By Steve Rizer
The global market for computer-aided design (CAD) in the civil and construction industry will total $578 million by 2015, representatives of London-based TechNavio told ConstructionPro Week (CPW) via an email interview. The company foresees a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.05 percent between 2011 and 2015 with vendors Autodesk Inc., Bentley Systems Inc., Dassault Systemes S.A., and Intergraph Corp. dominating the market.
One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the need for modular infrastructure development, according to TechNavio. “The global CAD market in the civil and construction industry has also been witnessing the development of cloud-based CAD solutions. However, the emerging threat from open-source and pirated CAD software solutions could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.”
The predictions are included in a new TechNavio report entitled “Global CAD Market in the Civil and Construction Industry 2011–2015.” The publication was prepared based on an analysis of the market with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the Americas as well as the Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) regions. The publication additionally covers the global CAD market in the civil and construction industry landscape and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. TechNavio added that the study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information, including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key players.
Besides Autodesk, Bentley, Dassault, and Intergraph, other vendors expected to contribute to CAD market growth include Parametric Technology Corp., Aveva Group plc, ESI Group, Alibre Design, and progeCAD.
“Several [CAD] solution vendors have started developing cloud-based CAD solutions,” an analyst from TechNavio’s Engineering Team said. “The pay-per-use model of CAD solutions reduces the overall cost of the software adoption. Moreover, several users can remotely access cloud-based digital manufacturing software solutions at any time or in any place. Furthermore, cloud-based digital manufacturing software can be scaled up in features more easily. Hence, the global CAD software market in the civil and construction industry is witnessing an emerging trend where many vendors are developing cloud-based CAD solutions to meet the demands of the end-users.”
The deployment of CAD solutions is expected to enable extended visualization, which aids the development of good-quality designs, TechNavio stated. “This reduces the number of errors in infrastructure design, ones that may be missed from the engineer’s/drafter’s viewpoint, thereby increasing the quality standards of the design developed.”
The report also discusses that the increasing availability of open source CAD software poses a threat to the global CAD software market for the civil and construction industry.
Among the questions addressed in the report are the following:
- What will the market size be in 2015, and at what rate will it grow?
- What key trends is this market subject to?
- What is driving this market?
- What are the challenges to market growth?
- What are the opportunities and threats faced by each key vendor?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of each key vendor?
During their interview with CPW, TechNavio officials provided the following additional information:
CPW: What types of professionals in the design and construction community are expected to use this report, and in what ways will they use it? How will the report help them?
TechNavio: The ‘Global CAD market in the Civil and Construction industry’ helps industry professionals such as marketing communications executives, purchases executives, and C-level executives predict when and where the market will thrive. The report provides them a view of the competitive business environment along with the major forces that are driving the market. Further, the report describes about the latest trends that evolve in the market, which would provide a clear view about the CAD market in the civil and construction industry developments. This leads organizations to take necessary steps to tap emerging markets, to stay competitive in these ever-competing business environments. In addition, the report analyzes a list of the major vendors in the market, facilitating for the purchase of new software solutions.
CPW: Which industry experts provided the information that was used to make the forecasts? How can your company be sure that the information they provided was unbiased and objective?
TechNavio: The market size we obtained is done through the bottom-up approach. We interviewed the major vendors in the global CAD market in the civil and construction industry. Based on the inputs from these key vendors and industry experts, we captured the market value in 2011 and the corresponding growth rate [CAGR] during the period 2011-2015. With the clear view of the market obtained from the industry experts and leading vendors in the CAD market, the percentage that each region, namely the Americas, the Europe, Middle East, and Africa [EMEA] region, and the Asia Pacific [APAC] region would contribute to the global CAD market in the civil and construction industry was estimated.
Further, as a result of the in-depth discussions with CAD vendors across these regions and the industry experts and leading end-users in the CAD market -- such as architectural companies, design companies, and building promoters -- the approximate growth rate of the global CAD market in the civil and construction industry was figured out. In addition, several primary and secondary researches were conducted. For the secondary research, our Proprietary Data Base was referred, which consists of micro-level data of industry happenings. Also, we have leveraged out in-house market modeling tools that take care of macro- and micro-economic indicators to forecast the global CAD market.
CPW: What key assumptions regarding public policies, future industry standards, and other factors were made in arriving at these projections?
TechNavio: In addition to the in-depth research interviews, the research also referred to certain industry-affiliated details such as opportunities for vendors in the coming year, risk of business, and any regulatory changes that can affect the growth of CAD software. Also, key indicators such as the growth of the construction industry and gross domestic product growth of key countries were considered. Therefore, we believe that pertaining to the post-recession survey, the market would witness an increase in the adoption of CAD software in the civil and construction industry in the coming years.
CPW: The global CAD market in the civil and construction industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.05 percent over the 2011-2015 period. Could you provide actual dollar values for this projected growth? Also, could you provide a breakdown of dollar values and percentage increases for each year during the five-year forecast period
TechNavio: The global CAD market in the civil and construction industry was valued at $440 million in 2011, and it is expected to reach $578 million by 2015, growing at a CAGR of 7.05 percent during the forecast period.
CPW: Could you provide dollar values and/or percentage increases for each region? Which sub-regions within these major regions are expected to grow the fastest and why?
Technavio:
In 2011, the APAC region dominated the global CAD market in the civil and construction industry with a share of 37-39 percent. The APAC region was followed by the EMEA region with a share of 32-34 percent. The Americas was in the third position with a market share of 27-29 percent. In 2011, the CAD market in the civil and construction industry in the APAC region was valued between $162.8 million and $171.6 million. The CAD market in the civil and construction industry in the EMEA region was valued between $140.8 million and $149.6 million. The CAD market in the civil and construction industry in the Americas was valued between $118.8 million and $127.6 million.
CPW: Which findings in your company’s research of the CAD market surprised you the most and why?
TechNavio: The emergence of 4D CAD solutions and mobile CAD applications has surprised our research. Several CAD vendors are developing 4D CAD solutions that would cater for the increased operational performance of organizations. This also improves project execution strategy, leading to better constructability. This helps the sequencing of construction schedules with granular-level information. In addition, vendors have begun to develop mobile CAD applications that are highly compatible with several mobile devices, hardware, and operating systems.
CPW: When may a follow-up report on this topic be issued?
TechNavio: We continuously update our reports for keeping track with the market goings-on; therefore, the follow-up report of this topic would be taken up in the beginning of 2013. It takes approximately 4-5 months to complete the study. Hence, the updated version on the ‘Global CAD market in the Civil and Construction Industry’ is expected to be released in mid-2013.
CPW: Other comments?
TechNavio: With the market being driven by certain key factors such as need for enhanced design visualizations and faster accomplishment of projects, the global CAD market in the civil and construction industry is expected to witness the posted increase in its growth rate of about 7.05 percent during the forecast period.
The report is accessible at http://technavio.com/content/global-cad-market-civil-and-construction-industry-2011-2015.
