Dassault Systèmes and IBM Announce Version 5 Release 12 of their Product Lifecycle Management Portfolio

V5R12 introduces Collaborative PLM for on demand businesses – placing collaboration at the heart of PLM, bringing significant additional business value to manufacturers.

Dassault Systèmes and IBM announced the release of Version 5 Release 12 (V5R12) of their product lifecycle management (PLM) portfolio, comprised of CATIA for collaborative product development, and ENOVIA and SMARTEAM for lifecycle management, collaboration and decision support. Concurrently, Dassault Systèmes announced V5R12 of DELMIA for the engineering of lean manufacturing processes.

V5R12 introduces the next step in the evolution of Dassault Systèmes and IBM’s PLM portfolio -- Collaborative PLM for on demand businesses. V5R12 allows critical PLM components to be merged in collaborative workspaces allowing lifecycle management and product design activities to be conducted in parallel while ensuring synchronization of collaboration in the context of correct, up-to-date data. New capabilities in ENOVIA Portal 3d com, including enhanced CATIA-ENOVIA integration, allow 3D data, product structure, and other relevant product information to be shared in real-time through web portals.

With collaboration at the heart of PLM, V5R12 enables companies to move one step closer to becoming on demand businesses. It helps them to focus on their products, become more agile, deliver right-to-market products, and achieve lean manufacturing. The new V5R12 product portfolio brings business value to manufacturers in the following areas:

Core Business - V5R12 enables companies to organize activities around their core business and focus on products. For example, it delivers built-in lifecycle management functions that enable designers to focus on the creative aspect of their jobs while complying with standard corporate processes and certain government regulations. V5R12 redraws the boundaries between traditional product authoring and PDM-related activities, providing users with unified PLM workspaces in which they can process all facets of their activity.

Content for Collaboration - V5R12 helps companies deliver the right content for collaboration throughout the product lifecycle. This improves exchanges between extended enterprise teams and helps businesses respond rapidly to market change. For example, it integrates 3D product visualization functions and navigation within related manufacturing data (process and resources) into standard web portals such as those created with IBM Websphere. It also seamlessly integrates 3D instant collaboration and leverages IBM’s Lotus Sametime instant collaboration application.

Requirements and Specifications - V5R12 allows companies to better link product design with requirement and specification management in order to dynamically adapt to market demand. For example, it integrates specification-driven modeling for molded parts based on revolutionary functional modeling technology from pioneering software company ImpactXoft. It also advances requirements and functional management in system engineering for electronics through enhanced tools and innovative best practices.

Manufacturing Resources - V5R12 provides a unified workspace that connects product creation and manufacturing resources definition to help companies make cost-efficient production decisions. For example, it delivers new capabilities for selecting optimal manufacturing resources and minimizes tooling costs through maximizing reuse. It also introduces a new set of generative tooling PLM Best Practices that facilitate resources standardization and help tooling suppliers decrease costs and win more business.

Additional Highlights - In addition to collaborative workspaces, V5R12 offers improved deployability with enhancements that include: new products for small to medium-sized businesses (SMB) such as a new tool for quick surface development, improved functionalities for sheet metal parts design, and enhanced CATIA-SMARTEAM integration; core business-oriented features such as predefined lifecycle management methodologies for the electronics industry and new industry-specific applications; improved adaptability for legacy operating environments via extended multi-CAD support and enhanced IBM Websphere and Microsoft .NET support. Finally, the V5R12 portfolio is designed to enable industry-proven PLM methodologies to optimize the manufacturing process.

“With V5R12 Collaborative PLM, we unveil the next phase of our development strategy for PLM,” said Bernard Charlès, president and CEO of Dassault Systèmes. “The goal of Collaborative PLM for on demand businesses is to help companies focus on their strengths, adapt quickly, minimize costs, and remain flexible. Collaborative PLM is more than simply integrating the different components of a PLM portfolio. It is about giving businesses a completely integrated, collaborative, enterprise-wide PLM system that enables them to create value in competitive markets.”

