Hi there,

You’re getting this first edition of The Model-Based Manufacturer because you’ve interacted with the Dirac team at some point. Whether that be at a conference, in a demo, over email, or through a shared project, we’re excited to share the latest in model-based manufacturing with you. We wanted a simple way to keep you in the loop on what’s happening in model-based manufacturing, including industry shifts and CAD of the week.

This newsletter will go out every two weeks. If that’s your thing, read on. If not, you’ll always be able to unsubscribe at the bottom of this email.

Cylinder Head Assembly – Scania Engine V8-XT Turbo

This week’s assembly instructions powered by BuildOS is a cylinder head assembly on a Scania V8-XT turbo engine.

If you have a favorite CAD assembly you’d like us to feature, reply to this email. We love seeing what people are building.

Model-based manufacturing is an approach where the 3D product model (and its associated data) is the primary source of truth that flows from design into production, quality, and service. Instead of re-interpreting CAD into static documents (PowerPoints, PDFs, workbooks), the model drives:

In short: the digital model isn’t just a drawing. It’s the operating system for how you build, inspect, and service the product.

That’s the world we’re betting on, and much of the news below points in that direction too.

📺 Watch: Ford CEO Jim Farley on technician roles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l94U2aQ5cPg

Jim Farley (CEO, Ford) sat down to discuss his view on his business and manufacturing in America. He highlights the severe shortage of skilled trade in the country with Ford alone having over 5,000 technician roles open that pay six figures. There are high paying, secure jobs that are currently hyper-challenging to fill due to a lack of educational infrastructure in the country focusing on skilled trade.

Why it matters for manufacturers:

This is one of the reasons we believe the future of manufacturing software has to assume a mixed workforce: a smaller core of highly skilled experts, plus a larger group of less-experienced operators who need better guidance from the tools they use.

📄 Read: PTC → TPG deal
https://www.ptc.com/en/about/tpg-to-acquire-ptcs-industrial-connectivity-and-iot-businesses

PTC sells Kepware & ThingWorx to TPG. This is a huge move for PTC, divesting from industrial connectivity to focus further on their lifecycle management solutions. It will be interesting to see if PTC sees the future of serviceability looking different than the connected future that these tools promise. Additionally, we continue to see more and more PE firms are spreading their roots into industrial sectors.

📄 Read: AI is Changing Engineering – CoLab’s $72M raise

Colab Software raises $72M for their AI design review software, promising quicker launch to production, quicker design reviews, and less quality escapes. Up and coming engineering software continues to look less and less role/ team specific to connect the dots and enable easier data flow from design to production to service.

We’re watching this closely, because the same forces driving AI into design review are also pushing AI and automation into work instructions, planning, and build execution.

Thanks for reading the first issue of The Model-Based Manufacturer.
See you in two weeks.

— The Dirac Team