PTC gains electronics design with CAD vendor buy

In acquiring electronic product design software supplier OHIO Design Automation for $12 million, PTC is bridging the gap between mechanical and electronic design in a product life-cycle management (PLM) application. Integrating OHIO Design's InterComm product with PTC's backbone Windchill PLM application is important for two reasons. First, more manufacturers are integrating electronics and software into new products, and PTC's move represents the first major PLM package that joins the two design disciplines. Second, it's a strong competitive advantage. Michael Burkett of AMR Research says other PLM vendors using OHIO Design's software, including UGS PLM Solutions and MatrixOne, are likely to look for another electronic design platform.

According to Ann Arbor, Mich.-based CIMdata, PTC ranks third in the PLM sector, with most of its $672 million in sales last year coming from CAD software, and the remainder from collaborative product definition management.