Inspiration for this post:
Siemens has announced their intention to acquire Kineo CAM and their full suite of computer aided motion tools.
Based in France, Kineo CAM is nearing the anniversary of its 12th year in operation and specializes in both standalone engineering applications, and software components that solve a variety of engineering and geometric motion problems, such as...
- Path planning and/or optimization of the assembly of parts in industries such as automotive, aerospace, & industrial machinery.
- Documenting service procedures for part replacement or maintenance in machinery such as appliances.
- Navigating and optimizing precise robotic arm movements to place or assemble components during any stage of product assembly.
This acquisition will certainly serve strengthen Siemens' suite of PLM tools.
My Take
Siemens was a customer of Kineo CAM software components, licensing them to drive functionality across several Siemens PLM tools. Kineo CAM components also happen to power the products of several Siemens PLM competitors. As usual this begs the question of will customers of Kineo CAM can count on Siemens to support the tools they rely on? Will Siemens continue to support them?
The answer is "Yes." Nothing will change. Siemens PLM will continue to fully support Kineo CAM customers. After all, this is nothing unusual for Siemens as they've licensed many of their other component tools to companies with competing products already (e.g. Parasolid, D-Cubed, etc.). They're also on the other side of that equation as well, by licensing many of their own software components to those competitors same for use in their products. To affect those relationships would be bad for their own business.
Certainly it's one thing to make money by selling your own products, but what's even better is to also make money when your competitor sells their products too. Like many software developers, Siemens has been doing this for years.
In today's technology world, the companies that control the most intellectual property in their market claim the driver's seat.
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