Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to Deploy Dassault Systèmes V6 Solution

McLaren Formula 1 Racing Team Chooses V6 for Greater Efficiency Throughout the Production Cycle

WOKING SURREY, UK and VÉLIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France, March 1st, 2011 - McLaren Racing, the operating arm of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team, and Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, are pleased to announce a new partnership to further enhance racing car development efficiency.

The agreement sees McLaren Racing committing to Dassault Systèmes’ open V6 PLM solutions for integrated design development, analysis and management. ENOVIA V6 forms McLaren Racing’s collaborative innovation backbone by providing a single IP reference for managing engineering, intellectual property and business processes.  CATIA V6 will be used for innovative design and concurrent engineering, enhancing McLaren’s development efficiency.

The deployment of Dassault Systèmes’ V6 solutions enables McLaren Racing’s team to benefit from one of the most sophisticated, open, flexible, secure and integrated PLM 2.0 software environments ever created. The scale, scope and speed of Formula 1 racing design means tens of thousands of new innovative designs and ideas each year.  Creating, developing and testing so many designs requires an efficient and trusted software environment to integrate and safely manage the considerable load of technical data and engineering simulation results. Dassault Systèmes’ V6 collaborative PLM solutions will play a vital role in helping streamline McLaren Racing’s processes, as well as promoting successful innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration from the initial concept to manufacturing and then to the racetrack itself.

“While it may look straightforward to guide a racing car from a 3D digital model to the racetrack, it’s a process that involves an extraordinarily complex and disparate series of interlocking design, purchasing and manufacturing constituents. At McLaren Racing, we are looking at every opportunity to cut our time to market – whether that’s through clever design, the introduction of improved processes or, in the case of V6 PLM, by introducing a sophisticated product lifecycle management system to improve efficiency throughout the production cycle,” said Jonathan Neale, McLaren Racing’s managing director. “Dassault Systèmes’ suite of software solutions has long been part of McLaren’s design DNA, and the introduction of CATIA V6 and ENOVIA V6 will only strengthen our hand, allowing us to work faster and more productively within one of the most competitive and relentless environments in the world.”

Dassault Systèmes CEO Bernard Charles commented, “By signing this important agreement with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes we are building a stronger partnership with a great Formula 1 team. This new collaboration demonstrates Formula 1’s world commitment to innovation. A formidable test bed for extreme reliable technologies that only Dassault Systèmes PLM 2.0 can provide. We wish Vodafone McLaren Mercedes the very best for the current race season and are proud of our involvement with such a prestigious and successful team”.