By Joel Orr on 8/28/2007

Jerry Laiserin, a highly regarded AEC automation consultant, architect, and friend of mine, is taking over the "AEC in Focus" column at CADALYST. That's good news for CADALYST and its readers; Jerry's writing is clear, incisive, and authoritative.

Being around for a long time doesn't necessarily mean you've gotten better at what you do--but in Jerry's case, it does. His wisdom and insights have grown with the length and breadth of his experience. Having heard him speak many times, I've found that he always has something new to say, a fresh angle on the world of AEC automation.

Jerry is a leading proponent of BIM - building information modeling - and it will be interesting to read his views on this and other topics monthly.

Congratulations to Jerry and to CADALYST on this new arrangement!

By Brian Seitz on 8/27/2007 5:25 PM

Most of the time the term Devil's Advocate has a rather negative connotation inside the corporate walls, a phase used to demean someone that looks at alternative or contrary positions to the majority. However, sometimes having a Devil’s Advocate may be just the thing to prevent disasters in business and government. Centuries ago Roman conquerors would ride through the streets in triumph with a Slave whispering in their ear that fame and glory was fleeting --a message not to take their success to seriously—a Devil’s Advocate roll if you will. Corporations at times have recognized the value of such a roll at times. Below is one such example.

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By Brian Seitz on 8/27/2007 3:25 PM

Office Accounting has arrived however, has a little more development before it could be called a solution for small businesses

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By Joel Orr on 8/26/2007

By Joel Orr on 8/26/2007

PLM - product lifecycle management - has taken on something of a "fightin' words" character. Dassault and Siemens are promoting it wholeheartedly. Autodesk says it's not real. Smaller companies like Arena Solutions are happy to ride the wave, such as it is.Some years ago, when the abbreviation (it's not an acronym; acronyms are pronounceable) was introduced, there was a lot of buzz in the industry about defining PLM. Nothing was ever resolved, so when someone says "PLM" today, you better ask what exactly they mean.But PLM is clearly something - even if we don't agree on exactly what.End-to-end digital representation of engineering and manufacturing data? CAD + PDM + CAM + ERP + TQM + KBE?As far as I can tell, those resisting the term seem to be saying, "It's too much to go from today's partly-automated, unintegrated manufacturing enterprises to something as comprehensive as PLM. Nobody has really done it. So why not take the smaller steps that are really required, without glorifying the whole process?"Those promoting...

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By Russ Henke on 8/14/2007 8:07 AM

This blog entry was written on July 15, 2007:

Over the past few months, weaknesses in the US economy have been reported frequently in the blog entries in this space and of course in the financial press. Yet despite these weaknesses and the ongoing misery of ordinary folks dealing with the housing slump and higher gas & food prices, the nation's stock markets have ignored hedge fund and sub-prime loan problems, and soared to record levels. On Friday July 13, 2007 alone, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed above a high set in March 2000 and the Dow Jones industrials blew by 13,900 for the first time in history.

In related news, US retail sales dropped 0.9% in June, and the US Trade DEFICIT widened again in May. The United States’ oil import bill alone increased to $19.0 billion - the largest since September 2006. The US trade deficit with China widened 3.3% in May to $20.0 billion, and the June gap could be even larger. Meanwhile, China posted a record trade SURPLUS of $26.9 billion in June. China’s...

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