A Cimdata Program Review November 2016
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Tebis A CIMdata Program Review November 2016 CIMdata, Inc. 3909 Research Park Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108 +1 734.668.9922 www.CIMdata.com Tebis A CIMdata Program Review Tebis Tebis software is used by toolmakers to design and build made-to-order mold and die tooling primarily for the automotive sector, and for component manufacturers in the aerospace and mechanical engineering sectors. With a mix of direct sales and distributors throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas, Tebis AG and its subsidiaries serve major markets worldwide. While many may recognize Tebis software as being a superior NC programming solution for producing high quality Class A machined surfaces; the real strength of the current Tebis offering lies in its ability to provide a wide range of innovative solutions and services for many important steps within a customer’s manufacturing process chain. This, coupled with a new pricing model, makes Tebis a viable option for many early phase companies that formerly may have opted for a solution based solely on low acquisition cost. Introduction This CIMdata program review addresses elements of the full range of Tebis software functionality, beginning with capturing and importing customer product and component data through to final assembly; and for die making beyond assembly through to tool tryout and correction. Additionally, this review addresses Tebis Consulting, the Tebis AG department that provides manufacturing related consulting services. Tebis AG’s present and future outlook, as well as their software go-to-market strategy, round out the topics covered in this review. Research for this paper was partially supported by Tebis North America and Tebis AG. Tebis AG Tebis AG offers solutions for model, mold, and die, aerospace, mechanical Tebis AG offers solutions engineering, and industrial design industries. Customers report that the company for model, mold, and die, provides them a means of optimizing their manufacturing processes to deliver aerospace, mechanical high-quality results in a predictable and consistent manner that improves both engineering, and profitability and customer satisfaction. They are viewed by CIMdata as an industrial design industry leader in guiding and assisting made-to-order model, mold, and die industries. manufactures in the optimization of their entire manufacturing process chain. Finally, the company has particular strengths in the degree of automation possible in NC programming, and in quickly and efficiently creating machined Class A finish quality with minimal machine runtime. Tebis AG Background Headquartered in Martinsried, Germany, Tebis AG was formed in 1984 and two years later released its first version of the Tebis CAD/CAM software for CNC Copyright Ó 2016 by CIMdata, Inc. 1 Tebis A CIMdata Program Review cutter path creation on a DOS-based PC, and established Volkswagen and BMW as its initial customers. The company operates globally from its headquarters in Germany. It has subsidiaries in Germany, other European countries, the United States, and the Asia. Today, Tebis AG provides a wide range of manufacturing process optimization software and services to customers in various industries with emphasis on automotive, aerospace, mechanical engineering, and consumer products. Tebis software is used by companies of all sizes. The company has approximately 310 employees worldwide, with 220 located in Germany. Their product development staff is estimated to be 140 people. Tebis products are currently used in more than 2,000 customer installations around the world. Strategy for Growth The Tebis sales strategy is country dependent, with Tebis subsidiary offices Tebis sales strategy is providing sales, implementation, and support where a significant established country dependent, with customer base exists. In any location around the world, customers buy Tebis Tebis subsidiary offices software and services either through the local Tebis office or from a local Tebis providing sales, authorized distributor. Through Tebis AG or a Tebis subsidiary, countries that implementation, and offer direct sales and support include the United States, Canada, UK, Portugal, support where a Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and China. In countries or regions significant established where it is either customary, expedient, or required, it distributes products customer base exists. through local distributors. Tebis maintains long-time distributors in Japan, South Korea, Russia, India, Czech Republic, Turkey, and Thailand. They are represented in China through a mix of distributors and direct offices. Tebis has nine direct offices and twelve distributors worldwide. Whether a customer is serviced directly by a Tebis office or by a distributor, they are supported by phone or e-mail. In areas supported by a distributor most support is provided by the distributor, with assistance from a Tebis AG office as needed. To grow the company, Tebis has identified the markets of North American and China as its greatest opportunities, and has invested heavily in those countries over the last two years by hiring additional sales and support personnel. Tebis has also recognized the need to adjust their product-pricing model to be successful in capturing market share within these two markets. For many years, Tebis customers were located primarily in a handful of discrete European manufacturing communities. The dense concentration of customers within each discrete community allowed word-of-mouth to be an effective means of communicating and educating about the value proposition of Tebis software functionality among the community’s prospective customers. Educated prospects are able to understand the reasonableness of an asking price because they more clearly understand how well an offering’s functionality aligns with their specific processes and needs. Therefore, the asking price for a full-function seat of Tebis was not an impediment to closing additional sales within each discrete community. Copyright Ó 2016 by CIMdata, Inc. 2 Tebis A CIMdata Program Review When Tebis originally entered the North American market, the product was priced to include most of the Tebis product’s functionality, similar to the pricing model that was successful in the European market. However, absent the word- of-mouth education typical of Europe, the product soon gained a reputation in North America of being too expensive. Today, to facilitate success in the expansion in the North American and China Tebis has adopted a markets, Tebis has adopted a product-pricing model that allows its customer to product-pricing model purchase a customized configuration of functionality based upon the customer’s that allows its customer to current processes and their immediate needs. purchase a customized configuration of This approach allows a customer to begin use of the Tebis solution with functionality based upon substantially less risk. It creates the opportunity to introduce Tebis to shops that the customer’s current are early in the development of their manufacturing processes. And more processes and their importantly, it allows new customers to realize an immediate return on immediate needs. investment. While at the same time positioning themselves, when they are ready, to quickly and easily take advantage of the significant manufacturing process optimization capabilities available in the suite of Tebis application packages, add-ons, process libraries, and interfaces. To help its prospective customers gain a better understanding of how Tebis can help transform their manufacturing processes, even before buying, Tebis can apply its consulting services to analyze and identify immediate needs, and also map out a long-term process improvement program. CIMdata expects Tebis’ current pricing model to enable faster growth and adoption not only in the Americas, but also in other markets. Present and Future Outlook Tebis has consistently been one of the top ten independent CAM companies in CIMdata’s CAM Market Analysis Report (MAR) over the last several years. Tebis gained this ranking based solely on organic growth, unlike many competitors that have grown through mergers and acquisitions, or by combining their CAM offering with their own enterprise CAD and PLM-enabling solutions. Based on recent estimates derived after the publication of the CAM MAR for CIMdata estimates that calendar year 2015, CIMdata estimates that Tebis had 2015 revenues of Tebis had 2015 revenues US$46.9 million, making Tebis the largest independent CAM solutions provider of US$46.9 million, in that year. making Tebis the largest independent CAM Due to the new Tebis pricing model, their heavy investment in sales and support solutions provider in that personnel in North America and China, and other factors, CIMdata projects that year. in 2016 Tebis AG revenues will grow significantly to approach an estimated US$60.0 million. Tebis Version 4.0 Release 2 was the version evaluated in this review. Tebis completes a major release on a bi-annual basis. Version 4.0 Release 1 was released to North America in October of 2015. Smaller releases and service packs are provided several times a year. Copyright Ó 2016 by CIMdata, Inc. 3 Tebis A CIMdata Program Review Tebis Product Portfolio & Service Offering As a leader of CAD/CAM and MES software, Tebis creates highly automated process solutions for designing, developing and manufacturing made-to-order (MTO) tooling and components. Tebis is highly valued by its manufacturing customers worldwide. They suggest that for others who are ready to move