Dassault Systèmes APQP Solutions Reduce Quality Compliance Burden

Auburn Hills, Mich., USA

Dassault Systèmes (DS) (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, announces that it will demonstrate its Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) solutions at SAE World Congress 2007. These ENOVIA offerings provide an efficient way to maintain compliance to AIAG standards by managing a company’s APQP process and documents. They enable a company to drive quality improvements into product design and manufacturing, improve process efficiency and tracking, and reduce the administrative burden of the APQP compliance process.

“In theory, the APQP process should provide a flow of information throughout a company as well as up and down the supply chain thereby driving quality into product and process,” says Mark Strobel, director, Solutions Portfolio Management, Dassault Systèmes. “However, in practice, there is a huge amount of non value-added administration and paperwork required to correctly manage the process. The problem lies in the numerous documents involved -- typically spreadsheets and MS project files stored on each user’s hard drive -- and the inability to communicate changes throughout all involved parties in a truly collaborative way.”

DS’s APQP solutions track, re-use and leverage existing data by providing increased visibility, and thus collaboration, made available through the central management dashboard. Benefits include:

• On-time and on-budget introduction of new vehicle programs;
• Improved communication with cross-functional teams including suppliers;
• Improved decision making to work-in-progress tasks and related items such as parts across projects;
• Enhanced product quality and customer satisfaction by leveraging the power of APQP as it was intended;
• Increased knowledge re-use through reviews of previously completed deliverables such as Failure Modes and Effects Analyses (FMEA), DVP&Rs and Control Plans; and
• Lower design change costs as FMEAs can be completed faster and earlier in the development process, when changes cost less.

Additionally, the ENOVIA solutions can manage related processes, such as PPAP (Production Part Approval Process), as well as providing a vehicle for collaboratively working with suppliers to effectively execute components of APQP/PPAP. These APQP solutions are part of Dassault Systèmes’ targeted offerings that enable customers to implement and adapt DS PLM Solutions to meet their specific industry application needs without the cost of customized software. Customers benefit from DS’ deep domain expertise combined with the industry’s most powerful PLM collaborative business process solutions to improve project execution, helping customers deliver on time and on budget.

For more information, visit the Dassault Systèmes booth (#1767) at the SAE World Congress and view demonstrations of automotive solutions that can help companies improve quality, reduce costs and drive innovation throughout the product development cycle.