How Do We Do It?

We have two alternatives:

1. We write a solids package ourselves.
2. We buy one from somebody.

If we choose option 1, I don't believe we can acquire the knowledge necessary to write one from scratch in the time we must, so we must get a head start from somewhere. One possibility is to buy a one-time PADL-2 license from the Production Automation Project-80k lines of Fortran (FLEX, actually), designed to run on a VAX, $50,000--and convert it into something usable. Another possibility is to license the geometry libraries available from Applied Geometry. These libraries represent, perhaps, 15% of a working solids package. Just add code (à la Visual Engineering).

A third possibility is a buyout of a company who has already done all this stuff, have them interface their product to AutoCAD, and sell it as our solids package. That company is Cadetron. Attached is some information on their company and their product. What follows is a proposal for the acquisition of their company and their product, and how it fits into our future: taking over this industry once again.