PTC: How One Company Changed the CAD Industry

Many of the computing industry’s biggest companies were founded in the 1980s, and Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) was one of the most successful. But like other computer-aided design (CAD) companies, PTC isn’t as known to the general public, in spite of the impact it had on the engineering, design, and manufacturing of so many products used in our daily lives. The company’s familiar arc—from initial formation to expansive growth to setbacks and restructuring—offers insights into the industry’s evolution as well, and while PTC no longer leads the market as it once did, its early innovations continue to affect how products are designed and developed.