Nilfisk-Advance Expands Product Lifecycle Management Solution from IBM and Dassault Systèmes

Extended PLM platform will provide unparalleled collaboration throughout enterprise to accelerate product development

Paris, France and Brøndby, Denmark, March 3, 2003 – IBM and Dassault Systèmes (Nasdaq: DASTY, Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) today announced the signing of a contract with Nilfisk-Advance, one of the world's leading suppliers of cleaning equipment, for the expansion and consolidation of the company’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform.

IBM PLM solutions will enable Nilfisk-Advance development teams to benefit from faster product design and improved collaboration with software developed by Dassault Systèmes – CATIA® V5 for collaborative product development, and ENOVIA™ Portal and SMARTEAM® for collaborative lifecycle management. IBM Business Partner Semcon, one of Scandinavia’s leading design and R&D consulting businesses, will oversee implementation of the PLM solution.

The professional vacuum cleaner division of Nilfisk-Advance, a small-to-medium-sized business (SMB) has a ten-year long history of choosing IBM PLM solutions, starting in 1993. In 1999, Nilfisk-Advance standardized the use of the PLM solution across the entire division. A year later, it deployed CATIA V5 with TeamPDM for product design. Overall, there has been a reduction of the design phase time of the projects by 30%.

“Since we work with 3D models from the early sketch phase throughout the lifecycle of projects, we need a strong PLM solution,” said Jan Sjöberg, research and development manager at Nilfisk-Advance Competence Centre Vacs. “IBM PLM solutions with software developed by Dassault Systèmes enable us to enhance integration of inter-company functions and key suppliers involved in the product development process. Already, we have seen improvements in both efficiency and process precision. Fully implemented, we see the system as being a communication and documentation tool handling all product data.”

“IBM PLM is transforming the way that traditional manufacturers are building and selling their products,” said Raimo Nikkila, manager of Nordics, IBM PLM. “We help our customers, like Nilfisk-Advance, to become more responsive to customer needs, more variable in their service and customer care offerings, and, most importantly, more focused on building better products. In other words, we are helping them to progressively become 'on demand' companies.”

“Dassault Systemes’ seamlessly integrated CATIA, SMARTEAM and ENOVIA Portal solutions provide a complete collaborative product development and lifecycle management platform for Nilfisk-Advance," said Jean-Pierre Merx, business development manager of Fabrication and Assembly, Dassault Systèmes. “Since our PLM solutions are scalable, the company can grow the platform as required, helping it to optimize product quality and cost, inspire innovation, and lead the cleaning equipment industry into the future.”