Dassault Systèmes recently hosted its third annual Automotive Technology Day at the Ford Motor Company Conference & Event Center in Dearborn, Mich. The event launched two years ago as a briefing session for the many users at Ford of Dassault Systèmes products, including CATIA and SIMULIA. This year the event was opened up to a wide array of automotive OEMs and Tier suppliers, and highlighted customers leading to record breaking attendance.
The event kicked off with Ford’s Chief Engineer of Virtual Verification & CAE, Randy Frank, discussing Trends and Advanced Virtual Development at Ford Motor Company and progress made in the areas of finite element analysis, multi-physics fluid structure simulation, multi-domain/multi-tool simulation and multidisciplinary design optimization. In particular, he spoke about the importance of development in electro-mechanical interfaces, which have become increasingly important with the growth of embedded systems and software and the move toward autonomous vehicles.
Dr. Robert Borchelt, CIO of General Electric Advanced Manufacturing, spoke on Driving Innovation Across the Manufacturing Enterprise. A Dassault Systemes DELMIA customer, this GE presentation spoke to the need for better unification between the digital and physical worlds as well as the company’s vision of a fully connected manufacturing enterprise across its approximately 400 factories. Dr. Borchelt’s belief is that better integration between virtual design, manufacturing and use of smart factory data can help companies to easily achieve 20 percent in manufacturing time and cost savings.
Additionally, attendees were able to learn about the newest offerings from Dassault Systèmes, with a focus on the ongoing R&D support that Dassault Systemes provides to the Transportation and Mobility (T&M) sector. Presented by the VP of Transportation & Mobility, Olivier Sappin, emphasis was made on the transition to flexible architectures that eliminate the need for database replication while improving performance; graphical tools that simplify BOM (bill of materials) and program management; and the company’s ongoing investment in Dassault Systèmes, including CATIA. Additionally, he spoke about Dassault Systèmes’ creation of a new application to manage legacy data, which is a critical capability given that much of the auto industry has established information technology and software strategies.
Sappin also discussed Dassault Systèmes collaboration with AKKA to build a self-driving care that can “link” to the data within a city.
The afternoon sessions were split into four main topic areas where attendees could take a deeper dive into technologies and products including those from Dassault Systèmes and its partners:
Advanced Simulation & Analysis: Vehicle dynamics modeling in real-time; Easier, faster, better structural optimization, Systems Engineering – Multi-physical models & simulations
Productivity in Automotive: Converting big data into big intelligence; Programmable internet & the connected vehicle; REAL impact and FEA visualization
Driving Higher Design Excellence: Accelerating creative design; 3D technical documentation, Design approaches for configured context
Visualization Solutions for Marketing & Sales: Demonstration of product development & design; High-end 3D visualization in engineering; Powerful product experiences for marketing & sales.
