Cambridge, UK and Pittsford, NY – April 2010: The credit crunch has meant that even manufacturers / skilled trades with healthy order books face insolvency as banks refuse the short-term loans needed to finance customer projects. CAD Schroer offers one creative approach that saves upfront costs.
Upfront project costs can stifle small engineers and manufacturers
Many small to medium-sized manufacturers and skilled trades, such as metal workers, have suffered extreme hardship during the recession. The lack of credit has hit decades-old family businesses throughout Europe, because longstanding banking partners have pulled the plug on the short-term financing necessary for upfront project costs. Those who survive have to find creative solutions.
One software company is trying to help. CAD Schroer, founded 24 years ago as an engineering service provider (now a global CAD and plant design software vendor) – has made its free MEDUSA4 Personal CAD package available to businesses.
Pay-per-result portal for free software
Previously the personal version of MEDUSA4 (a powerful, professional drafting suite deployed by companies of all sizes around the world) was only available for private use. But the need for a pay-per-result option among small engineering/manufacturing firms provoked a creative response. Businesses can now use MEDUSA4 Personal for free at the office on client projects. Finished designs are converted at CAD Schroer’s online services portal for commercial use.
“We can’t change the banks, but we have a way to help struggling family-owned or start-up firms which need to keep their upfront costs as low as possible,” says Managing Director Michael Schroer, whose company has offices throughout Europe and in the United States. “So we are offering a very comprehensive multi-platform CAD system completely free of charge. Only once a design has been refined and released do businesses pay to convert it to a high quality PDF (Euro 2.99) or DXF (Euro 4.99) for commercial use. This means that costs stay very low and are easily attributable to specific customer projects. There is no large software investment required in advance.”
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