Dassault Drafts New Meaning

I've been trying to make sense of recent documents emanating from Dassault Systemes' marketing department. They contain words whose meaning is lost in these new contexts.

Here's a sampling of the "new" words, what I think is their meaning, and how they appear in-context:

Chart (noun) -- contract or agreement? -- "Blog Chart" (1)

Offer (noun) -- software product? -- "DS Design Studio has been working with CATIA R&D to create an offer that directly adresses... This offer, the CATIA Design Studio Solutions Portfolio, includes..." (2) 

Sharp (adj) -- clear? -- "Exact shape outputs are immediately available as sharp and efficient communication support." (2)

Actors (noun) -- employees or clients? -- "...fully understood by all involved extended project team actors." (2)

Federates (verb) -- collects or monitors? -- "It federates all product-related knowledge..." (3) (4)

Effectivity (noun or adverb or adjective or verb?) -- effective outcome? -- "...a new configuration management solution which supports product unit effectivity..." (3)

This collection of brave-new-world words makes me want to embrace words I hereinbefore despised -- collaborative, leverage, solution, leading, PLM, BIM -- as warmly as long-lost parents.

By controlling the language, are they hoping to control the market? Not in this case!

- - -

Sources & Notes: 

(1) 3D Perspectives

(2) Dassault Systemes Announces DS Design Studio Creation

(3) Dassault Systemes Launches V6R2009x

(4) Autodesk used to use "federate" a lot a few years ago, but then dropped it from their marketing vocabulary guidebook when they realized (I am guessing here) that no one knew what they were talking about.

Comments

[Norm C.]

I can't say about those other words, but I'm pretty sure that "chart", "offer" and "actors" are cases of badly translated french.

"Charte" in french is a legal text. It could translate to charter, contract.

One definition of "acteur" is "one who partakes in an action".

It is not unusual to see "offer" and "actor" used in the same manner in french texts as in Dassault's. You have to keep in mind that the french language is not as pragmatic as english. ;-)

[Steve Johnson]

Dassault's English may be slightly off, but it is certainly a lot better than my French. It could be easily cured by employing a native English-speaker as a proof reader.

[Owen Wengerd]

I wonder if the poor English is a case of relying on automated translation software. Chart -> Charter, Offer -> Offering, Effectivity -> Efficiency, etc. would at least be technically correct, if not exactly top shelf. Once translation software goes 3D, these problems might be avoided.

[Evan Yares]

"Federate" is a term of art in the computer industry. A common usage is with "federated databases." (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federated_database )

[R. Paul Waddington]

Owen said "Once translation software goes 3D, these problems might be avoided."

Would you be having your 3D translation with History based modeling sir; or would you prefer direct modeling with a side dish of Synchronous technology?

[Gerry C.]

Effectivity is not new. It is a commonly used term in PLM systems to indicate when a released part is scheduled to be used in a specific assembly, and that the old part is not to be used (or manufactured) anymore.

[A. I.]

I/ve worked for DS here in the U.S. for over 10 years. The "official" term my friends and I have used for 20+ years is "Fringlish". It gets better all the time though. I have to agree with Steve J., their English is a LOT better than my French, so I give them a lot of slack 99% of the time. Most documentation is written in English however, not automatically translated.

As for the "Fringlish"....

"Blog Chart" - the context is a little vague here, but I think it's referring to a list of blog entries.

"Offer" - more accurately refers to a "Solution", which may consist of one or more software products. The words "Solution" or "Offer" are typically used because most of our implementations blend together software products, application expertise and implementation services to solve customer's problems.

By the way, a word of advice, "don't try this on your own kids". (I'm reminded of that joke where the mechanic asks the heart surgeon why they don't both make the same amount of money because they both basically do the same thing "fix engines"........ The heart surgeon replies, "because I work on the engine while it's running".) Done right, it's complicated and sensitive to the ongoing operations of your company. Done wrong, you'll waste a lot of money both on the implementation, and having me come in and fix it after someone figures out that it was done wrong and worse yet, you could easily stop the whole engine or... horror...., make yourself the scapegoat to a failed implementation. You hire lawyers for simpler things than this, don't you?

"Sharp" I think you nailed it. "clear" seems appropriate in the context.

"Actors" - anyone involved in the project

"Federates" - means "to make available". Used in various contexts throughout PLM. We can "Federate" surfaces that have been grouped into a single entity (a "join" in CATIA V5) federation allows the joined surfaces to be individually referenced, but uses more memory.

"Effectivity" - Gerry C. nailed this one. it references when and where a part is to be used. Management of part effectivities can be VERY complicated especially when you combine it with change management, revision control, supercedence, relational design, workflow, etc. For example, every single part (and I do mean every single part, tape, glue, etc.!) on an aircraft must be accounted for by effectivities, before during and after the aircraft is manufactured, serviced, etc. Every part on every plane has a complete development, application, and disposal history that must be accounted for by effectivities. This is called "tracability" and allows one to know exactly what part (down to the serial number) was on a plane when it "malfunctioned". Automobile manufacturers track part effectivity by option codes, dates and supercedence. Part effectivities have been used for decades by all manufacturers.

[A,I.]

"blog chart" - after reviewing the actual context, i think it's suppose to be "blog charter", which even after looking at the actual context again, is a silly way to term what what they actually mean which is "blog agreement" ( a quick shift+F7 in Word gave me this... hmmm)