Dassault Systèmes Takes Next Step to Boost the Digital Transformation of the Smart Product Electrical Design Experience

VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France — February 11, 2019 — Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the elecworks electrical and automation design software product line from Trace Software International, a developer of software solutions and services dedicated to industrial engineering.  Through the deal, a team of 21 skilled professionals will join Dassault Systèmes.  The acquisition of the elecworks assets will streamline and boost Dassault Systèmes’ development of an integrated mechatronics solution on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to help its SOLIDWORKS customers address electrical design challenges in the development of smart products.  

Through an asset transfer deal, Dassault Systèmes will acquire 100 percent of the Trace Software elecworks electrical design and automation product line and intellectual property.  An elecworks team of 21 software developers, technical support engineers and quality assurance engineers dedicated to electrical schematics will join Dassault Systèmes.  Elecworks software provides schematic design, electrical control panel design, and small wiring-cabling-harnessing design capabilities that form the basis of Dassault Systèmes’ SOLIDWORKS Electrical applications, which enable mechanical and electrical teams to improve collaboration and deliver more accurate designs. Included in the asset purchase is a library of over half a million electrical symbols and manufacturer data for commonly used electrical components during design.

“As the demand for smart products grows, Dassault Systèmes is ready to serve the needs of SOLIDWORKS users by integrating methods that will streamline mechatronics design and help them leverage the benefits of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform,” said Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systèmes.  “The elecworks development team brings skills that have already contributed to the success of SOLIDWORKS Electrical applications. We welcome them as we gain the opportunity through our acquisition of the elecworks assets to better address an estimated $400 million market of small and midsized businesses that are innovating in today’s Industry Renaissance.”

The Internet of Experiences – the smart and autonomous experiences that are digitally connecting products, nature and life in the physical world – is fed by the expanding market of smart and connected devices that are estimated to number 30 billion by 2020.  Companies in high-tech, industrial equipment, energy and other industries must integrate new sensors, controls and capabilities into their smart products to successfully deliver these experiences, yet a disjointed mechanical and electrical design process can complicate product development. 

With elecworks assets, Dassault Systèmes can streamline the development of SOLIDWORKS Electrical applications and new electrical offerings on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform by combining best practices, electrical design technology and SOLIDWORKS mechanical applications under common research and development management.  Thousands of SOLIDWORKS users seeking to adopt affordable electrical design applications for the digital transformation of their electrical design process will thus benefit from electrical drawing and documentation development, database-driven design, improved schematic-to-3D workflows, and design change management.  

Trace Software International has been a SOLIDWORKS applications partner since 1997, providing electrical system design software to SOLIDWORKS customers. In 2012, Dassault Systèmes created a strategic partnership with them to integrate and sell elecworks technology under the name of SOLIDWORKS Electrical applications.  

The asset transfer transaction is expected to close in March 2019.