Ford Motor Company Awards Global Training Program to Dassault Systèmes Services

Standardizes Processes to Leverage Power of CATIA Across Enterprise

Montreal, June 25, 2008  Dassault Systèmes (DS) (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, recently finalized a contract to support Ford Motor Company’s CP3 NG program worldwide with a standard global training curriculum based on CATIA, its PLM design solution and Companion, its award-winning e-learning solution.

In North America, Dassault Systèmes Services, the services and consulting division of Dassault Systèmes, will provide instructors, material and training; globally, it will work with trainers that Ford already has in place, delivering materials and curricula. 

Ford began its transition to CATIA in 2003, relying upon it for body-in-white development of the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr platform. Since then, the company has methodically rolled out CATIA to interiors, chassis, electrical and powertrain systems.

The training program will help Ford standardize its methodologies across the global enterprise in order to gain the most efficiency from the CATIA portfolio. Using a modular approach, Dassault Systèmes Services will tailor each training module to meet Ford’s needs by business division, based on prescribed tracks. Course length is typically two to five days and much of the course material will be used in an on-line learning environment. There are 93 courses available in all, with 10-100 modules per course and a set schedule of classes.

Ford uses a blended learning solution of instructor-lead training and self-paced computer-based training.  To maximize the adaptability and flexibility of Ford’s training program, Dassault Systèmes Services will deploy Companion, its e-learning solution.  Companion comprises over two hundred courses per release, covering the family of Dassault Systèmes PLM products and includes specialized courses for specific automotive industry domains.  Companion has already been used by numerous customers as the learning backbone for enterprise-wide deployments of Dassault Systèmes’ PLM solutions.  As a complement to the flexible Companion platform, Dassault Systèmes Services will deploy mobile classrooms, which can be shipped anywhere in the world and set up in a few hours.

“We are proud to be a strategic partner with Ford, sharing its commitment to the design and manufacture of high quality, world-class vehicles,” said Michel Tellier, president, Dassault Systèmes Services. “The proficiency of Ford’s global design team is largely influenced by the consistency, quality and thoroughness of their skills development and the training they receive accordingly. We share Ford’s commitment to realize the value of moving to a single worldwide CAD strategy and training is a critical component and enabler of this goal.”