BMW adopts Dassault Systèmes’ V6 PLM

Vélizy-Villacoublay, France – After being somewhat blindsided by DaimlerChrysler’s decision to standardize on Siemen’s TeamCenter last year, Dassault Systèmes eagerly announced that BMW will implement Dassault’s V6 PLM solutions to develop the future electrical, electronics and embedded software (E/E) architecture of its cars.

The German automaker has been a dedicated DS customer since 2009, when it switched from PTC’s Pro/E to CATIA V5 for its gasoline engine design as well as diesel engine and overall auto design work. According to the company, BMW chose the platform due to its flexible backbone and the large degree of out-of-the-box, specialized functionality for systems engineering.

Dassault says BMW will leverage V6 to manage a master architecture for the two million cars the automaker produces annually, opposed to the present model-by-model basis, thereby allowing greater re-use and update of components across the company’s model line-up.

Of particular interest to BMW, the company says, is the onboard software, and the embedded systems that run it. The BMW 7 Series, for example, presently incorporates approximately 1 gigabyte of onboard software, which may grow to as much as 200 gigabytes as the automaker integrates components such iPod hook-ups and back-up sensors and inter-connects intelligent systems (e.g. suspension, ABS, etc) tied to the car’s performance. Consequently, as the sophistication and complexity of its future models increase, managing the presence or absence of separate but inter-dependent systems requires BMW to integrate all design work under a unified PLM platform.

Dassault says this deployment is the first step in a 10-year partnership between the two companies to build infrastructure and applications for the German car maker’s E/E domain.
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