"We made a strategic business decision earlier this year to develop our business in the aerospace supply chain and the PLM solutions from IBM and Dassault Systèmes are core to this strategy, said Chris Hewitt, business manager, Resource Group, an engineering service provider based in the United Kingdom. “These solutions not only enable us to design and manufacture parts, but more importantly, have allowed us to optimize the design through manufacturing process.  As aerospace OEM's such as Airbus and Boeing outsource more work packages to the supply chain, they are increasingly focusing on the tools and methods used in the execution. In less than one month, we were able to rapidly align with Airbus using the

CATIA V5 applications that are the standard in the aerospace industry. In addition, we are now able to offer a true business benefit to our customers by using the solutions to develop new methods to cut waste, combine processes and increase quality. Thumbs up to IBM and Dassault Systemes for their PLM solution that supports our business!"

V5R12 Brand Highlights: (for detailed V5R12 brand information, visit http://www.ibm.com/solutions/plm)

CATIA for collaborative product development – delivers a breakthrough in product design with the introduction of a revolutionary functional modeling approach. V5R12 also reinforces CATIA’s leadership position in industry business processes with new products and features that turn experience into advantage.

ENOVIA for lifecycle management and decision support – further advances key PLM business processes in the Automotive, Aerospace, and Shipbuilding industries through significant improvements in 3D instant collaboration, CATIA integration, supply chain data exchanges, and overall system deployability.

SMARTEAM for lifecycle and product data management - boosts enterprise PLM proliferation through unrivalled system extendibility, behavior-rich flexibility, robust WebSphere support and report-enabled decision support.

DELMIA for the engineering of lean manufacturing processes – includes automotive industry enhancements such as superior Body in White process planning and strengthened automatic assembly line balancing. Other improvements include NC machining and human task simulation improvements.

IBM Establishes Industry-Focused Product Lifecycle Management Centers of Competency

IBM recently announced the establishment of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Centers of Competency (CoCs) that will focus on selected industries.

IBM PLM solutions, with CATIA for collaborative product development, and ENOVIA and SMARTEAM for lifecycle management, collaboration and decision support, help manufacturers of all types innovate, improve quality, and reduce costs and product development times. They also enable them to collaborate internally, across geographic boundaries and with suppliers.

The principal activity of PLM Centers of Competency will be to implement the latest PLM technologies that support the automotive, aerospace and defense, fabrication and assembly, electronics, shipbuilding, chemical & petroleum and consumer packaged goods industries. As an example, the A&D Center of Competency will focus on improving processes in the area of aircraft structure development. Customers will be closely involved in the research and development of their PLM platforms. Customers wanting to rapidly gain the benefits and value of solutions, tailored to meet the demands of their industry, will be able to work closely with IBM in the Centers of Competency. The best IBM talents will help them succeed their PLM implementation platforms.

“IBM PLM's major focus is on ensuring our solutions meet our customers’ needs and bring value. Increasing the value of the PLM solutions to meet customer needs. Therefore, we reached the conclusion that our Centers of Competency had to be considering specific business requirements, we felt that the competency centers should specialized by industry in industries,” said Herve Rolland, Vice-President, Global PLM Sales Development.  “We have appointed some of the best consultants in IBM PLM to our Centers of Competency to create foster “best-of-breed” PLM solutions and improved offerings, and industry processes for our customers.”

Evernham Motorsports Goes to the Races with CATIA and SMARTEAM

Leading NASCAR team will use PLM to accelerate design, construction and maintenance of faster race cars.

IBM and Dassault Systèmes today announced the signing of a contract for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions with Evernham Motorsports LLC, a leading NASCAR Winston Cup Series race team.

IBM PLM Solutions, with CATIA V5 for collaborative product development and SMARTEAM for collaborative lifecycle management from Dassault Systèmes, will allow Evernham Motorsports to develop high performance race cars through virtual testing rather than building costly, full-scale physical prototypes.

