Volvo orders ENOVIA PDM II Solutions for Vehicle Development

IBM*, Dassault Systemes** and Volvo Information Technology AB today jointly announced the signing of a contract in which Volvo will purchase from IBM ENOVIA** PDM II software. Volvo's intent is that ultimately 20,000 employees will use the system.

Goteborg, Sweden...October 21st, 1998--As part of the agreement, Volvo is participating with IBM and ENOVIA Corp. to develop an automotive focussed PDM II solution exploiting ENOVIAPM (ProductManager) and ENOVIAVPM (Virtual Product Model) software. ENOVIA Solutions are developed by the ENOVIA Corp.,** a new, wholly-owned subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes and marketed, sold and supported worldwide by IBM.

"Implementing a fully digital, process-oriented extended enterprise is a key goal of the Volvo Group business strategy," said Magnus Carlander, vice-president of strategic technologies, Volvo Information Technologies. "Achieving tighter integration of concurrent engineering and manufacturing processes is critical in helping us meet shorter production lead times while assuring quality and customer satisfaction. We believe the complementary technologies from the strategic partnership between IBM and Dassault Systèmes will have a significant impact on the market, and particularly for the Volvo Group."

When the ENOVIA Solutions are fully implemented, as many as 20,000 Volvo design, development, manufacturing, sales, and support employees will be involved.

"Our shared goal with Volvo is to make the vision of a digital enterprise a reality," said Stephen Murdoch, global PDM II business director for IBM. "This will help Volvo increase market share by getting highly innovative products to market faster. Success is dependent not only on the outstanding solutions from ENOVIA, but also on IBM's skills in enterprise wide implementation to support enhanced business processes."

Joel Lemke, chief executive officer of ENOVIA Corp., said: "Our two world-class product lines provide integrated solutions which enable the simulation and optimization of product geometry and production processes throughout the entire product life cycle and across an extended enterprise. This will give companies like Volvo the ability to bring better products to market faster."