SCIENCE

HAMBURG, GERMANY -- The shipbuilder HDW AG (Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft) announced today their plans to build a new series of technologically-advanced submarines using Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions CATIA and ENOVIA developed by Dassault Systemes and sold and supported by IBM. This represents the first phase of their e-collaboration project which will soon cover surface military vessels and commercial ships, as well. IBM Germany and CENIT AG Systemhaus have partnered with HDW to provide consulting services, system implementation and complete training for HDW engineers. Today's announcement coincides with IBM's plans to build a European shipbuilding competency center, strategically located in Hamburg near the heart of North Germany's shipbuilding industry. This project was initiated to showcase PLM solutions and services designed to meet the needs of the entire shipbuilding industry. "This center will be built to insure industry-specific competency of PLM CATIA and ENOVIA solutions, focusing exclusively on shipbuilding technologies. Our goal is build a support facility to accompany customers such as HDW through their e-collaboration projects," explained Dr. Manfred Sammet, Leader of IBM PLM Europe Middle East Africa region. Said Hans-Joachim Schmidt, managing director of HDW, "Our project will begin with the development of the new submarine product line using both CATIA and ENOVIA V5 and SAP R/3 software, but in the very near future we will migrate to an IBM PLM solution platform for total lifecycle management for all of our products." Schmidt continued, "We will equipe our new submarines with new alternative power sources and CATIA and ENOVIA will help us accelerate the development of these technologies. In order to achieve our innovative shipbuilding objectives, we will start by installing a total of 200 IBM CATIA 3D-design workstations during this first phase. " One of the first milestone of HDW's migration to CATIA/ENOVIA will be the replacement of existing physical plastic models with virtual design models and analysis on the computer screen. Said Dr. Sammet, "In addition to the obvious advantage of virtual modeling, the manufacturing and logistics teams will now be able to document their data using the 'as built' principal. This means that for each single component of the submarine the construction data will exist but also the relating technical material properties and assembly information (product data management)." John Romero, IBM WW Shipbuilding Leader agrees, "Dassault Systemes suite of shipbuilding products coupled with IBM's e-business infrustructure products form an advanced engineering and data management environment that will enhance the design, production and life cycle support of HDW's total shipbuilding business. Of particular interest is the ability to reach into the extended enterprise through a managed collaborative process with the vital supply chain." To lead the project, the implementation of PLM solutions CATIA and ENOVIA V5 will be driven by a partnership between HDW, CENIT AG Systemhaus and IBM Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) business unit. The partners all agree that the project represents a very important milestone in IT solutions in the shipbuilding and shipbuilding supplier industries. "This project goes deeper than just an IT implementation. It revolutionizes shipbuilding processes and the business as a whole. The entire enterprise will now have access to important product development data and will thus become more efficient and product-centric," said Hubertus Manthey, chief executive officer of CENIT. For more information visit www.cenit.de or www.ibm.com or www.dsweb.com