As much as I'd like to agree, it takes more than a lower cost PDMS to start using it. It takes a commitment to learn a whole new design product and philosophy. The cost of making such changes often can't be borne by small low margin jobs or companies that do that type of work.
I also want to agree with slidimond. But... I don't think I want to foster use of optional plant design tools if it means the owners' plant model would eventually consist of several models in different formats. For the type of small shop work described, I'd rather see some type of round-trip conversion capability (PDMS -> ACAD -> PDMS).
One way converters though, in my view at least, should be for repurposing the model - such as for high-res photorealistic rendering/plotting, or creating complex kinematic animations, adding special effects, etc. Stuff that can be done easily and inexpensively in other tools.
As much as I'd like to agree, it takes more than a lower cost PDMS to start using it. It takes a commitment to learn a whole new design product and philosophy. The cost of making such changes often can't be borne by small low margin jobs or companies that do that type of work.
I also want to agree with slidimond. But... I don't think I want to foster use of optional plant design tools if it means the owners' plant model would eventually consist of several models in different formats. For the type of small shop work described, I'd rather see some type of round-trip conversion capability (PDMS -> ACAD -> PDMS).
One way converters though, in my view at least, should be for repurposing the model - such as for high-res photorealistic rendering/plotting, or creating complex kinematic animations, adding special effects, etc. Stuff that can be done easily and inexpensively in other tools.
