Mechdyne

Source: Technology Digital

Date :04/01/2008 11:17:43

Jeff Brum, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, explains how Mechdyne’s two successful mergers have enabled the company to achieve exceptional growth in the advanced visualization mar

Written by Emmet Cole and Produced by Tom Venturo

Imagine a military command center thousands of miles from the battlefield in which generals can oversee troop movements on a 17’x 34’ screen, in real-time. Imagine that those same troops were trained using high-tech virtual world simulations long before they ever set foot on the battlefield. Imagine all this in high resolution, with world-class connectivity.

That’s what advanced visualization pioneers Mechdyne and Fakespace did. They dreamt big about the potential of virtual reality, and what the two companies could do together.

Big Merger, Bigger Vision

Prior to their 2003 merger, Fakespace and Mechdyne bore a striking resemblance to each other. Both companies had helped pioneer advanced and immersive visualization, and both had found ways to market the growing array of visualization possibilities.

“We were similar companies, but we were also different in complementary ways,” says Jeff Brum, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Mechdyne.

Fakespace focused more on automotive and design and engineering markets. Mechdyne worked mostly in oil and gas. Fakespace had more university-related work. Mechdyne sold more into government accounts.

Realizing that the visualization market needed a company that could offer a comprehensive array of services, the solution was obvious. “Both our companies were growing but we knew that there was an even larger opportunity to expand markets and build the business beyond the traditional hardware business.” Brum says. “Mechdyne was more custom hardware oriented; Fakespace had standard products and had started to develop software. We both realized software was key to the future and the best way to go after software was through an acquisition.”

Mechdyne added virtual reality software pioneers VRCO to the mix in 2005, bringing in much-needed expertise in development of interactive 3D visualization software. “We really saw where our competition was,” Brum says. “We saw what the global market opportunity was, we looked at what each other were doing, and saw that we could become greater than the sum of the parts by coming together.”

Small Market, Big Ideas

Most of Mechdyne’s competitors focus their efforts on either manufacturing, software, or hardware says Brum. “They don’t see the VR/advanced visualization marketplace as being very big; whereas for us that small market is a big market. What may seem a small percentage of users is very important to us and the numbers continue to increase.”

Mechdyne has found its market in design and manufacturing, oil and energy, medical innovation, research, and education. The company designed the two highest resolution immersive virtual reality rooms in the world and the world’s first 3D images of the sun were viewed on a Mechdyne display. And Mechdyne has plans for even greater involvement in intelligence related and space related projects.

In total, Mechdyne has installed more than 800 systems in 30 countries around the world and employs more than 120 people.

Technology and Innovation

A key to Mechdyne’s success lies in its use of technology – particularly its innovative utilization of existing software and hardware. “We bend technology to our will to create distinctive solutions,” Brum says. “It’s part of our mission statement.

“From our perspective, our history of innovation is trying to constantly be aggressive with new products and new developments as they come available,” adds Kurt Hoffmeister, Mechdyne VP of Engineering.

“We’re not tied into one manufacturer, so we’re very flexible when it comes to evaluating new technology and how we might apply them.”

One of Mechdyne’s biggest challenges is “democratizing technology,” says Brum – expanding the overall market potential by bringing the best high-tech services to clients at a reasonable cost. “As technology becomes more and more available at a lower and lower cost, we still want to stay unique and competitive in what we offer,” he explains. “So that’s a constant challenge, to stay ahead with the latest technology that will be a fit for our customers.”

Brum believes that Mechdyne’s excellent commitment to service has propelled it to become the largest dedicated visualization company in the world. They have even placed full-time support staff across the US, Europe and Asia. “Some of our customers want the comfort factor that comes with knowing that they will have dedicated help on site,” Brum says. “And they do a lot of high-level demonstrations, so when someone important comes in the system has to look its best.”

Bright Future

With a wealth of expertise on both sides, the company offers both hardware and software support, from design and engineering to implementation.

As more and more companies realize the potential of visualization for their activities, the market continues to expand for full service providers – organizations like Kimberly Clark and Sandia National Laboratory. But the market will also grow as its current clientele expand the use of technology throughout their entire work-flow, painting a bright future for Mechdyne, says Brum.

“As they realize the value of visualization, they’re building two rooms, three rooms, eleven rooms – and deploying them overseas, and connecting those offices via real time connectivity,” he explains.

With a thirst for innovation, and a commitment to service, Mechdyne expects to stay on the forefront of this high-flying, high-resolution industry. “No one else has the capabilities that we have, and we are the largest company in the world focused on these solutions,” Brum says. “This is what our business is. We love it. We’re good at it. We’ve seen the results of having that focus. And we work with some of the coolest companies in the world.”