Focus on Transformation through Process Frameworks and Knowledge Reuse Drives PLM Road Map to Record Participation

Stamford, CT – October 6, 2005 – Collaborative Product Development Associates (CPDA), a leading provider of the latest in-depth objective information for assessing technology and business goals, held its annual PLM Road Map conference last week in Dearborn, Michigan, with 20% more attendees than the prior record set last year.

Kicking off the conference, Roger Lundberg from DaimlerChrysler Corporation outlined the critical success factors in CDS, or the Chrysler Development System. Robert Manney from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics then hit the importance of serving customer requirements across the full product life cycle.

The tracks featured presentations by executives from automotive, aerospace, and discrete manufacturing who shared lessons learned. This year’s PLM Road Map event focused on reference frameworks that can be used to drive a common understanding across silos to optimize results across the entire lifecycle. The Design/Simulation Council focused on the next steps in launching a pilot for a CAE data model. In design tools, knowledge reuse and up-front manufacturing requirements shared the limelight. Integration in general across silos, and ERP/PLM integration in particular, received heavy coverage.

Donna McAleenan from Bombardier Aerospace then gave an intense and dramatic keynote on the realities and capabilities of their virtual factory – now! Christian Vertraete from Hewlett-Packard closed the conference with a weighty and insightful review of the critical elements in managing development across the supply chain.

The next PLM Road Map conference will be held in the fall of 2006.

PLM Road Map 2005 also featured Eye on Technology a unique forum for conference attendees to learn about the latest products and services available in the marketplace. Exhibitors included Adobe, Agile, ANSYS, Autodesk, CD-adapco, CoMeT Solutions, Enductive Solutions, Engineous Software, IBM – Dassault Systemes, MatrixOne, MSC.Software, PARTsolutions, Proficiency, RuleStream, UGS, and VISTAGY. Sponsors of the event included Aras Corporation, Autodesk, Federation Software, Intel, Lattice3D, Procelerate Technologies, and PTC.

“The success of PLM Road Map 2005 would not have been possible without the involvement of our collaborative research partners,” said Don Brown, CPDA’s Chairman. “I would like to thank our speakers and research partners for sharing their experiences of living PLM on a daily basis by showing how they are making the technology work, by driving efforts up front early in design, and by continuously incorporating cross-disciplinary knowledge and feedback to deliver value to the bottom-line results of their organizations.”

About CPDA

CPDA provides the latest in-depth, objective information for assessing strategic decisions involving the tradeoffs of technology and business goals. Coordinated by a group of experienced analysts, its cohesive suite of collaborative research programs leverages the efforts of top software designers and leading-edge users. Specific, deep, and pragmatic analysis and a hands-on understanding of the technology required to drive successful implementations differentiates CPDA’s unique capabilities.

CPDA’s collaborative research programs include Design Creation and Validation, covering authoring technology and tools, Product Value Management for design across the supply chain, PLM-Integration/Product Definition, and the Design/Simulation Council. For more information visit www.cpd-associates.com