemingly uncontrolledexpansion of the number of CATIA products. If Dassault were to add capabilities toexisting CATIA products instead of creating new ones, it would not be able tocharge additional license fees for the new functions. For example, if DassaultSystèmes had added feature recognition to CATIA Part Design 1 and 2, it wouldnot be able to charge maintenance-paying customers extra for this capability.However, by creating a separate product, it can do so.

Customers who purchase P1 applications may need to pay extra to obtain functionsthat are included in the equivalent platform two product. For example, buyers ofCATIA Generative Drafting 1 who want to make drawings of CATIA V4 modelsmust upgrade their licenses to CATIA Generative Drafting 2.

One customer told us that Dassault Systèmes charged his company $6,000 for aCATIA STEP translator because it wasn’t included in the packages the firm hadbought previously. And firms upgrading from CATIA version four to version fivemay find that there is no upgrade path for some of their V4 packages. This meansthey need to buy additional product licenses to obtain needed V5 functions.

Disadvantages for customers

The complex packaging strategies pursued by Dassault Systèmes (and otherhigh-priced CAD firms) may not be a burden on large companies that employspecialized workers for a variety of tasks. For instance, much money can be saved bynot buying drafting licenses for designers who work only in three-D. Conversely,drafters who just make drawings of three-D models don’t need full three-D design ordata-translation software.

For mid-sized organizations, however, CATIA’s complex packaging makes accuratebudgeting difficult. Customers can’t figure out in advance which products and


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configurations they need to get their work done. When new products are released,managers won’t know whether new functions they may need will be covered bymaintenance contracts or whether they must budget for additional licensing fees toobtain them.

In contrast, buyers of mid-range products, such as SolidWorks or Solid Edge, areassured that functional improvements to their basic design, drafting, anddata-translation capabilities will be supplied for a predictable annual license fee. Forexample, when EDS added extensive surface-modeling capabilities to Solid Edgeversion 14 (see “Solid Edge reaches for industrial designers”), EDS didn’t try tomake a separate product of these functions even though not every Solid Edgecustomer needs them.

CATIA marketing executives could simplify the product line by 40 percent byeliminating the platform 1 products. Mid-sized organizations don’t necessarily needdumbed-down software. Indeed, many relatively small makers of tooling andspecialty equipment have sophisticated engineering needs.

Firms that pay premium prices for CATIA deserve the best engineering softwareDassault Systèmes can make. The cost of distributing new software functions, oncethey have been developed and tested, is free. There are no incremental material orshipping costs. Indeed the cost of selling and supporting a stripped-down product isarguably greater than the cost of providing all customers with the same high qualitysoftware.

understanding catia packaging

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