PLM Softwares

Introduction : In industry, product lifecycle management (PLM) is the process of

managing the entire lifecycle of a product from inception, through engineering design and
manufacture, to service and disposal of manufactured products. It integrates people, data,
processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies and
their extended enterprise.

History :

The inspiration for the burgeoning business process ( now known as PLM ) came from
American Motors Corporation (AMC).The automaker was looking for a
way to speed up its product development process to compete better against its larger
competitors in 1985, according to Franois Castaing, Vice President for Product
Engineering and Development. After introducing its compact Jeep Cherokee (XJ), the
vehicle that launched the modern sport utility vehicle (SUV) market, AMC began
development of a new model, that later came out as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The first part in its quest for faster product development was computer-aided design
(CAD) software system that make engineers more productive. The second part in this
effort was the new communication system that allowed conflicts to be resolved faster, as
well as reducing costly engineering changes because all drawings and documents were
in a central database. The product data management was so effective that after AMC was
purchased by Chrysler, the system was expanded throughout the enterprise connecting
everyone involved in designing and building products. While an early adopter of PLM
technology, Chrysler was able to become the auto industry's lowest-cost producer,
recording development costs that were half of the industry average by the mid-1990s.

1982 - 1983 Rockwell Int'l developed initial concepts of PDM and PLM for the B-1B
bomber program. A system called Engineering Data System (EDS) was augmented to
interface with Computervision and CADAM systems to track part configurations and
lifecycle of components and assemblies. A white paper on this topic was presented during
those years at a Computervision User's Group meeting in San Diego. Shortly after
Computervison released its system implementing only the PDM aspects as the lifecycle
model was specific to Rockwell and Aerospace needs.

Mother Company : Dassault Systmes (abbreviated 3DS),

"The 3DEXPERIENCE Company", is a European multinational software company that develops
3D design, 3D digital mock-up, and product lifecycle management (PLM) software., created in
1981 by Avions Marcel Dassault to develop a new generation of computer-aided design
/Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAD)/CAM software with its leading brands as :-

CATIA - The world's leading brand for product design and experience, was Dassault
Systme's initial product. It is the PLM solution for 3D collaborative creation. CATIA
addresses the product development process, from early product concept specification
through to product in service.
SolidWorks- products span 3D mechanical design software, simulation, product
data management, and collaboration. They are generally offered as a suite of products,
scaled to the customer's needs. Customers can choose to add other SolidWorks products
providing additional simulation and PDM capabilities. They are used by companies in
the machinery, medical, consumer, tool and die, electrical and power sectors, and by
suppliers to the aerospace and automotive industries.

Brands :

CATIA
CATIA (an acronym of computer aided three-dimensional interactive application) is a
multi-platform software suite for computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided
manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE), PLM and 3D, developed by
the French company Dassault Systmes.

CATIA Systems Engineering solution delivers a unique open and extensible systems
engineering development platform that fully integrates the cross-discipline modeling,
simulation, verification and business process support needed for developing
complex cyber-physical products.

It addresses the Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) needs of users

developing todays smart products and systems and comprises the following elements:
Requirements Engineering, Systems Architecture Modeling, Systems Behavior Modeling
& Simulation, Configuration Management & Lifecycle Traceability, Automotive
Embedded Systems Development (AUTOSAR Builder) and Industrial Automation
Systems Development (ControlBuild).

CATIA uses the open Modelica language in both CATIA Dynamic Behavior
Modeling and Dymola, to quickly and easily model and simulate the behavior of
complex systems that span multiple engineering disciplines. CATIA & Dymola are further
extended by through the availability of a number of industry and domain specific
 Modelica libraries that enable user to model and simulate a wide range of complex
systems ranging from automotive vehicle dynamics through to aircraft flight dynamics.

