Diverse Industries Universally Endorse Digital Manufacturing as Proven Competitive Tool; Next Step: Commonize Data Across the Enterprise to Gain Full Potential

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.--Nov. 1, 20055, 2005--Dassault Systemes' (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) recent DELMIA 2005 North America Worldwide User Group Conference brought together leaders from the automotive, aerospace, telecommunications, defense and consumer industries to share how their companies are strategically employing DELMIA digital solutions to gain efficiencies in the manufacturing process. The consistent message was the endorsement of digital manufacturing by all executive presenters as a mature and a proven competitive tool for cost savings, quality improvement and reduced time to market. The second recurring theme that became apparent was the fact that enterprises must eliminate individual silos of information and develop a common data platform to gain the most from the tools and to enable a true Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) strategy.

The gains to be made through digital manufacturing initiatives were clearly apparent. Keynote presenter David Jodock, Director of Boeing Information Technology Integration, stated that by implementing the Dassault Systemes V5 PLM tools, the 787 Dreamliner program is designing, building and testing every aspect of the 7E7 airplane and its manufacturing processes digitally before production begins. This has allowed the company to eliminate the cost of building six to eight physical prototype planes, representing massive cost and time-savings.

Ed Linhart, Lockheed Martin Vice President of Production Operations, confirmed this level of success. DELMIA tools were used to simulate all F35 JSF assembly processes to achieve astounding reductions. The forward fuselage, which consists of three subcomponents, was assembled in only two hours versus the previous baseline of four days.

Nissan chose DELMIA digital manufacturing solutions to build flexible production lines capable of meeting fluctuations in demand. Nissan Motor Co. Senior Manager Vehicle Planning & Strategy Development, Toshiyuki Nakajima stated that Nissan has cut vehicle development time in half while improving quality by 13 percent. The company has also eliminated physical prototype tools, replacing them with a 3D digital mockup design review process.

Dassault Systemes President and CEO Bernard Charles affirmed the strength of the tools as evidenced by the successful Dassault Aviation Falcon 7X launch where the company achieved a 50 percent reduction in assembly time, a 60 percent decrease in tooling, the total elimination of physical prototypes, and successful first time assembly. Charles also said that product data management (PDM) is the biggest problem in the successful implementation of digital programs and his goal is to create a comprehensive portfolio that shares the same math.

Roger Lundberg, Director of Engineering Operation and Chrysler Development System, Product Development, Chrysler group, stated that the Dassault Systemes' vision is a great one and the goal for the Chrysler group is to more fully integrate the tools, which include both CATIA for design and DELMIA for manufacturing process, into the organization and into the processes.

Ingo Chladek, Audi Department Head, Process Manager A3, confirmed this view. He said that by implementing DELMIA tools, Audi was able to launch the new A3 line within 18 weeks without losing a single car. He stressed that the success factors for the digital factory rely upon systematic networking and parallelization - complete data integration.

Keith Zobott, Honeywell International Corporate Director of Engineering Information Technology, agreed. Zobott suggested eliminating cultural silos of information. He said that PLM is the enabler of velocity product development, efficient globalization and global collaboration, and added that, based on the user conference presentations, companies that are using this are leading the way.

Donald Brown, Managing Partner of analyst firm CPD Associates, concluded the executive summaries. Brown discussed being on the verge of a paradigm shift. He expressed that while Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) isn't a new concept, the technology by business is not being fully applied. He also clearly conveyed the value of the tools and stated that less than 10 years ago, automakers routinely invested in many, many prototype vehicles at the cost of $200,000 to $300,000 each. With the help of digital tools, the number of physical prototypes is down to around two per vehicle or even none in some cases.

Other speakers at the conference represented Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, Bombardier, ABB Robotics, Proctor & Gamble, Magnys, Applied Manufacturing Technologies, Telcordia, Flow International, NASA and Cenit. Over 350 people from around the world attended the two-day conference, which also included workshops, exhibit booths and hospitality events.

About DELMIA

DELMIA is a premier brand for digital manufacturing solutions, focused on two unique software applications that can be used to streamline manufacturing processes. DELMIA Automation provides solutions to digitally design test and validate the control of a machine, workcell, or entire factory line and DELMIA PLM provides the process and resource capability to enable continuous creation and validation of manufacturing processes as related to the product throughout the entire product lifecycle. DELMIA serves industries where the optimization of manufacturing processes is critical, including automotive, aerospace, fabrication and assembly, electrical and electronics, consumer goods, plant, and shipbuilding sectors. Information about DELMIA is available at http://www.delmia.com.

About Dassault Systemes

As world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, the Dassault Systemes group brings value to more than 80,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systemes develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire life cycle of products from conception to maintenance. Our offering includes integrated PLM solutions for product development (CATIA(R), DELMIA(R), ENOVIA(R), SMARTEAM(R)), mainstream 3D design tools (SolidWorks(R)), and 3D components (Spatial/ACIS(R)). Dassault Systemes is listed on the Nasdaq (DASTY) and Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) stock exchanges. For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com