Eh? "CADkey" Become SolidWorks Developer

Kubotek USA makes KeyCreator (formerly CADKEY) software, and last week revealed it joined SolidWorks' Solution Partner program. That's kind of like Pro/E joing Autodesk's developer program.

Anyhow, the reason Kubotek is doing that is because they are trying to emphasize KeyCreator's ability to deal with drawings produced by many different CAD formats. And SolidWorks is fine with that. Says Kubotek:

"The reuse of data and model components from existing CAD files is a widely accepted practice but unfortunately, our recent Interoperability Survey showed that only six percent of engineers receive files in their preferred format." (I find the 6% figure way low.)

Comments

[Al Sossa]

"That's kind of like Pro/E joing Autodesk's developer program."
No this is more like Lotus Notes becoming a Microsoft solution partner. Survival of the fittest...

[Evan Yares]

Nah... It's more like Kubotek joining SolidWorks' developer program.

Both Kubotek and SolidWorks are companies that compete on their own merits. Yes, both like to win, but they try to do it by delivering more value to customers, rather than by tripping potential competitors.

OK... maybe neither Kubotek nor SolidWorks is *completely* without sin when it comes to tripping potential competitors, but they're better than most at recognizing that customers are going to choose the tools *they* want to use. (Consider how many people happily use both SolidWorks and Rhino, and would give up neither willingly.)

I can't envision either Autodesk or PTC letting Kubotek join their developer programs... though it would be a pleasant surprise if I were wrong. (Yea, I'm wrong sometimes.)