The Thomas Blog

BIM Vs. CAD Files: What's The Difference?

For decades, product design engineers have used computer-aided design (CAD) programs — such as Autodesk’s AutoCAD — to design various parts and components. These sophisticated programs are capable of creating extremely detailed 2D and 3D models.

With building information modeling (BIM) files growing in demand among leading architecture firms, many building product manufacturers consistently ask the question, “Can’t I just convert CAD files to BIM files?” The short answer: No. CAD and BIM file types differ in many ways, making a successful conversion nearly impossible. 

Why Your Product Data And Your Website Need To Work Together

A prospect that you’ve been chasing for months has been researching you as well, checking out your product catalog on a distributor’s website and downloading your CAD models. They’ve narrowed down their shortlist to you and a couple of your competitors, and now they’re visiting your website to gather additional details.

How Can Building Product Manufacturers Use Content Marketing To Get Specified Into More Projects?

Content marketing is not a new concept, but for building product manufacturers, it is probably a foreign one. Even those BPMs who understand what content marketing is believe that it is an approach reserved purely for B2C businesses.

3 Ways To Simplify The Purchase Of Complex Parts

Digitized information offers vast flexibility. When employed at its best, digital information can make the most complex processes simpler and more efficient. This especially applies to the selling of complex industrial parts.

5 Things Every Product Manufacturer Must Know To Drive Leads

Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about new CAD tools and features that engineers want to use with the parts and components from their most favored manufacturers. Most manufacturers rely on a website and phone number to handle these inquiries for new data, but putting the onus on customers runs the risk of losing them.

Leveraging Omni-Channel To Get Specified

Today’s marketing world is filled with buzzwords. From acronyms like “KPI” and “CTR” to rising industry trends like “big data” and “hyperlocal,” sales and marketing leaders in the manufacturing space constantly find buzzwords left and right. So when you come across the word “omni-channel,” you may be quick to dismiss it.

How To Outperform Competitors Using Your Product Information

Everyone knows we live in the Information Age, but how useful is it if the information never reaches the right people? This is especially true for manufacturers and their quest to get product information to the appropriate audience.

Don’t Get Left B2Behind: Why Product Manufacturers Need to Embrace A B2C Mentality

When industrial buyers aren’t at work, they behave as everyday consumers; they shop online, they compare products for deals that best balance quality and value, and they shop independently, relying on freely available resources rather than salespeople to help them in their decision-making processes.

Building Product Manufacturers: Don't Miss The Building Content Summit

The commercial building industry has been undergoing immense change over the past 5-10 years largely driven by the adoption of BIM. 

BCS brings Architects, Engineers and Contractors together with Building Product Manufacturers (BPM’s) and Solution Providers to discuss changes in the way content is developed, distributed, selected and specified within the global BIM workflow. The needs of Design professionals are constantly evolving toward richer, data driven, multi-format product information.