After a career in product development and CAD system support at a component manufacturer, Achim Angel left the corporate world in 1998 and founded KiM GmbH. The vision: to make CAD data from product manufacturers available to designers worldwide via the Internet. Coming from a mechanical engineering background, he initially set up the company as an engineering office and thus laid the foundations. Today, KiM is an expert in the configuration and 3D visualization of multi-variant assemblies and individual parts and impresses customers all over the world with its CAD and BIM publishing solutions.
"We attach great importance to creating an authentic and trusting environment for customers and employees. We have retained this spirit as 4PACE: People are at the center of our work."
Slow but steady – this is how KiM’s growth can be described. The years following the company’s foundation are therefore dominated by software product development in order to create a stable foundation. The company is gradually tapping into other sectors in addition to mechanical and plant engineering and expanding its portfolio to include innovative communication solutions such as 3D animations or VR and AR applications.
Every crisis also holds an opportunity. This is also the case at KiM. While the company establishes itself as an engineering and design office during and after the founding years, the economic crisis of 2009 triggers a definitive structural shift: KiM finally developed from a planning and consulting company into a software house. This change ultimately becomes a significant driver in the area of product development around the in-house CADClick® technology.
By working closely with designers and manufacturers, KiM quickly recognizes their challenges: Detailed CAD models for production slow down the configuration process and carry the risk of passing on sensitive product knowledge. The idea behind CADClick®? Geometry data in one data source, system-neutral and parametrically prepared and output in various 2D/3D formats. The product will be launched for the first time at the eCatalogConference.
From 2012, customers from the mechanical and plant engineering sector are joined by electrical engineers and furniture suppliers. And thanks to an expansion of the portfolio to include high-performance BIM publishing solutions, KiM tapped into the construction supply industry a few years later. The range of services is also growing: KiM has been pushing the areas of UI/UX, 3D animation, VR and AR since 2015 and has been inspiring customers with innovative communication solutions ever since.
At the end of the 1990s, contact was established with Plan Software via a joint partner company. What began with the development of a patented solution for generating 3D and 2D CAD models on the Internet to accompany configurations developed into a partnership that also won over industry giants such as SIEMENS. In 2023, this collaboration culminates in the founding of the umbrella company 4PACE with locations in Germany and Switzerland.
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