Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA Integral Part of PreMade Project

DTI Funded Project Aims to Develop University Research and Lean Principles

Auburn Hills, MI., USA and Belfast, Northern Ireland, March 27, 2007 - Dassault Systèmes (DS) (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced that DELMIA digital manufacturing solutions will be playing an important part in the PreMade Project, which is utilizing and developing advanced lean and cost modeling capabilities within digital manufacturing software. 

“We’ve been using DELMIA software in the Northern Ireland Technology Centre at QUB with small to medium-sized businesses for over five years and have recently worked with Bombardier in a research capacity to develop cost modeling and assembly methods within a DELMIA environment. In a recent pilot study at Bombardier, we were able to identify a 20% financial savings in fuselage manufacture.  Our first focus is on DELMIA and then we will look at how our principles will affect generic PLM implementation,” explains Dr. Richard Curran, Premade’s academic lead and senior lecturer in aerospace engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast. The aim is to develop a methodology for a semi- automated lean decision-making process that will give real-time metrics about each decision made.

“Technological dissemination is key to PreMade. We want to find generic solutions to common problems and embed them in the software, enabling engineers to manage parallel activities, be more flexible, be able to respond to change faster and shorten the combined design and manufacturing cycle for new components,” comments Robert Burke, Premade’s industrial lead and director of Manufacturing Engineering, Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast. The number of variables that have to be considered when designing an aircraft is fantastically complex, so PreMade aims to develop a rigorously defined systems engineering approach, creating a balance between formal discipline and creativity.

The three-year £2.5 million PreMade Project has been awarded £1 million by the DTI Technology Program as part of its second call titled “Design, Simulation, and Modeling.”  The 12 members of the PreMade Project aim to work together to develop a methodology and toolkit to assist in the deployment of lean manufacturing principles. Specifically, cost modeling will be looked at very closely to complement the functionality of DELMIA technology and allow the costs to be generated both with greater accuracy and earlier in the design process.