PLM Software provider Dassault Systemes yesterday announced plans to roll out a new generation of its entire product line that will share underlying services-oriented architecture collaboration technology and will be implemented over the Internet.
Dassault's new V6 generation of products, most of which will debut in May, will feature a new data model and process model and will make use of SOA integration and process modeling capabilities from Dassault's ENOVIA MatrixOne PLM product.
Among other things, the technology will allow users to implement any or all of the Dassault applications — CATIA (computer-aided design), DELMIA (3D automation), SIMULIA (simulation), and ENOVIA (PLM) — using a single common server and database system. That will make deployments easier and less expensive, said John Squire, vice president of marketing for Dassault's ENOVIA brand.
Use of the new, common process modeling and management capabilities across the V6 product family also will make it easier for Dassault customers to quickly define and implement business processes that involve multiple PLM-related applications. The V6 platform will include industry-specific best practice process templates that will assist with faster deployments and return on investments, Squire told Managing Automation today. Such industry accelerators will be available for life sciences, apparel, semiconductor, and other industries.
The cross-application process modeling and execution capabilities in Dassault's V6 products will satisfy customers' needs to create flexible processes that tie together design activities that, increasingly, are being spread across the globe, Squire added.
Like Dassault, other PLM vendors such as Siemens and PTC are moving toward SOA-enabled platforms for the same reasons. "But we believe we'll get there first because we are building on proven technology in the MatrixOne platform," Squire said.
Also this week, Dassault unveiled the first of its applications making use of the common V6 platform. The new 10.8 release of the ENOVIA MatrixOne product will be available next month, Dassault said.
Users moving from the current 10.7x release of Enovia MatrixOne will be required only to undergo a typical incremental new release migration, according to Squire.
Users of other Dassault products, however, will face somewhat more work to get to the new V6 applications. Data files created by current Dassault V5 applications can be read and used by V6 applications, Squire said. So users can implement a co-existence strategy, operating both V5 and V6 applications. Or customers can replace V5 applications with V6 applications. Squire predicted that customers in CAD-dependent industries, such as industrial equipment manufacturing, may be the first to undertake the V5-to-V6 migration.
All of the V6 applications, Squire said, have been designed to enable real-time, concurrent collaboration by users interacting over the Internet. The user interface on V6 applications has been designed for a wide range of user types.
Besides enabling easier on-premise customer deployments, the SOA aspects of the V6 applications will let the vendor deploy its core applications as on-demand services. Although Dassault, for the most part, has not yet done so, Squire said this is in the offing. "It is our direction to have a hosted environment from Dassault so that small companies can get up and running quickly."
Squire noted that on-demand versions of Dassault's applications will also appeal to larger manufacturers seeking to collaborate more closely with globally dispersed design and manufacturing contractors.