Published by Market wire - 11 July 2006
 

Railway Rolling Stock Manufacturer Aims for Greater Business Efficiency and Improved Quality With 3D Product Development From Basic Concept to Detailed Design

Tokyu Car to Streamline Design Processes using PLM Solutions From IBM and Dassault Systèmes

Railway Rolling Stock Manufacturer Aims for Greater Business Efficiency and Improved Quality With 3D Product Development From Basic Concept to Detailed Design

TOKYO and PARIS--Jul 11, 2006 -- IBM and Dassault Systèmes, today announced that Tokyu Car Corporation, a manufacturer of railway rolling stock and specially equipped cars, is streamlining its vehicle development process using CATIA V5 and ENOVIA SmarTeam, developed by Dassault Systèmes and part of IBM's PLM solutions portfolio.

"We have selected a PLM solution with an extensive proven track record that reflects IBM's and Dassault Systèmes' expertise in the heavy industries to help us increase our efficiency and enhance safety, an absolutely essential prerequisite for railway rolling stock," said Kunihiko Koiwa, Engineering Department General Manager, Tokyu Car. "The solution will help us be more competitive by cutting costs via an accelerated time-to-market, and at the same time enhancing the quality of our products."

Tokyu Car needed to realize a collaborative environment for both design and assembly, as well as simulating railcar operating conditions. It selected CATIA V5 and ENOVIA SmarTeam, enabling its engineers to design efficiently and with precision, while ensuring compliance with various railcar lifecycle requirements.

"Innovation and collaboration are key for product differentiation," said Chris Bahr, director, PLM Solutions, IBM Asia Pacific Services. "By leveraging the power of our PLM solutions and streamlining its product development processes, Tokyu car is able to focus on its core business, adding value to their products and better responding to their customers' expectations."

"Improving design and manufacturing processes by using PLM solutions is extremely meaningful in the manufacture of large-scale, complex products such as railway rolling stock," said Christian Nardin, managing director, Dassault Systèmes Asia. "Using CATIA V5 with ENOVIA SmarTeam, Tokyu Car will be able to perform advanced simulations to confirm the safety of its products, and the resulting streamlining of its business processes will provide tremendous value to the company."

Using the IBM PLM solutions developed by Dassault Systèmes, Tokyu Car can check for design interference among structural components in 3D, including spaces between complex design elements such as pipes and wiring, and prepare designs using digital mock-ups (DMUs). ENOVIA SmarTeam also enables Tokyu Car to accumulate expertise, and reuse its data. In the future, Tokyu Car plans to further expand its PLM implementation to foster collaboration in 3D among its design and manufacturing divisions.

About Tokyu Car
Tokyu Car Corporation, a leading member of the Tokyu Group. Its main products include railway rolling stock and specially equipped cars (trailers, yard carriers, tanker trucks, etc.) manufactured for domestic and foreign markets, as well as multi-level parking facilities, which have recently become common throughout Japan. The company also manufactures, sells, and provides services for various environmental system products and mechatronic system products. In addition, based on this extensive core product lineup, Tokyu Car engages in an engineering and solution business to address and propose solutions to the issues and problems faced by its global customers, through the incorporation of the latest information technologies in existing products (i.e., railway rolling stock and specially-equipped cars). Thus the company is working to further gain trust from a wider range of sectors within society. http://www.tokyu-car.co.jp/eng (English), http://www.tokyu-car.co.jp  (Japanese)