Babcock and Dassault Systèmes have announced a collaboration to accelerate digital engineering across Babcock’s global business, the company stated.
Unveiled at the Farnborough International Airshow, the alliance centres on a new digital engineering programme which Babcock says is aimed at unlocking innovation, increasing productivity and delivering new products and technology integration at a faster pace. The company will use Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which connects engineering teams, data and processes in one place and can map, manage and simulate the entire lifecycle of a product or programme from concept and design through to disposal.
According to Babcock, the platform will be applied across through-life equipment and support programmes spanning shipbuilding, submarine support, nuclear and aviation. The company says it will provide a digital thread giving a single source of truth across products throughout their engineering lifecycle, a platform with security built into its foundation, and support for a workforce equipped with digital engineering skills.
Michael Ward, Babcock’s Global Engineering Director, was quoted in the press release as saying: “This collaboration reinforces our commitment to investing in industry-leading technologies that will strengthen our sovereign capability whilst unlocking greater value from our deep engineering and technical expertise and intellectual property. For our customers, supply chain and SME ecosystem, they will see increased delivery and efficiencies in how we work, whilst accelerating innovation and delivering long-term competitive advantage.”
John Turnbull, Managing Director EURONORTH at Dassault Systèmes, was quoted in the press release as saying: “The defence sector is undergoing significant transformation with new levels of complexity in a context of increasing sovereignty and resilience. Our 3DEXPERIENCE platform enables stakeholders to work together more effectively and streamline processes across design, operations, maintenance and training.”
According to Babcock, the platform will also enable the creation of digital twins, which engineers can use to simulate and validate systems in a collaborative environment, with the aim of reducing risk, shortening development cycles and improving operational readiness. Digital twins, virtual replicas of physical assets fed by real-world data, have become an increasingly common tool across defence engineering, allowing changes to be modelled and tested before they are made to the physical platform.
