Cessna's Next-Generation Flyby
Jim Strawn, Cessna Aircraft Co.

"It will set new standards in performance, comfort and safety, and will be backed by Cessna's worldwide sales, distribution, training and service infrastructure," said Cessna CEO and president, Jack Pelton of the company's "Next Generation Piston Aircraft" (NGP). The design's surprise appearance came during Monday's unveiling of Cessna's concept LSA (which was expected). The unannounced arrival of Cessna's NGP, however, simply dropped jaws. A close look shows fixed tricycle gear, a cantilever forward-swept wing, front and back access doors plus a baggage door, and subtle compound curves. With the introduction of two brand new aircraft designs -- the proof-of-concept LSA, and the forward-swept wing five-place(?) piston-single -- Cessna has re-entered the race and put its money where its mouth is. Gaping jaws and visible goose bumps (in the balmy mid-western heat) were a dime a dozen during the aircraft's three circuits, but hard numbers are still to come. Cessna says the aircraft, flying out of the company's Wichita facilities, has since June 23 accumulated more than 20 hours in its development program.

Cessna LSA Unveiled
The proposed Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) made its debut at AirVenture Oshkosh to an eager sun-drenched crowd. LSA's are defined by a maximum gross weight of 1,320 pounds, maximum level-flight speed of 120 knots, and no more than two seats ... so that much was no surprise. Cessna's uncommitted proof-of-concept (click for images) offering features a strutted high wing spanning 30 feet and side-by-side seating in a cabin with a maximum width of 48 inches (hop into your local Cessna 152 and add six inches). The cockpit is accessed via upward opening doors and sports large windows and dual control sticks. Targeting pleasure flyers and new pilots the aircraft sits on tricycle gear, steers (while on the ground) via toe brakes (plus a castering nose wheel), and is pulled aloft by a 100-hp Rotax 912 engine. Construction is mostly aluminum, with selective use of composites for the cowl, wing and dorsal fin. Cessna chairman, president and CEO, Jack Pelton, said first flight of the aircraft is planned for later this year. Cessna says reaction to the aircraft will help determine whether the company will enter into the budding LSA sector.  

Ford Designates CATIA V5 as Global Design and Engineering Standard for All New Vehicle Development
Reinforces Commitment to IBM and Dassault Systèmes’ PLM Solutions for New Product Development

IBM and Dassault Systèmes announced that Ford Motor Company has extended its multi-year contract, which designates CATIA V5 as the global design and engineering standard for all new vehicle and powertrain systems development. A component of the CATIA V5 solution at Ford is the Engineering Hub, which provides a native V5 environment for sophisticated access and management of CATIA V5 within Ford’s C3P NG platform. This C3P NG solution is used for new product development across the Ford extended enterprise and within Ford affiliated companies. This helps Ford, at a global level, to continue streamlining digital product development processes - fostering both innovation and competitiveness - and accelerating time-to-market.

C3P NG is Ford’s product development platform, which delivers the next level of digital product capabilities to all brand partners in Ford Motor Company, effectively conducting enterprise-wide vehicle and technology product creation.

CATIA V5’s ability to quickly adapt a design for other vehicles on the same platform is critical to making gains in an overall corporate product development process, and is directly contributing to Ford’s goal of reducing product development costs and increasing product quality. Used by Ford since 2003, CATIA V5 was first implemented on the Body-in-White development of the new Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln Zephyr vehicles, helping Ford reduce its overall digital development time. Use of CATIA V5 has expanded into other vehicle programs and functional domains, including chassis, electrical and interior.

John Porter, vice-president, Product Lifecycle Management, IBM Americas, commented: “This PLM agreement expands and strengthens the existing relationship between IBM and Ford Motor Company, and outlines IBM's commitment in enabling Ford to design best-in-class vehicles. Ford’s decision to expand their relationship with us is proof positive that they view our PLM solutions as key to their innovation and business growth. This further strengthens our position in the automotive industry.”

