Dassault Systèmes Acquires AITAC, Will Fully Integrate its Smart Drawings 3D Software Into Industry Solution Experiences

Dassault Systèmes, which announced a partnership with Stratasys at SOLIDWORKS World 2017 this winter and recently opened the new 3DEXPERIENCE Center at Wichita State University, has just acquired Dutch company AITAC BV, which specializes in marine and offshore engineering software. Dassault announced today that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire AITAC, which will allow the company to strengthen its marine and offshore portfolio for its 3DEXPERIENCE platform customers.

AITAC has been focused on yacht design, marine and offshore engineering, and shipbuilding since it was founded in 2002. Shipyards and other offshore companies use AITAC Smart Drawings software (ASD) to automatically generate industry-standard drawings from a master 3D model of a platform, ship, or other structure that’s designed using Dassault Systèmes’ CATIA. Rules and templates that account for local requirements and marine-specific standards form the basis of this automation, and companies can use ASD to improve the quality of certification documents, lower the cost of drawings production, and maximize the value of the master 3D model.

Alain Houard, Vice President, Marine & Offshore Industry, Dassault Systèmes, said, “For years, AITAC has been a software partner of Dassault Systèmes supporting its 3DEXPERIENCE platform customers and now we’re taking this long and fruitful partnership to the next level. AITAC’s long-term experience, expertise and team of naval architects and engineers will help us to extend our marine and offshore portfolio’s capabilities and support customer deployment projects.”

For a long time, the marine and offshore industry has used disconnected departments to conventionally make drawings, which are managed as solitary documents. But it’s been slowly moving to a single, multidisciplinary 3D master model, which allows marine projects to have digital continuity, from the original concept all the way to manufacturing and operations. Dassault Systèmes will integrate the ASD application into both its “Optimized Production for Sea” and “Designed for Sea” industry solution experiences, which are based on its 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

“We have always been passionate about transforming the way marine and offshore companies use 3D and we work hard to provide our customers with the best experience of a 3D master approach. Dassault Systèmes has always been a fantastic partner for us, and we truly believed this is the only company able to take this market to the next step,” said Marc Journeux, AITAC co-director. “Now our team is excited to join Dassault Systèmes to accelerate the pace of innovation.”

Dassault Systèmes will also acquire 40% of AITAC’s marine and offshore engineering office, AITAC d.o.o., in Croatia, which provides engineering and naval architecture services to major shipbuilders.

In addition to the finalized AITAC acquisition, Dassault Systèmes will also be announcing the results of an important survey this week at the FundForum International investment management conference in Berlin. The survey explored digital transformation and disruption in asset and wealth management. The company commissioned CREATE-Research to survey over 450 senior executives, from a total of 37 fund jurisdictions, in these two industries; the total amount of assets under these executives comes out to $32 trillion.

“The key driver of digitization in the years to come will be changing client behaviors, under which financial services will evolve from being supply-led to demand-led. This means that wealth management is at the dawn of a new transformation, more far reaching than anything experienced before. Digitization is not the first choice or the last choice; it is the only choice. The future belongs to those with a clear vision for their business in the digital age,” said Amin Rajan, CEO of CREATE-Research.

The survey, which is detailed in the “Digitization of asset and wealth management: promise and pitfalls” report, offers an eye-opening look at what drives digitization, the current state of digitization adoptions, and the people and industries who enable it and block it. It revealed that asset and wealth managers are cautiously approaching digitization, and early adopters are already reporting improved customer experiences, reduced operating costs, a stronger market position, and improved regulatory compliance; these managers also expect that sometime within the next decade, the industry will be partially or fully disrupted by digitization.

Guillaume Dufour, Vice President, Financial and Business Services Industry, Dassault Systèmes, said, “We commissioned this study to measure the expected impact of digital technology on the asset and wealth management industries in the next ten years and its perceived role in sustaining or transforming business models. We will continue supporting financial institutions in their digital transformation with industry solution experiences such as our ‘Innovation Factory’ to digitize processes, strengthen governance, accelerate time to market and reduce regulatory-related costs, to better serve a changing customer base.”

Some of the survey findings include:

• 54% of asset managers have adopted social media tools, while 56% of wealth managers have already adopted new digital platforms
• Digitization accelerators include the rise of low-cost passive funds, increasing cost pressures, the market entry of fintech and Internet giants, and a new generation of digitally-savvy investors
• Only a minority of those surveyed expects external disruptors to carve out niches; the majority foresees a competitive landscape of alliances, with proprietary platforms being developed

You can find all of the results detailed in the full report. Discuss in the Dassault forum at 3DPB.com.