Whirlpool Adopts Digital Manufacturing Solutions from Delmia Corp.

World's leading manufacturer of major home appliances links design and manufacturing data for production of new microwave ovens.

Auburn Hills, Mich., USA – May 5, 2004 – Delmia Corp., a Dassault Systèmes company (NASDAQ: DASTY; Euronext Paris: No. 13065, DSY.PA), announced today that Whirlpool Corporation is embarking upon digital manufacturing technology. Whirlpool is achieving this goal thanks to DELMIA Process Engineer and V5 DPM Assembly solutions, linked by the DELMIA Manufacturing Hub.

Anders Claesson, production manager at Whirlpool in Norrkoping, Sweden, explained, “with three new microwave platforms about to be introduced and no integration between our materials and planning system, we recognized it was a good time to move to a digital environment, allowing the sharing and re-use of data across disciplines.”

“In the past, our simple database did not connect CAD data with assembly times or cost of materials and there was no link between the ordering of tools or materials. After studying the marketplace and learning that DELMIA’s Manufacturing Hub could be integrated with our current PDM system, ProductCenter, we realized that product and manufacturing data could be transparently shared. In addition, we will improve our concurrent engineering using Process Engineer and V5 DPM Assembly for process verification and documentation,” continued Claesson

Before adopting the software, Whirlpool ran a pilot program of the DELMIA tools, DELMIA applications engineers were stationed on-site at Whirlpool, helping to implement DELMIA and the work flow around the software, as well as integration with ProductCenter. All the data entry is now complete and Whirlpool’s designers are exploring their virtual prototypes in 3D.

The first family of microwaves has been completed and engineers are gearing up for the next product line. In addition to designing the microwaves in 3D, Whirlpool will rely heavily upon the DELMIA Manufacturing Hub, a data repository that stores both historic and current product, process and resource information. Engineers can continuously update and share the most current data to better manage all processes and equipment orders. Manufacturing processes that can be created and evaluated include time analyses, rough balances, ramp-up scenarios and capacity analyses. The various scenarios are stored in the Hub, allowing engineers quick access to information for reuse and to support decision making.

It is conceived that, in the future, Whirlpool’s Engineering Department will be able to provide CAD models and the engineering bill of materials (EBOM) to develop the necessary assembly processes and manufacturing bill of materials (EBOM) in one seamless and interactive process. The structuring of data analyses and calculations will be handled by V5 DPM and Process Engineering applications.

“Ultimately, we anticipate that DELMIA technology will accelerate time-to-market through faster product and process verification and validation”, said Claesson. “Manual data transfers should become a thing of the past and our assembly line workers may even complete their training in a DELMIA environment.”