Can SOLIDWORKS Be the Amazon for Engineers?

Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO of SOLIDWORKS, announced a bold vision for parent company Dassault Systèmes at SOLIDWORKS World 2018: “We want to become the Amazon for engineers."
That’s Amazon as in the online retail giant, not the rainforest-but even still, it’s a lofty goal. So, how exactly is SOLIDWORKS and Dassault Systèmes attempting to realize it? With an online platform of their own, the 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace.
The 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace is a cloud-based trading platform connecting engineers, designers, and manufacturers. There are two main parts of the Marketplace: Make and PartSupply, offering on-demand manufacturing and intelligent part sourcing, respectively.
3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace Make harkens back to one of the forecasts from our CAD Predictions for 2018 article: that on-demand manufacturing will become more and more prominent. The 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace currently boasts 50 digital manufacturers with over 500 machines and provides an interface to easily connect designers and manufacturers.