London Taxis Use SMARTEAM and CATIA V5 for Comfort and Safety Innovations

Powerful solutions help LTI Vehicles adapt world famous black cabs to global markets

Britain’s premier manufacturer of purpose-built taxis, LTI Vehicles, is using CATIA V5 and SMARTEAM to develop its entire line of vehicles. The software solutions will help taxi design teams implement new features to make the vehicles more comfortable, convenient and safe.

LTI Vehicles cited increased global demand for its taxis and the ensuing expansion of product variations as the critical reason for the investment in PLM. As more of LTI’s vehicles are designed for export, they must meet varying customer demands and international vehicle regulations. Hailed as the world’s best purpose-built taxi, LTI’s new TXII is the centerpiece of the company’s technological transformation and the base for a new family of taxis to be designed and built over the next decade. Using CATIA and SMARTEAM, LTI engineers will maintain the taxis’ globally-recognized form and enhance them with a wealth of built-in features that offer comfort, convenience and safety and also satisfy the needs of wheelchair users and the visually and hearing impaired. The easy-to-use product development platform will enable the engineers to focus on innovation, rather than data entry.

With all data migrated from the legacy system to the new solution and initial training complete, LTI is in the process of streamlining processes and developing best practices. “We’re advancing much more quickly than we ever thought possible,” said Ian Mullen, LTI Vehicles manufacturing director.

The LTI solution is being deployed by CenitDesktop, a Premier IBM Business Partner that sells IBM PLM Solutions, including CATIA, ENOVIA, and SMARTEAM, as well as IBM middleware and services.

DELMIA Corp. Announces 2004 Worldwide User Conferences
Focus on Innovation: Conferences will allow attendees to explore how digital manufacturing completes the product lifecycle management vision

Focus on Innovation: Conferences will allow attendees to explore how digital manufacturing completes the product lifecycle management vision

DELMIA Corp., a Dassault Systèmes company announced dates and locations for its 2004 Worldwide User Conferences, which will feature the theme “Focus on Innovation.” The North American conference will take place at the Northfield Hilton in Troy, Mich., on October 5-6. DELMIA Corp. will also hold conferences in Fellbach, Germany, on October 20-21, and in Tokyo, Japan, on November 16-17.

These annual conferences provide a forum for prominent representatives of the automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, and defense industries to exchange of ideas and information about the digital manufacturing arena. The first day of each conference will focus on executive and management presentations, while day two will feature presentations from DELMIA users in the automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, defense, and electronics industries. The conferences will also include workshops focused on specific subject areas for users in various industries.

This year’s keynote presenter at the North American conference will be Dr. Michael Grieves, co-director of the PLM Development Consortium at the University of Michigan. Dr. Grieves has more than 30 years of experience in the computer and data communications industries. Featured speaker Bernard Charlès, president and CEO of Dassault Systèmes, will present his company’s PLM vision, highlighting DELMIA’s key role in PLM.

Last year, more than 1200 people attended DELMIA’s User Conferences, representing more than 200 companies and 15 countries. For more information, visit DELMIA’s official conference website at www.delmia-uc.com. Additional inquiries can be made by sending an email to uc2004@delmia.com or calling 248-267-9696. Facility capacity is limited, so early registration is recommended.