Aircraft manufacturer speeds innovation and 'time-to-market' with digital robotics manufacturing technology to simulate, validate and program its robotic assembly lines.

BM and Dassault Systemes have announced that Airbus has chosen the DELMIA V5 Robotics digital manufacturing solution to simulate, validate and program the robotic assembly lines for the new Airbus aircraft programmes. This strategic choice will allow Airbus to optimise its design and manufacturing cycle time, reducing costs and accelerating time-to-market. The first programme to benefit from these solutions will be the A400M, the first Airbus aircraft entirely designed with CATIA V5 and simulated on DELMIA V5, from the range of IBM PLM solutions developed by Dassault Systemes.

This acquisition will enable Airbus to optimise programming time as well as fine-tune its production resources without disruption through off-line programming.

The solution is enriched by the FASTIP-FASTRIM tools from Dassault Systemes' technological partner CENIT, which work seamlessly on the CATIA and DELMIA V5 data-model to provide trimming, drilling and riveting capabilities.

In addition to these robotic solutions, Airbus is using the ergonomic and assembly simulation tools of DELMIA V5 HUMAN and DELMIA V5 DPM Assembly to meet the increasing need for simulation in the field of digital manufacturing.

Already used for the A400M programme, it offers the ability to check accessibility during the assembly and maintenance phases of various plane parts throughout the design lifecycle.

The choice of this V5 robotics solution meets Airbus' global objective to cut costs and harmonise PLM tools on the V5 platform.

The automatic solving of machine/environment conflicts will optimize machine paths, reducing maintenance costs and immobilisation time.

'We have been working hand-in-hand for two years with the IBM, Dassault Systemes and CENIT teams,' explained Daniel Girardot, robotics team leader at Airbus.

'The three companies have designed a solution that totally fits with Airbus' methods and manufacturing processes, and will lead to significant profits for Airbus.

It will be implemented first in eight projects at different Airbus sites across Europe at the end of 2005.' Erick Craberou, director PLM Solutions, IBM France, said: 'To remain ahead of the competition, Airbus needs to constantly exceed its customers' expectations by providing a high level of quality, expertise, and added-value services, while cutting internal costs and time-to-market.

Our deep knowledge of this industry and our tight collaboration with Airbus allows us to provide Airbus with the right answer to meet its critical product development and innovation challenges.

ves Coze, vice president sales, DELMIA Europe, said: 'DELMIA offers industry-leading advanced solutions in the digital manufacturing domain.

We have been providing Airbus with the latest simulation tools for many years, and our relationship continues to strengthen in robotics, allowing us to develop special applications for their use on our V5 platform.

Certain advanced functions developed in partnership with Airbus have also been integrated into the standard V5 platform, making the benefits mutually beneficial.' * 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 solutions.

IBM Sales and 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.

* About Dassault Systemes - as world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, the Dassault Systemes group brings value to more than 90,000 customers in 80 countries.

A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systemes 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 product 3D design tools (SolidWorks), 3D components (Spatial/ACIS) and SIMULIA, DS open multi-physics platform for realistic simulation.