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Dassault Systemes Inks ‘Biggest Ever’ Deal with Boeing to Modernize Production System | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. (AFP)


French industrial software company Dassault Systemes announced Tuesday that it has signed a contract worth billions of dollars with US aerpsace giant Boeing to modernize its production system.

“Boeing will expand the deployment of products developed by Dassault Systemes,” the company said in a statement, confirming information published by French newspaper Le Figaro.

The paper, which like Dassault Systemes is part of the Dassault Group, said “Boeing has signed a 30-year contract worth a billion dollars, renewable every 10 years”.

The partnership with Boeing will focus on the use of its 3DEXPERIENCE software “to design future products, to modernize the entire production system and to deploy new services”, Le Figaro said.

It will hasten the digital switchover of Boeing’s production system and to give it “a competitive advantage in the commercial field, by reducing excessive delivery times”, Le Figaro said.

Contacted by AFP, Dassault Systemes declined to confirm the value of the deal, but said it is “the biggest in its history.”

Dassault Systemes also said Tuesday its second quarter net profit was up 21.4 percent at 123 million euros ($143 million), and lowered some of its objectives to take into account the rise in the value of euro.

Boeing and its European rival Airbus have years of backlogs of orders for the most popular models of their commercial aircraft, and they get paid only when they deliver planes to their clients.

On Monday, Ryanair held talks with Boeing about its new larger version of the 737 airliner, the MAX 10, but has made clear it would only be interested if the price is lowered, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary announced.

Ryanair declined to comment in June when Reuters reported the Irish airline was in talks with Boeing about buying the new plane, which seats up to 230 passengers compared to 189 seats on its current 737-800 fleet and the 196 seats on Boeing MAX 200 aircraft it has ordered.

“We have told them to go back and if they can come up with a price on the Max 10 that meaningfully reduces our unit cost, we would be very happy to place an order,” O’Leary told analysts on a conference call following publication of the group’s latest quarterly earnings.

“We are very interested in the aircraft – but we are only interested in this aircraft or any aircraft if it lowers our unit costs,” he said. “We do believe that a 230 seat aircraft can deliver a meaningful reduction in unit costs.”

O’Leary said Ryanair did not need to order any more planes for five years, but would consider an offer if the price was right.

Boeing in June launched what would become the largest version of its 737 MAX medium-haul family, designed to challenge the popular Airbus A321 flown by Ryanair rivals.

Rivals easyJet and Wizz have ordered A321 planes, which seat up to 239 passengers as they seek to keep costs per seat under control by shifting to slightly bigger planes.