Stephen Hooper, Autodesk’s senior director of Manufacturing Business Strategy and Marketing was on the phone writes Roopider Hara for Engineering.com.
Autodesk will be throwing simulation and CAM into Inventor—not just any simulation, but NASTRAN, which was previously trying to sell for $3,500. And Autodesk is not charging a penny more than what it was already charging for Inventor. HSMworks will also be included.
From the speed of an online demo, it’s hard to tell how it will all work together but the potential of all this functionality in the box is enormous. The CAD, CAM and CAE, all working inside a single interface of Inventor, not only elevates the mainstream MCAD modeler Inventor back to star status at Autodesk, it raises it a level above ordinary MCAD from the competition. The mechanical designer or engineer is now empowered to do simulation and to send models to the CNC machine. They don’t have to purchase a CAM application, learn a whole new interface or be at the mercy of a machinist.
Don’t let on yet, Stephen says during the call last week. Autodesk is going to make a surprise announcement. And a surprise it will be. Many Inventor users have been bemoaning the lack of new capability in Inventor for a few years. Autodesk itself has been forecasting a cessation of the Inventor product line, with the idea that a tired desktop app would give way to cloud-based Fusion. They have been feeling left out and left behind, as a modern, cloud-based, mobile-device-friendly Fusion products have taken the spotlight.
This changes everything.
Pricing and Other Details
It's not a pricing story, says Stephen, but he still recognizes the importance of pricing.
Incredulous at what appears to be a grand giveaway, in which the products are included with an Inventor subscription, I have to press.
“Stephen, I can’t believe you are selling Inventor for the same price as ever, but, now, also adding NASTRAN and HSM. Really? No additional cost?”
“Believe it,” says Stephen.
Also announced is a change in the name of the “collections,” or what was previously called “product suites.”
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| An engineering.com release || August 9, 2017 |||
