Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Soars with Billion-Dollar Boeing Partnership, Educational Adoption for Tomorrow’s Aerospace Workforce

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In 1986, aviation powerhouse Boeing turned to CATIA software from Dassault Systèmes for the design and manufacture of new airplanes. A few decades on, 3D technologies have become a staple tool in Boeing’s toolbox as the company has employed digital simulation as well as 3D printing as it continues to propel aviation into the 21st century. Today, the company has announced a major extension of its partnership with Dassault, including the 3DEXPERIENCE platform among Dassault products put to use in operations in commercial aviation, space, and defense applications. The multi-year agreement is said to be valued at $1 billion, Dassault-owned French newspaper Le Figaro reports; while Dassault Systèmes would not confirm that specific number for the reported 30-year contract, the company did tell AFP that it is indeed “the biggest in its history.” The contract is renewable every 10 years and underscores both the seriousness with which Boeing is treating advanced technologies and, as the deal took a reported two years to negotiate, the focus Dassault is placing on aerospace and defense.

“Dassault Systèmes is proud to collaborate with Boeing as it embarks on another century of innovation with a partner it trusts,” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “Boeing not only leads the way in its own industry, but influences the progress of all industries across modern society. We are at the turning point of the industrial era, where we are shattering another industry paradigm. The parallel exchange of data between virtual and real operations will transform the value-adding chain into a value creation chain. The entire ‘extended’ enterprise can continuously measure and control business processes for maximum efficiency and potential top line growth. This is ‘Business in the Age of Experience’.”

Speaking to Le Figaro, Charlès continued, “From start to finish, Boeing will drive all levels of subcontracting, from the largest to the smallest, and will be able to control exchanges between its divisions and its partners.” The contract, won after two years of competition, is “the most important ever signed by Dassault Systemes, which becomes Boeing’s strategic software partner in civil aeronautics, but also in defence and space.”

Boeing, founded in 1916, has been embracing new technologies a century after its inception, including a world record 3D printed part and the first FAA-approved 3D printed titanium structural components for a commercial plane, filing some interesting patents using 3D printing technologies, and eyeing additive manufacturing for use in satellite manufacture. As the company operates in industries where components and product design are under close scrutiny, with part failure potentially catastrophic, attention to detail and use of appropriate tools is critical to success. Enhancing its use of Dassault’s product portfolio shows a confidence in that company’s prowess in digital design. Dassault, for its part, has been placing significant focus on aerospace applications, where its advanced offerings stand to offer great benefit to industry players.

In Kansas, for example, the 3DEXPERIENCE Center housed at Wichita State University provides hardware and software capabilities put to use not only by WSU students, but industry professionals including aviation giant and Boeing rival Airbus, which houses a facility only steps away. Boeing will be putting the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to use, implementing it in phases and deploying several industry solution experiences for aerospace and defense, including:

Boeing is seeking to improve the end-to-end creation process, including digital collaboration, design, engineering, analysis, manufacturing planning, and shop floor execution capabilities. Employing the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will provide simulation capabilities, which provide great value in product design and iteration, as well as allowing for the discovery of potential risks and quality issues prior to producing any physical products.

“The decision to adopt Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform is a key milestone in our digital transformation. This digital enabler provides global design and manufacturing capabilities that will fuel our second century. The value of this extended strategic partnership is a mutual desire to transform how Boeing connects, protects, explores and inspires the world,” said Ted Colbert, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Information Technology & Data Analytics, Boeing.

[Image: Dassault Systèmes]

Dassault Systèmes is investing in the future of aerospace developments not only through industry partnerships, but also through the extension of its resources to tomorrow’s workforce. Also announced today is a deal centered around institutions of higher education in Washington state, as the Center of Excellence for Aerospace & Advanced Manufacturing is leading the way for eight schools to employ the 3DEXPERIENCE platform in an agreement supporting 900 cloud-based users.

Schools included in this announcement include:

  • Washington State University
  • Bellingham Technical College
  • Clover Park Technical College
  • Everett Community College
  • Lake Washington Institute of Technology
  • North Seattle College
  • Olympic College
  • Renton Technical College

Students at these educational institutions will benefit from training and hands-on experience in designing, engineering, and manufacturing in the up-and-coming ‘Experience Economy’.

“As the new economy of systems engineering, embedded electronics, mechatronics and new material sciences becomes critical to Washington state businesses, local colleges and universities are focusing on the training needed to create the workforce of tomorrow. If we are to keep high paying, skilled jobs in Washington, we must change education to meet the demands of the future workforce. Today’s partnership with Dassault Systèmes and their 3DEXPERIENCE platform will do just that,” said Mary Kaye Bredeson, Executive Director, Center of Excellence for Aerospace & Advanced Manufacturing.

Boeing, which is a partner of the Center of Excellence, recently detailed the extensive need for growth in the aviation workforce over the next two decades. Such occupations require skilled workers, and access as students to advanced technologies will provide a significant advantage to those exposed to and trained in them prior to fully entering the workforce. The skills gap is in focus across many technologically-oriented industries, including additive manufacturing, and partnerships such as this one are responding to the call for training.

“Successful educational institutions will leverage the leading experience-driven technologies and strategies to expose students to realistic collaborative multidisciplinary projects and build unique digital skills that industry leaders seek among new hires. With the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, mentoring and support, we and the Center of Excellence for Aerospace & Advanced Manufacturing hope to positively impact the human resources crisis currently affecting the engineering market in North America and around the world,” said Bruno Latchague, Senior Executive Vice President, Global Field Operations (Americas), Dassault Systèmes.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform relies on collaboration, as demonstrated at WSU [Photo: Sarah Goehrke]

As Dassault saw through the creation of its Wichita-based 3DEXPERIENCE Center, providing access to its technologies in areas with a high concentration of leading aviation companies helps in the creation of a strong local workforce. Washington also houses a significant base of aerospace activity, including Boeing. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform benefits especially from the ease with which it makes collaboration possible. Discuss in the Dassault Systèmes forum at 3DPB.com.

 

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