Case Study
French VAR made the right choice with Siemens. Solid Edge VAR, Abisse, grows and prospers in the face of strong competition – thanks to outstanding software and strong technical and sales support from Siemens
Abisse S.A.S.
Abisse doesn’t just want to sell CAD software. The company aims to provide its customers with a comprehensive solution to their product development needs.
A critical decision
Abisse, founded in 1997, offers consulting, training and project management services as well as software development and customization for manufacturing companies throughout France. The company’s 18 employees strive to understand their customers’ needs, and they are more interested in providing them with solutions to their product development challenges than simply selling software. “We are more interested in providing comprehensive solutions and establishing relationships with our customers than by any immediate revenue we might gain from selling some software,” says Abisse president, Serge Gauthier.
In 1997, the company’s first year in operation, the founders faced a critical decision. They knew they wanted to become a reseller of CAD software, but which program, which vendor? A number of mid-range CAD programs were available at the time. And in Abisse’s country, France, the CAD supplier Dassault, and its subsidiary SolidWorks, are particularly well known.
Even though it meant they would be competing against Dassault on its home turf, Abisse management made the decision to go with the software they felt was the most comprehensive, Solid Edge, and the vendor they felt would be best to work with, Siemens. Gauthier remembers the discussions. “I was the one who was pushing for Solid Edge,” Gauthier says. “That was in 1998. Now we have enough experience with Siemens to know that we made the right choice. We have the same sort of partnership relationship with Siemens that we establish with our customers. I am very happy to work with Siemens.”
Meeting customers’ needs
These days Abisse finds that at nearly every company they contact, people are already educated about value of 3D CAD. “The demand is there,” Gauthier says. “Product lines are becoming increasingly complex and their 2D drafting systems can no longer keep up. Companies are convinced of the major added value from 3D.” One of the factors holding companies back from implementing 3D CAD is fear of the transition from their 2D drafting software. How will they get their work done during the transition, and how will employees feel about making the change? “Solid Edge addresses these concerns directly with its ‘Evolve to 3D’ approach,” Gauthier explains. “Solid Edge’s 3D approach allows companies to make the transition to 3D productively and at their own pace, obtaining all of the benefits of 3D by leveraging productive 2D activities, thought processes and designs, without creating unnecessary confusion within the organization.”
Customers have told Abisse that they are satisfied with their choice of Solid Edge for a number of reasons. One is the software’s ease of use. “Even as more and more functionality is added to each release, Solid Edge continues to have a streamlined, intuitive user interface,” says Gauthier. Solid Edge also wins points from Abisse’s customers for its reliability, one of the “best in class” in this area, according to Gauthier. “Solid Edge can efficiently handle the large assemblies that many manufacturers want to create, and when it offers certain functionality, such as sheet metal modeling, it doesn’t just provide a feature,” he explains. “Solid Edge addresses the entire process.”
Although there are more Windows-based CAD programs available now than ever before, Abisse finds it easy to demonstrate how Solid Edge stands apart from the competition. “The main difference is that Solid Edge is a complete solution, rather than features and gadgets that competitors use to address this market,” Gauthier explains. He also says that Solid Edge is the easiest solid modeling software to learn, and unlike some other programs, it is a true Windows application. “Solid Edge doesn’t rely on an external bank of macros for communicating with other Windows applications,” he adds. “It is a true OLE application.” Another area where Solid Edge outperforms other software is in updating drawings when a 3D model is changed. “Solid Edge gives the best performance when updating a drawing once a 3D design modification has been made,” Gauthier notes. “This is done with an industrial-hardened data management process.”
Strong support from Siemens
Over the years, Abisse has worked with the top companies in France such as Canon, fifth-ranking European household appliance producer Elco Brandt and boat maker Jeanneau. While working with these top manufacturers it has seen their requirements evolve from simply CAD functionality to include data management and collaboration capabilities as well. Solid Edge’s design management solution, Insight, provides a complete end-to-end strategy that battles product complexity. “Insight helps companies manage increasing complexity by allowing them to maximize the re-use of existing designs,” Gauthier says.
In the design management respect, Solid Edge has always been ahead of the competition. “Since version 1, Solid Edge has always been on the cutting edge of data management,” says Gauthier. And for companies who have multiple CAD systems, Abisse now offers Teamcenter, a complete product lifecycle management (PLM) solution from Siemens that handles product information from all CAD systems as well as that created by other applications. “Teamcenter will help us gain entry into companies that use other CAD systems,” Gauthier notes.
Since becoming a Solid Edge VAR, Abisse has increased the number of employees from four to 14. And its revenues have grown 10-fold. Gauthier attributes some of that success to Siemens, which supports Abisse in a variety of ways. Siemens’ indirect sales effort helps by bringing product knowledge to the table in sales situations, in particular Solid Edge’s strengths versus the competition. In a small number of cases, Siemens actually helps close the deal. Siemens’ indirect marketing program also helps Abisse by creating printed materials such as flyers and customer success stories and by organizing exhibitions. It also provides Abisse with many qualified leads.
Siemens’ presales and technical support efforts are staffed by professional engineers highly trained in the use of Solid Edge. “These people know how to get the most out of Solid Edge, and they are in the field accompanying us whenever that is required,” says Gauthier. Another aspect of Siemens that Gauthier appreciates is that the product line is complementary to Solid Edge. Not only does Teamcenter offer high-level PLM functionality for companies that are now looking in that direction, Siemens’ high-end CAD software, NX®, is interoperable with Solid Edge. Gauthier finds this interoperability to be a selling point. Finally, Siemens is a stable and growing company. “The management, people and products have been there a long time, and the company’s growth is robust,” Gauthier says. “That gives us confidence in our future with Siemens.”
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Challenges:
- Grow the business by providing customers with comprehensive product development solutions
- Compete for sales on Dassault's home turf
- Meet customers' needs for solutions beyond CAD, such as data management and collaboration
Keys To Success:
- Partner with Siemens as a reseller of Solid Edge® software and Teamcenter® software
- Take advantage of Siemens’ technical, sales and marketing support to ensure excellence and win sales
- Use Teamcenter for opening doors to companies with non-Siemens CAD systems
Results:
- Income has increased 10-fold since partnering with Siemens PLM Software
- Number of employees has grown from 4 to 18
- Abisse has been consistently profitable since its inception
- Growth and financial success has come in the face of strong competition
Industry:
- Consumer Products
- High Tech & Electronics
- Life Sciences
- Machinery & Industrial
Client's Primary Business:
Abisse, founded in 1997, offers consulting, training and project management services as well as software development and customization for manufacturing companies throughout France.
Business Initiatives:
- Knowledge & IP Management
- New Product Development
- Production Efficiency
- Systems Engineering & Mechatronics
- Value Chain Synchronization
Solutions/Services:
- NX
- NX Design (CAD)
- Solid Edge
- Teamcenter
Client Location:
Nantes
France
"Solid Edge is the comprehensive software our clients need and Siemens PLM Software is an excellent partner for us.When we decided on this relationship, we made the right choice."
Serge Gauthier
President
Abisse S.A.S.