TABLE OF CONTENTS Event We were about to bring in a high-end, high-priced 3D CAD system for injection-molding die design. Then I saw a demonstration of a mid-range 3D CAD system at a trade show. The demonstration changed my mind and we went with the low-price, mid-range 3D CAD system.
Background High-end 3D CAD at the time cost about US$30 to 50K for the hardware and US$50K for the software, a total of about US$100K for each workstation. Midrange 3D CAD then lacked satisfactory performance, but it cost about US$10K for both the hardware and software, about 1/5 of the high-end CAD.
I had introduced a high-end 3D CAD for 3D design of molds in 1994 and had been trying to push its use and develop a new way of designing, however, its high price hampered the spread of the system. The design department had licensed another high-end system for the same purpose, which had not spread in the company either.
At that time, newspaper articles ran stories of our competitor companies like "Introduced 300 New 3D CAD Stations" or "New Products Fully Designed with 3D CAD Systems", and we were envious of such companies with deep pockets.
That year, we had budgeted another 3D CAD system for the die design department, but I had doubts if the investment of US$100K would really pay off and wondered if we should continue evaluation with the existing system...
