Dassault Systèmes (DS) announced that its Customer Conference in Orlando, Florida will open today with several hundred executives expected to attend. Over the next two days the event will provide North American attendees with expanded access to key customer executives and success stories from all of its PLM brands, including CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, SIMULIA, and 3DVIA.

The conference’s theme, “Emerge with Advantage,” is focused on helping customers examine ways to weather the current economic downturn and emerge with a stronger innovation pipeline, improve their product development processes, and maximize their future potential.

Encapsulated within the theme of “Emerge with Advantage” attendees will hear how some of the world’s leading companies, including Guess and Honda, are using Dassault Systèmes’ PLM solutions to support business and product innovation. In addition, Dassault Systèmes CEO Bernard Charlès will outline the company’s vision around sustainable innovation and how companies, by leveraging communities in shaping collaboration and global knowledge sharing, deliver better products and services.

Attendees will also learn how DS customers and partners are successfully transforming new product innovation at companies of every size and in a variety of vertical markets, including A&D, automotive, consumer goods (including consumer packaged goods and retail, footwear & apparel), energy, high tech, industrial equipment and life sciences.

“A number of key market indicators appear to show that the economic decline has slowed, with even some signs of a conservative recovery on the horizon. Those companies that strengthen themselves during the downturn will be able to take full advantage of the business opportunities that will emerge over the coming months,” said Tom Emmrich, President, Americas, Dassault Systèmes. “DSCC09 provides a great forum to interact directly with our customers and partners in order to demonstrate how DS PLM solutions can facilitate the conception and introduction of new products to deliver sustainable growth.”

DSCC09 highlights include:

• Keynote addresses from market-leading companies, including Honda and Guess;
• Nine industry-specific tracks featuring customers, such as Barilla and Johnson & Johnson Consumer in CPG, Pfizer and Beckman Coulter in Life Sciences; GE Energy and Oceaneering in Energy; Guess and Jockey in retail, footwear and apparel;
• A presentation by Bernard Charlés, president and CEO, Dassault Systèmes entitled “Sustainable Innovation = Sustainable Company”;
• A Tech Showcase featuring all of the latest offerings from DS’s five PLM brands;
• Day Two, entitled “PLM Technology Day,” will include a roundtable featuring all five DS brand CEOs. This will be followed by separate brand tracks for CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, SIMULIA, and 3DVIA focusing on a variety of topics, including PLM 2.0, digital manufacturing and production; communicating in 3D to enhance competitiveness, and achieving maximum ROI from high performance computing and data center resources.