Growing: New Design Initiatives

The list of consumer-oriented companies gearing up for digital-design initiatives is growing. Coca-Cola Co., for example, is using digital-design software from Dassault Systèmes S.A. to help it create and automate the hundreds of new beverage containers it comes out with each year. The company uses Catia running on Windows NT and a custom Web-based application to turn concepts into 3-D models and collaborate among design, marketing, and other groups.

That's some of the same software used in the most high-end application. Boeing Co. has used digital design for years and now is using Dassault Systèmes software to design its new flagship 7E7 Dreamliner, a 200- to 300-passenger jet designed to consume 20% less fuel than bigger jets and fly longer routes. Production is set to begin in 2006. Boeing will leverage Catia design software; Enovia, a tool to manage design data; and Delmia, which simulates assembly and manufacturing processes. By tightly integrating all those tools, designers will be able to use a single set of data, and planners will be able to digitally simulate the plane's life cycle from design through production.

In addition, the digital models Boeing builds will be made up of virtual components--digital versions of the chairs, metal, and screws used to build a plane. If designers move the location of the windows, the associated parts will move with it, speeding the process (see "Boeing's Flight Plan," Feb. 16).

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