With a growing demand for new product designs, requiring advanced functions and more complicated data, Ichikoh Industries reviewed its design process, and chose IBM's PLM solution integrating CATIA V5 knowledgeware functions, developed by Dassault Systèmes, to establish a new and innovative modeling method. With CATIA V5, clients can effectively utilize design data throughout the production process -- from first idea to final product -- easily incorporating frequent design changes.
Ichikoh Industries has also built its own design navigation system that enables even inexperienced designers to utilize accumulated knowledge in their design work, while maintaining design quality and achieving greater operational efficiency. By implementing CATIA V5, the company aims to reduce design time by up to 50%, thus accelerating time-to-market. The auto industry's leading 3D design solution has also allowed Ichikoh to work efficiently with different car makers and collaborate on designs with other suppliers.
Ichikoh will also promote the standardization of designs and parts, and develop a team design environment to unify its data based on systems such as SMARTEAM, which is another key part of the portfolio of IBM PLM solutions developed by Dassault Systèmes.
"In the automotive industry, development time has been reduced and high design quality is now increasingly important," said Toshiaki Yoshida, Group Leader, Information System Department of Ichikoh Industries. "It has become necessary to improve design databases and ensure faster, faultless designs to win against our competition. Our goal is to achieve the industry's fastest headlamp design time through collaboration with IBM and DS."
"Working with automotive OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), suppliers like Ichikoh are becoming more of an integral part of the automotive value net. To win against the competition, they must respond with speed to customer requests while maintaining profitability through an optimal price-quality ratio," says Junichi Takeuchi, Director of PLM Solutions, IBM Asia Pacific. "Our PLM solutions can help them meet those challenges and start their journey to On-Demand."
"Ichikoh Industries adopted CATIA V5 in order to realize design process innovation," said Christian Nardin, Managing Director of Dassault Systèmes Asia. "Implementing PLM will become increasingly important to auto suppliers, allowing them to respond rapidly to automakers' demands, which become more exacting every year. By reducing development time, they can not only reduce time-to-market, but also improve quality, and devote time to exploring alternative options, innovation and value-added tasks, thus fully leveraging the value of PLM."
About Ichikoh Industries
Automotive lamp and mirror manufacturer Ichikoh Industries gained the biggest share of the worldwide market as a result of entering into comprehensive business collaborative arrangements with the major European suppliers on an equal-partners basis. Proud of its large domestic market share (27% for automotive lamps and 34% for mirrors), Ichikoh is actively promoting business in the international market. Its R&D-oriented management policy leads the company to markets outside the automotive industry, and attractive new products are being created one after another, including a rearview camera system. To learn more, go to . http://www.ichikoh.com
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest technological company, providing leadership and innovation throughout the world for more than 80 years. IBM is the largest supplier of "hardware," "software" and Information Technology services, and pioneered the development and implementation of On Demand Business. IBM Sales & Distribution, which supports more than a dozen key industries worldwide, works with companies of all sizes around the world to deploy the full range of IBM technologies. The fastest way to get more information about IBM is through the IBM home page at http://www.ibm.com
About Dassault Systèmes
As world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management solutions (PLM), the Dassault Systèmes group brings value to more than 80,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire life cycle of products from conception to maintenance. Our offering includes integrated PLM solutions for product development (CATIA®, DELMIA®, ENOVIA®, SMARTEAM®), mainstream 3D design tools (SolidWorks®), and 3D components (Spatial/ACIS®). Dassault Systèmes is listed on the Nasdaq (DASTY) and Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) stock exchanges. For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com
IBM Press Contacts: Zohra Dali +33 6 71 92 71 87 Email Contact Seena Peck (Americas) + 212-745-2633 Email Contact Dassault Systèmes Press Contacts: Frédérique Moureton +33 1 40 99 68 80 Email Contact Emma Rutherford (Financial Dynamics) + 33 1 47 03 68 10 Email Contact Derek Lane (Americas) +1(818) 673-2243 Email Contact