Catia V5: Better.Faster.Cheaper

Faced with fierce competition coming from Asia and often with their own financial hemorrhaging, automakers and aerospace OEMs are paring down the number of their suppliers. Shorter lead times imposed by OEMs and tighter margins eroded by high operational costs require suppliers to maintain even tighter cost controls and seek increased productivity to remain in business or solidify their leading positions.

In addition, rapidly changing vehicle models are forcing them to remain profitable while having to retool factories for design changes that might not produce a lot of parts.

Now more than ever, is the right time for suppliers to invest in next-generation technologies and manufacturing strategies to optimize their bidding, sourcing, product development and manufacturing operations. Even a small cut in costs and time can have a significant impact on their bottom line and offer them the flexibility to remain competitive on a tough market.

Benefits offered by PLM solutions, such as CATIA V5, provide:

internal returns on investment of 104% to 339%
Up to $10 million in net present value of investment over a period of 6 years
Pay back periods from less than 1 year up to 2 years

Reducing Costs CATIA V5, together with SMARTEAM, ENOVIA and DELMIA, helped many mid-sized manufacturers dramatically cut their costs by:

reducing cycle times and bringing products faster to market
Optimizing sourcing costs
Eliminating CAD translation costs thanks to a better OEM/Supplier integration and the ability to work natively on new programs developments eliminating the need for costly physical prototypes
Reducing cost of new parts in product design by up to 40% thanks to the reuse of designs from previous projects
Reducing the number of parts by 25% thanks to improved designs
Reducing engineering change (EC) costs by 75% thanks to a better automation
Reducing overall concept design labor costs by over 40%
Reducing NC programming costs by 66% reducing assembly line costs by over 60%
Improving the bidding process
Reducing errors found at the final assembly stage by 40%

"We can now perform advanced virtual maintenance simulations. We no longer need prototypes(the cost of which represents approximately $500K per engine)."
Mario Modafferi, Director Engine Eesign, Pratt & Wittney Canada,
Supplier to Boeing, Airbus, Cessna, Ambraer, Raytheon

"CATIA V5 offers us much more flexibility. The result is the development of a superior product while saving both time and money."
Darren Cairns, CAE Director, Integral Powertrain,
Supplier to GM, Daimler Chrysler, Nissan, Ford, Harley Davidson and Jaguar