Additionally, Evernham Motorsports will integrate the new PLM platform with its own inventory and maintenance programs. By linking with PLM Solutions from IBM and Dassault Systèmes, Evernham engineers will make design modifications while accessing car building-material information, field usage statistics, and inventory all in one streamlined view, saving precious hours between races. This will allow Evernham Motorsports to gain efficiencies and focus more time on innovative ways to build faster, safer competition vehicles.

“With 38 races per season and constant changes and revisions to our race cars, our down time has to be undetectable,” said Dr. Eric Warren, Technical Director, Evernham Motorsports. “We want to streamline our approach and coordinate everything from manufacturing to maintenance. IBM PLM Solutions with Dassault Systèmes software have given us the tools to organize the entire flow of product data.”

“Each season, NASCAR teams must develop new, complex parts and assemblies, all the while complying with strict stock car racing technical and regulatory specifications,” said Marcelo Lemos, President, Dassault Systemes of America. “CATIA’s exceptional collaborative product definition capabilities coupled with SMARTEAM’s leading-edge data management features will give Evernham Motorsports the accelerated advantage required to build innovative, winning race cars.”

The hardware platform chosen for the new PLM system is comprised of IBM M Pro and Z Pro IntelliStations and an IBM X Series eServer.

About Evernham Motorsports

Evernham Motorsports is a professional race team fielding two cars, the No. 9 and the No. 19 Dodge Intrepids, in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Evernham Motorsports is committed to building championship race teams through dedication, teamwork and technology. For more information about Evernham Motorsports, log on to http://www.evernhammotorsports.com.

SMARTEAM Brings PLM Value to Aerospace

SMARTEAM brings to the regulated aerospace industry the ability to securely extend and leverage the supply chain, spurring innovation and reducing costs, without compromising product quality, exposing proprietary know-how or jeopardizing process consistency or precision.

SMARTEAM helps aerospace manufacturers across the supply chain manage product knowledge throughout the product lifecycle, creating a platform that integrates with the Dassault Systemes PLM offering (including CATIA, DELMIA, and ENOVIA). SMARTEAM optimizes product data management through the secure sharing of product information with extended enterprise actors (suppliers, OEMs, customers), creates business intelligence from product information and supports effective decision-making.

Some Success Stories

Confident that investing in top PLM technology will both optimize its product design and increase the volume of its maintenance service business for military and commercial aircraft, Chile’s national aeronautical manufacturer ENAER chose CATIA and SMARTEAM for its total PLM solution.

ENAER, a major supplier to Embraer Brazil and to the aeronautical industry across Latin America, chose a CATIA–SMARTEAM solution to tie together its design, engineering and manufacturing processes, as well as to link its widely dispersed suppliers and customers. The solution will standardize ENAER’s entire product development platform and reduce costs.

Equipped with this advanced PLM technology, ENAER will be able to offer other aerospace manufacturers solutions for the conception, design and manufacture of aircraft parts and structures, further reinforcing its leadership position in the aeronautical industry.

SMARTEAM gives MicroTurbo the power to manage product development and production in a way that is profitable and efficient in a market environment that is extremely competitive.

In today’s complex supply chains, vendors to the aerospace industry must respond to shorter lead times, must support multiple design environments and must beat global competition while meeting expectations of producing consistently high quality products. One such aerospace supplier, MicroTurbo deploys CATIA V5 and SMARTEAM to create, analyze and produce turbines and manage the entire cycle of its product development.

MicroTurbo is one of the world’s leading producers of turbines used in airplanes, helicopters as well as for missile and target propulsion. SMARTEAM, which integrates completely with CATIA V5, passed the MicroTurbo evaluation by demonstrating its capacity to manage all product data generated during the development process of the project.

The director of turbomachine and system engineering remarked that the solution will enable MicroTurbo to more easily and accurately manage the data produced by the engineering design team, from modifications in the conception phase to changes in the composition of complex parts, including migration from the old environment in a single step.