Dassault Systèmes Acquires Trace Software’s elecworks; Introduces 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS

Dassault Systèmes, with headquarters in France, the US, and offices around the globe has recently announced the acquisition of TraceSoftware’s elecworks (at the center of SOLIDWORKS electrical applications)  and now announces the creation and introduction of 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS. The two elements will complement one another as the Dassault Systèmes team continues to assist clients with electrical design—with 21 professionals joining in via the elecworks acquisition.

elecworks (Image: TraceSoftware)

As the transfer closes by March of this year, Dassault Systèmes will acquire 100 percent of elecworks, to include the following functional elements of the software:

• Electrical design
• Automated product line
• Intellectual property

The electrical software allows users to engage in schematic design, control panel design, and small-wiring capabilities. Included in the elecworks deal, Dassault Systèmes will also now own a library that holds over 500,000 electric symbols and data for design components.

“As the demand for smart products grows, Dassault Systèmes is ready to serve the needs of SOLIDWORKS users by integrating methods that will streamline mechatronics design and help them leverage the benefits of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform,” said Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systèmes.  “The elecworks development team brings skills that have already contributed to the success of SOLIDWORKS Electrical applications. We welcome them as we gain the opportunity through our acquisition of the elecworks assets to better address an estimated $400 million market of small and midsized businesses that are innovating in today’s Industry Renaissance.”

With these recent acquisitions, companies like Dassault Systèmes are further poised to delve into the ‘internet of experiences,’ defined in their press release as the bevy of ‘the smart and autonomous experiences that are digitally connecting products, nature and life in the physical world.’ Doing so means innovating to add features like sensors and controls into smart products—and the bottom line as they move forward is to make sure that electric design for their clients is streamlined and problem-free so that product development is successful. Elect will promote such ambitions in further development of electrical applications with SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE.

“Thousands of SOLIDWORKS users seeking to adopt affordable electrical design applications for the digital transformation of their electrical design process will thus benefit from electrical drawing and documentation development, database-driven design, improved schematic-to-3D workflows, and design change management,” states the Dassault Systèmes team in their press release, including that Trace Software International has been a SOLIDWORKS applications partner since 1997, becoming a strategic partner in 2012 with SOLIDWORKS Electrical applications.

(Photo Image: Dassault Systèmes)

With the introduction of 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS at SOLIDWORKS World 2019, Dassault Systèmes brings forth a portfolio of industry applications meant for SOLIDWORKS customers, along with other companies from small to midsized in need of design, simulation, and manufacturing (enterprise resource planning) ERP capabilities. 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS is meant to expand further on user-friendliness and simplicity for SOLIDWORKS, and was created on the heels of another acquisition, IQMS, which has since been rebranded DELMIAWORKS.

“Small and midsized firms worldwide need digital solutions to grow but have long been challenged to find ones that are right for their size.  By introducing 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS, we bring the platform effect to them,” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes.  “We see the benefit the 3DEXPERIENCE platform has quickly brought to designers using SOLIDWORKS to expand their business. The 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS family now includes DELMIAWORKS to serve mainstream manufacturers by providing a full digital thread for business operations. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform is poised to become the benchmark for business operations in this category of firms through well integrated offerings spanning manufacturing and management that are simple, affordable and easy to implement.”

Dassault Systèmes began discussing the potential of the 3DEXPERIENCE marketplace last year, along with the acquisition of IQMS to extend the platform to smaller manufacturers. Dassault’s integration of these various complementary products into a suite of applications would seem to be a great move making it easier for integrated applications to work together. With so many applications and integrations relying on one single platform however the company is focusing its risk on 3DEXPERIENCE. Any issues with reliability, uptime, integration, security, safety or price may cost it very dearly in the future. From a branding perspective this integration may make it more difficult for people to understand the company’s offering and capabilities.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.