Many automotive companies use CATIA to varying degrees, including BMW, Porsche,
McLaren Automotive, , Honda, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Volkswagen, Bentley Motors
Limited, Volvo, Fiat, , PSA Peugeot Citron, Renault, Toyota, Ford, Scania, Hyundai,
Tesla Motors, Rolls-Royce Motors, , Proton, Elba, Tata motors and Mahindra &
Mahindra Limited. Goodyear uses it in making tires for automotive and aerospace and
also uses a customized CATIA for its design and development. Many automotive
companies use CATIA for car structures door beams, IP supports, bumper beams, roof
rails, side rails, body components because of CATIA's capabilities in Computer
representation of surfaces. Bombardier Transportation of Canada is using this
software to design its entire fleet of Train engines and coaches. Webasto uses CATIA to
design its roof.

CATIA delivers the keys to PLM for process-centric companies:

I. Product to market: CATIA is about product creation. From the earliest product
concept to production tooling, its concurrent engineering and design-in-context
capabilities create value by enabling companies to create products and bring them to the
market.

II. Time to market: The unequalled process coverage of CATIA, combined with the
native associativity among all of its applications, gives CATIA customers the means to
shorten the time to market.

III. Right to market: CATIA's integrated analysis, simulation, synthesis, and optimization
applications provide product engineering validation at each design step to ensure product
quality and market acceptance.

IV. Lead the market: CATIA's advanced capabilities for collaborative engineering,
knowledge capture, and re-use boost innovation and help to lead the market.

Solid Works
SolidWorks software enables designers to create initial design layouts and test functional
relationships of the design. SolidWorks tools help engineers visualize a product design
right on-screen, while creating assemblies, and this in turn saves a lot of time and cost.
 The software has the ability to reproduce components by choosing individual surfaces,
edges and curves, and to produce a dynamic relationship between components.

The fastest and the most effective way of designing a new machine, is to re-work and
tweak an existing design. SolidWorks software is capable of automatically creating and
storing various configurations of a design. When a design is modified, all the necessary
sketches are completed instantly and are ready to print. Keeping a single base design,
engineers can create and store over thousands of machine variants that includes
documentation as well.

SolidWorks software efficiently tackles the issue of over-constraining of a component,

arising due to the assembly of commonly used parts. The software is equipped with
various data translation tools along with documentation that can easily convert files
(DWG) into 3D models.

Engineering Technique is among Indias popular SolidWorks Value Added Reseller and
solution provider in the field of engineering and manufacturing. Over the years
Engineering Technique has delivered a wide spectrum designing solutions to a variety of
industry. These solutions include CAD, CAM, Design Validation, Design Automation,
Documentation and Productivity enhancement tools and Data Management. The long
term relationship and understanding of the principles of SolidWorks has earned us
longstanding goodwill among a large customer base in India.

Difference between CATIA & SolidWorks:

Look at the two by this way: Create an aircraft in CATIA, but create the engine in
SolidWorks!

Criteria CATIA SolidWorks

Sates Virtual Product 3D desgin
Comprehensiv High end PLM solution Middle level , Main stream
e User software
Interface
Objective Focused on Product Life cycle focus on Product development
engineering, Right from Concept to
development, deployment etc
Companies Relatively larger scale industries to Small scale & Middle level
Targeted MNC(s) Companies
Cost Towards Expensive end of spectrum
Applications Plastic product development,
automotive industry ,ship-building,
aerospace sector. This is a high end
software wherein analysis can be
done.
Example You can not only create a car, but a
factory in which it will be produced,
the machining processes required,
and even you can simulate
ergonomics studies as well, like
weather the current layout of a plant
will be comfortable for workers to
work or not. So you can simulate the
whole thing within a virtual reality,
including, and of course, rendering.
Reasonably Priced
SW is best suited for
sheetmetal industries where
special features like weldments
are available and the license
amount is also less compared.
Well, it is purely a product to
design machines. But, of
course, there are other
applications, like aerospace,
automobile, consumer
products, etc. Much user
friendly than the former one, in
terms of modeling, editing
designs, creating mechanisms,
etc