Company Overview

AutoSTAGE is a German company that builds planning solutions for the event industry.

The company offers customized software tools for creating professional CAD plans,

engineering designs, and visual images for fair, exhibition, theatre and live entertain-

ment production. The inspiration for AutoSTAGE came from simple AutoCAD plugins

Founder Jens Mueller used almost 15 years ago during a lighting internship in Los

Angeles while pursuing his media engineering degree. Though the plugins were only

a collection of blocks built for the US industry, Mueller wondered if a more robust

solution could work for the German market.

The idea resurfaced a short time later when clients started asking him for professional

planning services for their events. He realized there was an unmet need in the industry

for planning software targeting engineers and technical planners. He seized the

opportunity to turn his lighting and events expertise towards creating AutoSTAGE.

The Challenge

Mueller focused his initial development efforts on building a powerful AutoCAD

design plugin. While his customers and smaller events companies were eager to

try his solution, he often found they could not afford the AutoCAD license required to

use it. It was a product challenge that threatened to stall the company’s growth. At

the same time, larger competitors

were beginning to enter the event

planning market and the first ver-

sion of AutoSTAGE was rapidly

approaching obsolescence. Muel-

ler had to move fast to address

accessibility and affordability if

AutoSTAGE was going to survive.

Business Profile

Product Using TS3D Components:AutoSTAGE

Industry Focus:Planning Software for the Event Industry

Company Website:www.autostage.de

About Tech Soft 3DTech Soft 3D is the leading global B2Dprovider of engineering solutions thathelp software teams deliver successfulapplications.

Established in 1996 and headquarteredin Bend, Oregon, Tech Soft 3D has offices in California, France, England and Japan.

The company’s product portfolio powers nearly 500 applications globally and includes the HOOPS suite of software tools, 3D PDF solutions and Autodesk OEM products.

“The competition we face is very fierce. We have some really big competition in Germany, and it’s basically just me and some students up against a company with 120 employees. It is a David and Goliath competition, but we are competing.”

- Jens Mueller, Founder & CEO

Customer Story: AutoSTAGE

“I found out pretty quickly that AutoCAD OEM enabled me to get more customers, to build something that is very easy to implement from the development stage, and to capture a new audience.”

- Jens Mueller, Founder & CEO

The Decision to use AUTOCAD OEM

Following a multi-year rebuild effort for the second version of AutoSTAGE as an AutoCAD plugin, a well-timed conversation with

TechSoft3D prompted Mueller to consider building on AutoCAD OEM instead. He realized that by utilizing AutoCAD OEM, he could:

• Leverage the existing capabilities of the market-leading AutoCAD software to speed up development and improve client access.

• Integrate the valuable technology he had already developed for his AutoCAD plug-in and use it as stand-alone software customized

and branded for his market.

Implementation

As the company’s sole developer, Mueller leveraged the AutoCAD OEM development platform to speed up development and quickly turn

his plugin into a fully branded, customized OEM version of AutoSTAGE. Removing unwanted features and adding the AutoSTAGE plugin

was a seamless process. He was also able to rapidly integrate customer requirements, and apply UI and branding.

The Result

Using AutoCAD OEM allowed the company to significantly reduce its development timeline. The new software-based version also

removed past barriers to entry, providing AutoSTAGE with opportunities to broaden its current market and plan for future expansion into

other European countries and beyond. Most importantly, the company was able to take on larger competitors while continuing to focus

on its own innovation and growth.

All information subject to change without notice.Copyright © 2017 Tech Soft 3D. All rights reserved.

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