ANN ARBOR -- CIMdata, the product lifecycle management consulting and research firm, Wednesday announced the publication of a new paper about Simulation Lifecycle Management.

To help design and perfect today's more complex products, simulation and analysis is becoming increasingly important to manufacturing enterprises of all sizes. Broader, deeper, and more effective simulation is needed to properly analyze the complex products being designed and developed and validate that they meet functional and regulatory requirements.

S&A tools and methodologies must be used more effectively throughout the product development process to improve designs and reduce the cost of prototyping and physical testing. This is driving increased investments in simulation and the need to better manage S&A tools, data, and processes.

Because of the increased need for and importance of simulation, companies now recognize that S&A information is valuable intellectual property that needs to be captured, shared, and leveraged throughout the product lifecycle. New approaches are transforming product-related S&A into a visible and accessible component of the product development process, across the full product lifecycle and across extended enterprises; not just maintaining them as a domain for specialists. We call this approach to managing S&A information and processes, and integrating it within the full product lifecycle, Simulation Lifecycle Management (SLM). SLM is the enterprise's gateway to simulation tools, processes, and data.

This paper provides a perspective on simulation lifecycle management: the pressures that motivate its use; SLM's role; its value and future; and how one company, Dassault Systèmes, is developing and delivering advanced SLM solutions for product development companies.

The paper, "Simulation Lifecycle Management" is available to be freely downloaded from CIMdata's web site at http://www.cimdata.com/publications/reports_complimentary.html.