This week in Hollywood, Florida, the 3DEXPERIENCE Forum is examining Business in the Age of Experience — specifically, a more digital experience. Hosted by Dassault Systèmes, the conference is bringing together key players in software and industry, along with media and analysts, in curated discussions focusing on a big-picture look at digitization. The world is going digital, an unavoidable truth evidenced by increasing interest in such aspects as the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, and advanced manufacturing technologies driven by machine learning and simulation.
In welcoming attendees in this morning’s plenary session, executives from Dassault Systèmes examined the progress to date in their expansive 3DEXPERIENCE platform. First introduced in 2012, solutions from across the platform have been integrated into a variety of solutions across several key verticals to aid in the digital disruption of industry.
“Today we want to show you what we do, what we have done, what is the value we want to deliver to you, your company, and the value we want to give to the end user,” said Dassault Systèmes’ Bruno Latchague, SVP, Americas.
Picking up that train of thought was Dean Marsh, Managing Director, Dassault Systèmes North America.
“You're using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to design products that are disrupting and game changing your products, the market, and our future,” Marsh said, motioning to the gathered crowd.
“How many of the things that were once fiction are now reality?”
Because it isn’t an event focused on advanced manufacturing without at least one mention of a Star Trek Replicator, Marsh referenced that sci-fi technology — alongside wearables, handheld communicators, and other pieces of today’s tech that first sprang from Star Trek, Star Wars, and Dune. Users of technologies from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform are those now driving these advances into reality; as Marsh noted, “almost every single electronic vehicle today is designed using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.” Furthermore, 17 of the top 20 semiconductor companies use these technologies to develop their products.
Keen to continue this level of adoption and connectivity, Dassault Systèmes is working to entrench itself more deeply still into industry — from its beginnings through to advanced, complex applications. The company is increasing its partnerships with academy, to upskill the future workforce, and with industrial partners such as Boeing.
So important to the structure of the offering that it’s part of the name is the platform aspect of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform; to clarify what was meant on this front was Monica Menghini, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, Dassault Systèmes. Menghini took to the stage to debunk some myths about just what a “platform” is. She noted that “platform” is a big buzz word, because businesses are going digital. The three myths she took on were:
- Platforms are for business process automation
- Point solutions can transform into platforms
- Any platform is an innovation platform
The team behind the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, she explained, spent a great deal of time and work with industry analysts “to learn what could be a platform and what could not be, what would be a platform and what would be a product, thinking what’s next after PLM.”
“Business is a social structure,” she said. “Platforms must operate the social structure of business.”
Through the idea of a platform, a supply chain can see movement to the concept of a va