CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
4 February 2009
Implementation Investments
General Motors Selects VISTAGY Seat Design Environment™
VISTAGY, Inc. announced that General Motors has purchased VISTAGY Seat Design Environment™ (SDE) for use in its engineering operations. GM anticipates that DE will enable it to substantially reduce seat trim development time and obtain cost feedback earlier in the design process. VISTAGY’s SDE complements GM’s single CAD system strategy because it integrates with the company’s CAD system of choice, Siemens NX.
Given today’s market pressures, engineers strive to obtain design feedback and manufacturing cost information early in the development process to ensure final seats meet specifications and deadlines. The SDE addresses these needs by enabling engineers working within a CAD system to easily create a single, complete 3D virtual product master model that can be used to automatically generate the data needed to document and manufacture a seat trim cover.
This single master CAD model helps engineers more efficiently share design detail across teams, obtain instant feedback on constantly changing design and cost data, and automatically generate critical design and manufacturing documentation. As a result, OEMs and suppliers reduce their reliance on physical prototyping and improve manufacturing accuracy while reducing seat delivery time by months. “VISTAGY’s SDE software will enable us to increase the efficiency and control of our engineering and prototyping processes,” said Ralf Eidt, global business leader of Fabrics and Trim Covers at GM.
“SDE is a very intuitive product to use,” said Hartwig Gaertner, (Bill of Materials) BOM Family Owner, Trim Covers at GM. “Our trim engineers, who had little exposure to the CAD system, were up and running on SDE in a few short days. Within 2-3 weeks they were able to create the seat cover flat patterns and the design and manufacturing data needed for cutting and sewing driver, passenger and back row seats.”
“We’re pleased to be working with one of the world’s leading automotive companies to help them enhance their seat trim processes,” said Ed Bernardon, vice president of business development for VISTAGY. “SDE is well suited to help seat manufacturers shorten and improve their design-to-manufacturing processes, which is so important given today’s competitive pricing environment. We look forward to working with GM to ensure that they reach their objectives for efficient design and manufacture of the most cost-effective seats possible.”
About General Motors
General Motors Corp. has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services.
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