PLM Express – Affordable CATIA bundles suited to Small and Medium Businesses

Date: 28/07/2005

The traditional user environment for CATIA V5 and the other associated PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) applications is the automotive and aerospace OEM and their tier one supplier chain. In order to cater for the SME’s (Small and Medium Enterprises), IBM has launched a new initiative to provide these enterprises with a more complete product definition, manufacturing and management environment - at a more affordable price. “PLM Express” is a set of heavily discounted pre-approved bundles of Catia V5 for product development and SmarTeam for data management specifically created for the Small to Medium Businesses looking for a more complete product definition, manufacturing and management environment.

PLM Express isn’t just about CAD and PDM. Each PLM Express seat is based on a Collaborative Generative Design package that includes a base installation of CATIA V5 3D mechanical design for parts and assemblies design, generative and interactive 2D draughting, interfaces for IGES and STEP and real-time rendering. Meanwhile, the data management and collaboration tools are provided through SmarTeam.

Each base level seat includes template run-time and Knowledgeware usage tools – which means that existing product knowledge is captured using the Knowledgeware tools and can be reused by any of the users. The incorporation of knowledge capture and reuse at a base level is key to the whole PLM Express offering - allowing a company to capture existing knowledge in the form of knowledge-based templates in CATIA, but also to store, locate and re-use that information using SmarTeam.

On top of the base level PLM Express seat, an enterprise has access to eight different Profile Packs. These flexible software bundles allow the customer to choose the products from each profile pack that meet their needs and tailor that seat to the specific role that the engineer fills for the project team. The eight profile packs are groups of modules arranged in industry or task specific categories namely: Mechanical Engineering, Surface and Style Engineering, Moulded Part Engineering, System Engineering, Progressive Die Design, Manufacturing, Review and Decide, Template Design.

A Decision needs to be made as to which seat best suits the users role or daily activities before choosing the modules within that pack that are needed. Within each profile pack you have three tokens. Each module in the various profile packs has a token value. The majority cost a single token, but a few require two. Essentially, using your tokens, you select the modules you need.

The pricing has already been negotiated between IBM and Dassault Systems, so that the CATIA sales representative can sit down with a customer and work out exactly what they want and can have the pricing structure ready at the end of the session. IBM and Dassault are offering PLM Express alongside more flexible payment and financing options. This positions Catia V5 and SmarTeam much closer to the mainstream/mid-range modelling tools in terms of price, despite misconceptions in the local industry. CATIA product configurations range from between R50,000-00 and R150,000-00 and are affordable for small and medium-sized companies. There is no reason to compromise on quality. Companies of all sizes can now have CATIA, the best CAD/CAM solution available.