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What the future holds for Bricsys in the Asia Pacific region

By Kelsey Grant 7 min 31 maj 2022
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Bricsys in the Asia Pacific region

On the blog today, we will be exploring Bricsys’ expanding global footprint. In particular we’ll be taking a deep dive into the company’s presence in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, guided by Pat Williams, Bricsys’ Vice President of Sales for North America and APAC. We’ll get to know Pat, discover computer-aided design (CAD) trends in APAC, and find out how BricsCAD is paving the way for growth and innovation across the region.

Pat Williams has lived in Asia for the past 23 years, spending ten years in Japan, ten years in Shanghai, China, and around three years in Singapore. Prior to joining Bricsys, Pat was running different businesses for various companies across APAC, but was drawn to Bricsys because of our company culture, great opportunities in region, and of course, a solid product that is making ripples in the APAC CAD community.

‘I'm lucky to be involved in two of the most exciting regions that are the fastest growing for the company.’

In APAC, Bricsys’ software is used everywhere from Australia to China, including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and India. Pat describes the region fondly as a kind of microcosm of the world, with its own unique and vibrant cultures and people. Whilst covering a large territory, Pat is well versed in the very different dynamics of each country, every one offering its own sense of opportunity and growth for Bricsys and for the BricsCAD family of products.

Bricsys is making a name for itself in APAC and our head office in Singapore is no exception to this trend. Located at Aperia Tower on Kallang Avenue in the CBD area, the new Bricsys office is thriving and hiring!

Singapore Skyline

Pat describes Singapore as a bubbling hub where a lot of companies decide to anchor. It's central location and strong talent pool of technically minded individuals and business leaders remains a major draw card.

Pat is keen to remind us of Bricsys’ ethos of flexible working and the benefits this brings to both the company and employees across the region. After ongoing lockdowns and pandemic restrictions during the past few years, flexible ways of working have truly come into their own and enabled us to continue our job of revolutionizing CAD products worldwide.

‘As long as we continue to see the output from the team being what it is, I think we’ll continue to remain flexible for some time.’

Speaking of flexibility, our conversation turns to the CAD trends Pat is seeing in the territories he manages, and how BricsCAD’s flexibility supports these movements.

It’s important to remember that each of the different regions in APAC boast very different dynamics. Pat first describes the emerging economies in Southeast Asia: ‘a lot of these countries are just beginning to adopt more sophisticated technologies, and we're a perfect fit for them. Most of the people we talk to have experience with DWG and want to expand beyond what they've been doing in their 2D environment. BricsCAD offers them a seamless transition into 3D, as well as a very easy step into building information modeling (BIM) or even mechanical design if that is what they’re looking for. In emerging markets that are very dynamic, BricsCAD’s flexibility is a great fit.’

Further South, Pat adds, ‘Australia, one of our largest countries in the region, is heavily invested in Civil technologies. We are lucky to have a great technical resource down there, Sean Toomey, who does a fantastic job at spreading knowledge and keeping up to date with emerging trends. Companies there tend to be looking to achieve higher productivity - getting their designs done faster, and doing that with a tool that is as affordable as possible. BricsCAD ticks all the boxes for these customers.’

The broad scope of the BricsCAD family of products lends itself to a whole host of industry use cases, and the APAC region is no exception to this. Pat describes BricsCAD’s use in this region as a ‘mixture of all sorts’. Bricsys has always been a favourite with a lot of smaller companies, Pat explains, as the number one CAD alternative to the major player out there. However, now we are seeing an increasing number of small to medium sized businesses coming over to BricsCAD including companies involved in automotive or factory design, as well as individual contractors.

‘It's a diverse group that buys our products and I think that's one of our strengths, and one of the things that makes Bricsys attractive.’

In recent times, BricsCAD’s flexibility and functionality has been praised highly in the region. In April 2022, BricsCAD’s® AX3000 MEP Suite was admitted to the Construction Innovation and Technology Fund’s (CITF) Pre-approved BIM Software List. This decision enables eligible applicants in Hong Kong's construction industry to benefit from government-subsidized discounts on BricsCAD AX3000 MEP Suite - a solution for building mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering - through its Construction & Innovation Technology Fund (CITF).

The newly approved BIM solution leverages specialised AX3000 modules that interact seamlessly with each other and BricsCAD to cover all aspects of building services engineering: ventilation, heating, sanitation, electrical, residential ventilation and fire safety, and sprinkler systems.

‘We are delighted that users across Hong Kong now have access to this market-leading solution at a reduced price through the CITF. We believe the admission of our solution to the CITF Pre-approved BIM Software List is an endorsement of the powerful combination that AX3000 and BricsCAD represents as the construction industry continues to digitize.’

BricsCAD and AX3000 MEP are built on a familiar DWG file format, enabling engineers to seamlessly bring their 2D CAD drawings into the platform, rather than re-building them from scratch in a new environment. It is also based on an openBIM architecture, accelerating time to value and reducing hours lost to training.

‘Some software packages require engineers to spend between nine and 18 months getting up to speed on their technology and user interface. In today’s fast paced business world, we recognise the need to shorten that learning curve, and because of our familiar DWG environment, training on BricsCAD AX3000 MEP Suite typically takes between 10 weeks and three months.’

BricsCAD BIM V22 - Concept

Looking to the future, Pat explains his goals for Bricsys in APAC are simple: continued growth. He strongly believes in the unique opportunities for BricsCAD’s BIM and mechanical technologies in APAC’s emerging markets, even though a lot of businesses have historically been focused on 2D and 3D. Whilst Pat recognises that, or course, there are companies that are already doing BIM to an extremely high standard, there are also many organizations that are in the early phases of their BIM or mechanical design journey.

‘BricsCAD offers that perfect kind of steppingstone from a 2D or 3D DWG environment into an environment that offers all the benefits of BIM in an accessible way.’

So what is Pat’s prediction for the future of Bricsys in APAC? ‘I think that we’re just scratching the surface. We've got good visibility in the marketplace. We've got great technical and business management in the region. I believe that APAC is going be one of the hottest regions for Bricsys for some time to come!’

Pat explains, with a smile, the tremendous opportunity and innovation he sees daily across the region. APAC is an exciting place to be: ‘I use the word dynamic a lot, but it describes perfectly what people are doing in China with 3D building and the types of designs we see coming out of this area. And I say world-class often, because as you see more and more amazing stuff happening across Asia it can only be described this way. This change is not only happening in China, Australia and Japan. It's an evolving trend in other parts of APAC as well.’

You can hear the excitement in Pat’s voice for both the future of Bricsys in general, and APAC’s role in that growth trajectory. To find out more about how BricsCAD can help you revolutionise your workflows, visit the Bricsys website or get in touch with Pat at pat.williams@hexagon.com.

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