“Dassault Systèmes CATIA V5 PLM is all about fueling innovation. Ford’s focus is on quality, innovation and competitiveness and Dassault Systemes’ solutions are helping meet that challenge,” said Joel Lemke, CEO of Dassault Systèmes’ ENOVIA brand and the company’s global Ford executive. “CATIA V5 is delivering higher quality design information earlier in the Ford vehicle development process than ever before.“

“The Engineering Hub manages ’engineering-owned’ intellectual property gathered during the product life cycle, and provides a consistent information infrastructure, supporting the complex Web of inter-relationships that relate individual data components,“ continued Lemke.

Airbus Expands Commitment to PLM Solutions from IBM and Dassault Systèmes for Product Development Projects
ENOVIA: standardizing virtual product development processes

IBM and Dassault Systèmes announced that Airbus has selected ENOVIA VPLM, their 3-D collaborative Virtual Product Lifecycle Management solution, combined with CATIA, to standardize product development processes. Airbus is extending its ENOVIA VPLM user base to several thousand users, emphasizing the company’s commitment to IBM and DS’ PLM solutions.

The ENOVIA VPLM solution has demonstrated its capabilities as an integrated part of the Airbus Enterprise Data Management system, enabling Airbus to perform digital mock-up reviews and clash detection earlier in the process. Due to the demonstrated benefits, Airbus has decided to expand the usage of ENOVIA VPLM to all programs. The CATIA and ENOVIA VPLM combination is becoming the standard environment for all new programs at Airbus.

“Increased collaboration and the ability to capitalize on past projects are critical to clients' ability to drive a profitable innovation strategy. This is especially true in complex aircraft projects,” says Hervé Rolland, vice-president, Product Lifecycle Management, IBM Southwest Europe. “Using our PLM solutions, Airbus will be able to better address clients’ specific needs, while reducing costs and product development time.”

“This decision by Airbus reflects the strength of our partnership and our commitment to the company’s future development,” says Etienne Droit, executive vice-president PLM Sales and Distribution, Dassault Systèmes. “The Airbus teams on each program will access a standardized configured Digital Mock-Up, and capitalize on the developments of previous and current projects. This will facilitate design and knowledge re-use, enabling innovation and accelerated product development.”

Latest news regarding Dassault Technology at Boeing
Dear Dassault Systèmes Customer: We'd like to share with you some updates - and corrections - on the remarkable progress we're making at Boeing. We would also like to provide couple of recent Boeing DS articles, with testimonials from executives and end users.

Interview: Boeing CIO Scott Griffin
CIO Today, Published Jan 06
http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=1030001RQL4J

Q: CIO Today: What are one or two software or hardware products your company uses that you would describe as outstanding?
A: S. Griffin: Dassault provides the core of our PLM systems suite. Within this suite is CATIA V5, which provides digital product definition and simulation; Enovia, which provides integrated solutions to simulate the entire product lifecycle; and Delmia, which enables us to develop and anticipate optimal processes for our manufacturing needs. The design of parts, plans, tools, and processes across the supply chain is changing the way we design, build, deliver and support our products. PLM makes all of that possible.

Clarification of DS and UGS roles at Boeing On July 17, UGS issued a press release which describes their role as the standard for data management at Boeing. In reality, this press release validates the fact that they have been relegated to the role of data management, a function necessary to support certain internal Boeing applications. But make no mistake, data management is not PLM!

As announced and confirmed by Boeing many times since February 2004, the complete lifecycle of every Boeing aircraft program will be managed in V5, with CATIA, ENOVIA, DELMIA, SIMULIA providing the “Go Forward” PLM solutions for all current and future programs. We would also like you to know that Boeing put the UGS press release on hold for almost nine months while we completed the rollout of our 787 partnership and the proliferation of our Global Collaborative environment (GCE) to all risk-sharing partners.
Today GCE is a great success, widely deployed across thousands of engineers at 135 sites around the world.

In summary, this press release is good news for DS as it confirms that UGS is limited to data management and DS will remain the PLM system of record and partner of choice at Boeing.

Improving Processes Through Shared Work
Automation World, Published July 06
http://www.automationworld.com/articles/Features/2407.html?ppr_key=07.2006&sky_key=07.2006&term=07.2006

Using Dassault Systèmes' PLM suite, Boeing created a collaborative design network that includes more than 100 vendor partners around the world. Boeing and its vendors leverage CATIA, Enovia and Delmia solutions to digitally design, build and test every aspect of the 787 plane and its manufacturing processes prior to assembly.