ESI Group to launch PAM-TFA for CATIA V5 by June

Micad, JEC, Paris, 5 April 2005 – ESI Group has announced that PAM-TFA (Transparent Formability Analysis) for CATIA V5 – its first application developed under the CAA V5 Gold Software Partnership Agreement signed with Dassault Systèmes – will be available by June 2005. PAM-TFA enables users to validate their part design earlier in the product development cycle.


ESI Group is expanding the PAM-STAMP 2G family of stamping solutions by providing within CAA V5 a new simulation application, which performs Transparent Formability Analysis to help users to identify manufacturability issues on the newly drafted CAD part earlier in the design process, and to make a first estimate of the material usage. It takes full advantage of the seamless integration of simulation algorithms within CATIA V5, performed on native geometry. This generative application dramatically reduces the simulation cycle time, allowing direct associativity between design and simulation results.
This module is the first in the ESI Group synergy strategy, which involves integrating Virtual Manufacturing simulation technologies in to the 3D-PLM environment of Dassault Systèmes. It will be followed by the integration of the ESI Group quick die-design parametric technology linked to PAM-DIEMAKER into CAA V5, to provide CATIA V5 customers with the full benefit of collaborative engineering within the 3D-PLM environment.

The integration of PAM-TFA within CATIA V5 allows the user to perform a one-step (also called inverse) analysis directly based on the CAD model, which ensures a consistent geometric data flow in an iterative continuous improvement process, resulting in significant time savings.

In the past, such analysis could only be done in an external simulation environment, forcing the user to leave the CAD environment and to export the geometric data through a standardised format, such as IGES or VDA. Such a ‘weak link’ was a major cause of process discontinuity and errors, due to geometric approximation and the lack of traceability resulting from the data transfer.

Since the simulation concept has now been introduced using CAAV5 architecture and components, the PAM-TFA for CATIA V5 application is generative. Its key points are that no more loss of information due to geometry conversion and transfer is reported, and associativity between design and simulation results is fully safeguarded, since geometry changes are associated to the simulation, whose results update automatically.

"The introduction of the PAM-TFA application to the CATIA V5 environment initiates the availability of ESI Group's Stamping Solutions seamlessly to the CATIA user, starting from the originating part design, then setting up the formability simulation, and finally launching and analysing the results in the same window," said Vincent Chaillou, President & CO Product Operations ESI Group.

"This CAA V5 PAM-TFA application, the first ESI Group application integration inside the V5 Environment, is the starting point of our CAAV5 Gold partnership, with the objective of providing major ESI Group applications inside the DS PLM environment. This will lead to great customer benefits in reducing design process cycle times and being able to make improved decisions based on the physics of materials earlier in the process," said Séverin Lanfranchi, Director Research & Development, CATIA Simulation, Dassault Systèmes.
About ESI Group
ESI Group is a pioneer and world-leading provider of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes that take into account the physics of materials. ESI Group has developed an entire suite of coherent, industry-oriented applications to simulate realistically a product’s behaviour during testing, to fine-tune the manufacturing processes in accordance with the desired product performance, and to evaluate the environment’s impact on product usage. ESI Group’s products, which have a proven track record in manufacturing and have been combined in multi-trade value chains, represent a unique collaborative, virtual engineering solution, known as the Virtual Try-Out Space® (VTOS®), enabling virtual prototypes to be improved in a continuous manner. By drastically reducing costs and development lead times, VTOS® solutions offer major competitive advantages by progressively eliminating the need for physical prototypes. ESI Group is listed on the Nouveau Marché of Euronext Paris, and generated sales of €60m in 2004. The company employs almost 500 high-level specialists worldwide, and is present in more than 30 countries.
Virtual Try-Out Space® and VTOS® are registered trademarks of ESI Group. All other products, names and companies referenced are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
For further information, please go to: www.esi-group.com
About the CAA V5 Software Community Program
CAA V5 (Component Application Architecture) is Dassault Systèmes’ open middleware and development environment for PLM (Product Lifecycle Management). The CAA V5 Software Community Program is dedicated to ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) willing to develop, sell and support CAA V5-based applications, fully integrated with CATIA®, ENOVIA® and DELMIA® V5. This collaboration results in the expansion of Dassault Systèmes’ PLM solutions to cover the entire product lifecycle range, thus enabling mutual customers to take advantage of a larger set of products in response to their specific industrial needs. By delivering best-in-class complementary V5 applications, CAA V5 Gold Software Partners further promote Dassault Systèmes’ objective of supporting and continuously improving customer processes. Gold Partners also benefit from a unique and privileged access to Dassault Systèmes’ R&D laboratory and advanced technical and marketing support. Spatial Corp. is the primary channel for marketing, sales and support/services for CAA V5.
About Dassault Systèmes
As world leader in PLM solutions, the Dassault Systèmes group brings value to more than 70,000 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 retirement. Its product range includes integrated PLM solutions for product development (CATIA®, DELMIA®, ENOVIA®, SMARTEAM®), mainstream product design tools (SolidWorks), and 3D components (ACIS®) from Spatial Corp. Dassault Systèmes is listed on the Nasdaq (DASTY) and Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) stock exchanges.
For more information, please go to: www.3ds.com