You have probably heard about 3D EXPERIENCE. Or you may have heard about “The Platform”. But what does it actually do? How is it made? This article will explain, from the very beginning, what the 3D EXPERIENCE Platform is all about.

The Platform is created by Dassault Systemes and is their central product for the future. Here is a quote from the 3DS website:

“Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations”

3D EXPERIENCE Platform is primarily a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system and is aimed at supporting the digital design and development of products that subsequently get manufactured. This explains the references to “virtual” and “innovations” in the quote. As a platform, it houses multiple capabilities (apps) in a single seamless piece of software. A user logs into one interface and is able to access all the installed and licensed capabilities of their 3D EXPERIENCE from there. The platform is based on a database, allowing for storage and indexing of data.

Dassault Systemes explain their platform in terms of a 3D compass illustrated below:

 

Let us look at the four quadrants, starting at the top and work around the quadrant in a clockwise direction:

1. Collaboration apps include functionality that foster informal collaboration across extended teams (SWYM) and structured collaboration such as formal change management (ENOVIA)
2. Information intelligence apps are designed to handle Big Data and drawing from multiple sources, present the user with concise summaries of the information they need (NETVIBES)
3. Simulation apps are aimed at virtual digital validation and testing of designs. Traditionally this is known as CAE or FEA (SIMULIA). It can also be extended to virtual simulation of factories or retail store layouts.
4. 3D Modeling apps are perhaps what Dassault Systemes is best known for and include CATIA and Solidworks

Finally, because all this functionality is in a single platform, this allows the user a realistic and immediate experience in a virtual world (Real time Experience).

A few more pertinent point regarding the 3D EXPERIENCE Platform:

1. The platform is scalable to suit the requirements of each organization using the technology. Adopters can chose to start with basic functionality and then move to more advanced capabilities.
2. The concept of a design platform grew out of the necessity to store and maintain all the digital data generated during product development after widespread adoption of CAD applications. It now has extensive capabilities beyond that.
3. Dassault Systemes are constantly added new apps and functions to the platform, so the range of capability is expanding.
4. More and more of the platform is moving to the cloud. Dassauly Systemes now offer a complete SAAS model for a lot of apps within the platform. This dramatically reduces implementation complexity.

Obviously, each application included in the platform is comprehensive enough to warrant a complete subject in and of itself, but I hope this breakdown has given you a useful high-level overview of what 3D EXPERIENCE can do for an organization, not just at initial implementation but in terms of adapting to its changing needs over time