Ford Motor Co. has picked IBM Corp. and Dassault Systemes SA to supply and install product lifecycle management (PLM) and design software, IBM and Dassault said Thursday.
The software will allow the world's second largest automaker to shorten development cycles, increase flexibility and bring new products to market faster, according to IBM and Dassault in a joint statement.
IBM of Armonk, New York, and its partner Dassault, of Suresnes, France, will install several PLM applications, including their joint Catia and Enovia applications, at Ford's design and manufacturing locations worldwide, the companies said. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
The announcement could be a blow to Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS), a long time supplier of PLM software to Ford. EDS has more than 200 employees dedicated to supporting Ford at a special technology center in Dearborn, Michigan, according to its Web site.
However, EDS is also a major supplier to Ford rival General Motors Corp., with business from GM and its affiliates contributing US$585 million in the third quarter of last year on total revenue for that quarter of $5.41 billion.
"It could be the start of Ford moving away" from EDS, even though automakers typically "aren't too worried about using the same CAD (Computer Aided Design) applications as their rivals," said Simon Bragg, European research director in the Cambridge, England, office of research company Arc Advisory Group Inc.
"Dassault and IBM have the more complete PLM offering. It is not so much about CAD and 3D models; it is about integrating those models with fine analysis to be able to design the production line. The key is one model that can be passed to multiple departments in parallel and tells them whether the design works," Bragg said.
Shares in Dassault Systemes were up 5.71 percent on the news at �21.66 ($23.38) in late morning trading on the Paris stock exchange.
