FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, USA, June 24, 2004—Wohlers Associates, Inc., in cooperation with industry analyst Joe Greco, has announced that 4.96 million mechanical CAD (MCAD) seats were installed worldwide through the end of 2003. This total includes both commercial and educational seats. The leading MCAD product family in cumulative commercial installations, according to the study, is Pro/ENGINEER, followed by CATIA, Unigraphics (including IDEAS), Mechanical Desktop, Inventor, SolidWorks, and Solid Edge. Among the MCAD products not counted were Alibre, KeyCreator (formerly CADKEY), OneSpace Designer, IronCAD, thinkdesign, VX CAD/CAM, and Cobalt (formally Vellum Solids).

“The MCAD industry experienced a moderate rebound in 2003,” stated Joe Greco, a well-known analyst and author that focuses on the MCAD industry. “Both revenues and unit sales were up over the previous year,” he said. “PTC’s aggressive push into education has boosted the total installed base in a big way.”

For four years, Greco has worked closely with Wohlers Associates to determine CAD solid modeling growth trends. This information has helped the company forecast the expansion and acceptance of machines for rapid prototyping and 3D printing, the primary focus of Wohlers Report 2004. This worldwide study presents the rapid prototyping, tooling, and manufacturing state of the industry in a 270-page softbound publication.

Wohlers Report 2004 sells for $425 in the U.S. and $445 in all other countries. The report’s table of contents, as well as additional information on the rapid prototyping market and industry, are available at https://wohlersassociates.com.

Joe Greco has more than 20 years of CAD experience. He began as an end user and CAD manager and now continues as a writer and consultant. In addition to CAD, his expertise covers related topics such as CAM, CAE, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering, Web collaboration, and interoperability. He is a regular contributor to popular industry magazines such as Desktop Engineering, CADALYST, and Design Product News and he has written for Machine Design magazine and other publications.

Wohlers Associates, Inc. is an 18-year-old independent consulting firm that works closely with manufacturing organizations to identify the best approaches to rapid product development. As the company’s principal consultant, Terry Wohlers tracks new methods and technologies to determine a strategic direction that gives companies an edge. His highly sought-after views and opinions come from years of collecting and analyzing market data, coupled with work as an advisor to major organizations in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa.