Dassault Systèmes' CAD software CATIA is one of the most commonly used systems in the automotive industry. The V5 version of CATIA is the one that most often applies; therefore, it is an important event for Dassault when the developer and manufacturer of absolute world-class monster sports cars, Koenigsegg Automotive, chooses to bet on Dassault's CATIA V6 and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
Koenigsegg Automotive, which developed the world-record-holding Regera, recently announced that together with the PLM consultant TECHNIA, they are investing in a strategic project to upgrade their CATIA environment to the V6 platform and 3DEXPERIENCE.
The partnership with TECHNIA has focused on supporting Koenigsegg in its efforts to develop pioneering new technology in all aspects of development activities. According to Koenigsegg's COO, Halldora von Koenigsegg, the new technology will enable a sharper layout of Koenigsegg's PLM infrastructure, based primarily on the upgraded V6 version of CATIA and applicable parts of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. In the latter case, this includes the cPDm (collaborative Product Definition management) app ENOVIA, to keep pace with the requirements for state-of-the-art digital development support and the company's unique business model for developing tailored customer solutions based on cutting edge car technology.
“The investment in CATIA V6 and 3DEXPERIENCE was a strategic decision to support us in our rapid development towards being a world leader in technology for CAD data quality, collaboration and communication,” says von Koenigsegg. “Using the strength of a unified product structure has not only changed the daily work of our mechanical engineering department, but also led to major improvements for all downstream departments, partners and suppliers who need updated, accurate and relevant technical data.”
She also notes that Dassault’s channel partner TECHNIA played an important role in this work.
"Not least to define and implement our first crucial implementation phase, but we have also committed ourselves to ensuring complete success," she says.
Replaces Older Dassault Sysytèmes Tools with CATIA V6
Under the agreement between Dassault and Koenigsegg, TECHNIA will handle the conversion from older tools and processes to the latest version of Dassault Systèmes' CAD software, CATIA V6.
“The 3DEXPERIENCE platform has very powerful tools for reporting directly on live 3D CAD data. It is easily accessible, with a large range of tools for us to be able to review and communicate progress and construction design in real time. It also allows us to perform design reviews with super-thin clients directly in the system with problem-solving functions to document them and notify responsible engineers,” asserts Henrik Leionhardt, CAD engineer at Koenigsegg.
While, they have passed the first introductory phase in putting CATIA V6 to work, Leionhardt says that they have set their sights even higher when it comes to the Dassault Systèmes platform.
“Yes, in the later phases we will introduce other 3DEXPERIENCE-based solutions primarily in digital manufacturing and composite design,” he adds.
The Design Journey Begins in SOLIDWORKS
Koenigsegg’s road to becoming an absolute world-class producer of super sportscars has been characterized by an interesting vision: to ensure that every component in the car is the best that can be found and performs its job optimally.
There are no compromises in component design, development or manufacturing. Since it is a relatively small organization that works with low-volume production aimed at customers who can invest fortunes in a vehicle, it has been possible to carry through with this exclusive best-in-class approach. Each vehicle is exclusively tailor-made, which is reflected in the fact that each component and part of a typical Koenigsegg BOM (Bill of Materials) is performance-based rather than cost-based.
To give an idea of what you can do in a Koenigsegg sportscar, in September 2019 the company's Regera hybrid vehicle model set a world record in acceleration, including braking to a standstill position—going from 0-400-0 kilometers per hour—finishing this sequence in 31.49 seconds.
According to the most recently published plans, the company has set its sights on doubling its production volume from 20 to 40 vehicles annually. Koenigsegg cars are sold to customers all over the world including Asia, Central Europe, South Africa, Australia, Scandinavia and the United States. In terms of price, these sportscars are in the price range of $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
All manufacturing and technology development takes place in Ängelholm in southern Sweden, where there are currently about 300 employees in product development, manufacturing and administration.
The models that Koenigsegg has produced in the past or is producing are:
- Previous Koenigsegg Agera models.
- Previous Koenigsegg CCX models.
- The current Koenigsegg Regera model.
- The new Koenigsegg Jesko model (2020-).
- Koenigsegg Gemera, which is a four-seater sports car presented as late as March 2020, with a planned production volume of 300 from 2022 onwards.
The Design Journey Took Off in SOLIDWORKS
When it comes to digital design tools, founder Christian von Koenigsegg and his coworkers started the journey towards developing these ultimate sports vehicles in Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS for the CAD design, with a separate ERP software for BOM management, purchasing and manufacturing support, and several other systems which in principle did not "talk" to each other.
From there, as the business grew, they invested in the next step with CATIA PLM Express to get better control over their products' life cycles.
The investment in CATIA can be linked to the decision to develop the CCX vehicle in “100 percent 3D CAD.” This meant that all exterior surfaces, bodywork and chassis would be derived from class A surfaces and all tools and masters would be developed directly from the CAD model. CCX is an abbreviation of Competition Coupé X, where the X refers to the tenth anniversary of the manufacture and testing of the first CC car in 1996.
But now the focus is on CATIA in the V6 environment, with the inclusion of applicable parts of ENOVIA for collaboration and life cycle management.
A Tough Journey Still Remains
TECHNIA’s Jonas Gejer is pleased to have a prestige developer’s logo on the vehicle side, and to have Koenigsegg on the customer list.
“Absolutely so, but more importantly, the Koenigsegg project confirms the ability of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to dramatically improve technology efficiency and support sharper innovation capacity. We further see in this that TECHNIA's ability to change the automotive industry based on technology from Dassault Systems, our own TECHNIA Software solutions and our consultants, is world-class. ”
It will be exciting to follow Koenigsegg's journey into the V6 environment. Since the V6 platform's debut in 2012, it has not been an entirelysimple implementation process for the companies that have worked in the V5 environment and wanted to move on to V6.
Much is new in this version, and many who work with CATIA V5 in combination with proprietary configuration solutions and/or cPDm systems from competitors such as Siemens Teamcenter—which is one of the most common combinations—have chosen to act on a precautionary principle so as not to interfere processes that worked well.
But it is clear that Dassault has done a lot in recent years to facilitate a transition with mixed V5 and V6 solutions, such as in the case of Renault and Volvo Cars.
A strength in the case of Koenigsegg is that they make the introduction of V6 together with TECHNIA, which has very a strong track record.