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Issue Date: December 2000

New product releases well received at European Catia Forum

December 2000

The fourth annual European Catia Forum (ECF) was held at Disneyland Paris during November 2000, with an attendance of more than 2000 users of one of the world's leading computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering software. CG was there to view some of the industry's latest industry trends and innovations.

Organised jointly by IBM and Dassault Systemes, the three-day conference and exhibition focuses on information sharing among designers and engineers from a wide variety of European companies and industries, including aerospace, automotive, consumer goods, electronics and machinery. The 2000 ECF included industry-specific user presentations, workshops and roundtables. Topics covered areas of interest as wide ranging as operating systems, optimisation of peripherals, engineering on the web, ERP systems, specific product applications and product life-cycle management (PLM).
"With well over 100 different and interesting presentations, it was very difficult to choose what to attend," says Graeme Bell, Editor of CG. "The standard of many of the presentations was outstanding and the international appeal of the product was born out in the wide origins of the many speakers - Australia, the Americas, Asia and almost every European country.
"For me, the innovation and relevance of the convention was epitomised by the presentation of the Director of Organisation and IT Engineering at Renault, Jean-Pierre Corniou. His call to business to embrace information technology as an effective business tool would have struck a cord in many a South African business' heart," continued Bell.
For many attendees, the highlight of the forum was the attendance of Alain Prost. Prost Grand Prix, owned by the former Formula One world champion, uses Catia for all its design work.
New release of Catia Version 5
The ECF 2000 also saw the launch of Version 5 Release 5 (V5R5) of Catia. V5R5 is available on the Windows and UNIX platforms, only four months after the availability of V5R4. The 10 new products incorporated in the latest release - bringing to more than 60 the total number of Catia V5 products - further expand the range of Catia V5 applications in such domains as mechanical design, shape design and styling, analysis, equipment and system engineering, NC manufacturing and product synthesis.
With these additions, Catia V5 covers all stages of the product development process - from concept through retirement - using the most effective and efficient overall processes for a broad spectrum of industries. Catia V5R5 also facilitates the integration of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions into the strategic business environments of companies of all sizes, directly bringing improved product quality, reduced development time and costs, and increased competitiveness. The software combines unique product modelling capabilities and integrated associative applications helping to ensure maximum productivity in a collaborative environment during the creation and modification processes of any product - from prismatic components and small product assemblies, to complex power train castings, styled surface components and complex multilevel assemblies.
Said Thomas Saputo, President of Jomico Metal Fabricators, St Louis, Missouri USA, "Catia Version 5's wide range of features allow us the flexibility we need to accommodate customers in a variety of industries, such as automotive, agricultural, medical and aerospace. That is one reason why we selected Catia Version 5 as the standard platform for our component and assembly design in the aerospace, commercial, consumer and electronics industries."
Said Ed Miller, CIMdata President, "With Catia Version 5, Dassault Systemes has made a unique investment to create a new generation system for the CAD/CAM/CAE industry. V5R5 is another step forward in the integration of the product creation process, from initial concept through manufacturing. This Catia release represents industry-unique technology and reinforces the commitment of IBM and Dassault Systemes to apply PLM solutions to support the strategic business processes of companies of all sizes."
New release of Enovia Portal to enhance the collaborative product development process
IBM and Dassault Systemes also introduced Version 5, Release 5 of their Enovia Portal Solutions, a set of e-business solutions for (PLM). The many enhancements and three new products further support collaborative product development among designers, engineers and other professionals throughout the extended enterprise.
This latest version provides easy access to all product data, including geometry, PDM, legacy, PPR (Product Process Resource) and web-based information. It enables all members of the extended enterprise to collaborate in the product lifecycle, using powerful display and manipulation functions, therefore shortening design time and increasing product innovation.
Enovia Portal is an integral part of the Enovia Portfolio, a core IBM PLM solution that cooperates with supply chain, customer relationship and enterprise resource management systems to help companies increase innovation, optimise product lifecycle costs, and address new markets with evolving business models. The software supports multisource engineering design and manufacturing data, including information from Catia, DELMIA, IDEAS, Pro/Engineer, Unigraphics and, new in this release, SolidWorks, SolidEdge, Parasolid and ACIS.
Ken Versprille, Research Director, D.H. Brown Associates: "The enhanced Enovia Portal family provides both flexibility and scalability to companies expanding their reach outward with enterprise-wide e-business ventures across the value chain. The Portal's visualisation of multiCAD data, product structure, synthesis, and simulation, together with integration into the Enovia family of PLM solutions, empowers collaboration and global product development - all reachable from a high performance Windows desktop or a simple browser window."
Martin Jetter, General Manager, IBM Product Lifecycle Management, said, "The enhancements and new products in Enovia Portal Version 5 Release 5 open up new opportunities for customers to focus on innovation as a competitive weapon. Everyone who uses and exploits product data across a company's extended enterprise will find benefit in the new Portal capabilities."
To find out more about the forum or the products released, contact: Geoff Bosman at IBM on (011) 302 8270 or geoffb@za.ibm.com or Maxtec Global Services on (011) 803 6635.
Facts about Catia
* 87% of civilian/commercial aeroplane designers use Catia, 79% of helicopter designers use Catia and 50% of military aeroplane designers use Catia.

* 76% of the world's aircraft designers use Catia, making Catia the world standard for aircraft design.

* 42% of all the cars built in 1999 were designed with Catia.

* 20 of the top 30 automotive manufacturers use Catia as their core design system.

* Four of the top five locomotive and rolling stock manufacturers use Catia.

* Eight of the 11 Formula One teams use Catia for either chassis or engine design.

* Engineers use Catia to design pleasure cruisers, yachts, tankers and submarines.
Bernard Charles, President Dassault Systemes, addressing the Forum on "The challenges and benefits of the implementation of the Digital Enterprise"
Martin Jetter, General Manager of IBM's Product Lifecycle Management Solutions, speaks on 'Imagination for business advantage'


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