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Ahh, part reuse, you’re an old problem. Aren’t you.

In the past two decades, many enterprise systems have sought to address part reuse. We’ve had supplier management systems. We’ve had part categorization systems. We’ve had shape-based search. Yet the problem seems to still persist. Engineers, pressed for time, create new CAD models and release them as part of new design projects. Part numbers proliferate. Opportunities for part number reduction sail by. Opportunities for larger volume discounts with suppliers slip away. The enterprise groans.

Was anyone surprised that Autodesk acquired Inforbix? Well, actually, I was. Not that I didn’t think that Inforbix would be acquired. They seemed to be gaining traction in the market. And frankly, with Oleg as a loud and prominent evangelist, the concept and message behind Inforbix was getting out.

It seems like in the last couple of years, we’ve seen a resurgence in startups in the engineering software space. Maybe it’s been necessity due to the economic recession. Maybe we’ve just had budding entrepreneurs waiting to do their thing. But with all these new startups, we’ve seen some new technologies and perspectives on engineering …

Inforbix: Access to Enterprise Information for the Engineer? Read More »