Since 1985, PTC has focused on helping manufacturers design, build, and service products more effectively - pioneering technologies that have repeatedly reshaped the CAD landscape.
PTC’s defining moment came in 1988 with the launch of Pro/ENGINEER, the first commercially successful parametric, associative, feature-based solid modeling system. This shift from 2D drafting to 3D parametric CAD allowed engineers to embed design intent directly into the model through parameters and constraints. Its associative architecture meant updates cascaded automatically across parts and assemblies, dramatically improving engineering productivity. Major manufacturers quickly adopted the technology—John Deere became PTC’s first customer in 1988, followed soon by Caterpillar, signaling Pro/ENGINEER’s transformative impact.
In 1998, PTC broadened its scope with Windchill, the industry’s first internet-based PLM solution. Windchill enabled distributed teams to collaborate through a shared web architecture, expanding visibility across the product lifecycle. The acquisition of Computervision Corp. further strengthened PTC’s ability to integrate product data across engineering, manufacturing, and service—key pillars of what would become PTC’s “digital thread” strategy.
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, PTC expanded its CAD capability through targeted acquisitions:
In 2010, PTC introduced Creo, unifying parametric and direct modeling—leveraging CoCreate technology while modernizing visualization, data management, and usability. By 2019, Creo included simulation, additive manufacturing, and integrated AR, reflecting PTC’s ongoing investment in core engineering tools.
PTC partnered with Ansys in 2018 to embed real-time simulation into Creo, launching Creo Simulation Live (CSL) for real-time structural, thermal, and modal analysis. In 2020, Creo Ansys Simulation (CAS) introduced high-fidelity Ansys solvers for advanced analysis. These design tools now support fluid dynamics, multi-physics, nonlinear contact, and thermal-structural coupling.
The goal of this partnership is to democratize simulation, making simulation accessible to design engineers early in the process, reducing prototypes, accelerating development, and improving quality through Simulation-Driven Design (SDD).
In 2025, Ansys was acquired by electronics and silicon leader Synopsys, opening new opportunities to expand SDD capabilities.
PTC’s acquisition of Onshape in November 2019 marked its entry into full cloud SaaS CAD. Onshape delivers CAD, built-in data management, and real-time collaboration directly through the browser—eliminating installations, upgrades, and file-based workflows. Its multi-tenant architecture supports concurrent modeling and data that is always up to date, making it a key pillar of PTC’s multimodal CAD strategy.
In May 2023, PTC launched Creo+, bringing Creo’s full modeling power to a SaaS environment built on the PTC Atlas platform. Creo+ introduces real-time co-design, branching and merging tools, cloud-based license management through PTC Control Center, and centralized deployment—all while remaining fully upward compatible with on-premises Creo. This hybrid approach lets organizations adopt SaaS at their own pace without sacrificing familiarity or performance.
PTC is now embedding AI across its portfolio to accelerate engineering and decision-making. The company’s strategy focuses on three outcomes:
From pioneering parametric CAD to leading cloud native and AI-powered engineering, PTC continues to evolve the digital tools that help manufacturers design smarter, operate more efficiently, and deliver better products faster. With class-leading engineering software and an AI strategy built around advising, assisting, and automating, PTC remains committed to shaping the future of product development.
To learn more, please visit www.ptc.com/creo.
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Download NowSteve is PTC’s Creo Product Marketing Director. In this role, Steve is focused on communicating the competitive advantages of PTC’s award-winning Creo, Creo Elements/Direct and Mathcad solutions. His career spans the aerospace, consumer appliances, and consumer electronics industries.
Steve is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and Business Administration from UCLA.