Simulation-Based Manufacturing (SBM) Will Strengthen Shipbuilder's Competitive Edge in the Manufacturing Industry

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. & SEOUL, Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2006--Dassault Systemes (DS) (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced that the world's leading shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has built a simulation-based digital shipyard using DELMIA digital manufacturing technology, enabling the company to successfully establish a real-time supply chain network for collaborative production.

With DELMIA, SHI's Korea-based Geoje Shipyard is able to simulate design and engineering processes and digitally manage its facilities, procedures, and engineering schedules by shipbuilding in a virtual environment. "In the future, Simulation-Based Manufacturing (SBM) will play a pivotal role in strengthening the competitiveness of manufacturing by applying IT technologies," noted Hwang Gyu-Ok, general manager of the Information System Group for SHI. "The digital shipyard is not a simple operational system, but rather a key infrastructure, so it is critical that we use the best technology in Simulation-Based Manufacturing."

"SHI has successfully implemented a new conceptual digital shipyard solution simulating the whole process, ranging from conceptual design through operation to maintenance," added Bertrand Saint-Martin, vice-president, DELMIA Asia-Pacific Operations. "Dassault Systemes is proud to have partnered with SHI to facilitate this innovation."

In order to increase its competitiveness, SHI joined the Korean government-led project for building a simulation-based digital shipyard, managed by the Ministry of Information and Communication and the Ministry of Commerce, Energy and Industry. DELMIA digital manufacturing solutions were implemented for the core virtual shipbuilding technology, in collaboration with experts from six universities including the Ocean Engineering Department of Seoul National University and the Korea Marine Ocean Research Development Institute.

In the first phase of its project to design an integrated simulator for processes from loading to manufacturing the hull, SHI adopted the DELMIA solutions IGRIP, VNC, QUEST and DELFOI Integrator to verify the digital modeling and manufacturing design. The simulation enabled analyses of the operation rate by equipment and period, which in turn led to enhanced customer satisfaction and technological competitiveness, reducing the time required to analyze operations from over 30 minutes to five. The simulation-based manufacturing management is expected to reduce cost by $7.3 million a year.

In addition, thanks to the possibility of verifying shipbuilding processes virtually using DELMIA Digital Shipbuilding Solution (DSS), SHI was granted the gold award for the Pacific Rim in the World's Business Process Management Conference at the end of last year, and the Business Process award for leading technology by Samsung IT Symposium, a knowledge management award within the Samsung Group.

The digital shipyard is currently being operated in the third dock at Geoje shipyard. SHI's new factory and the DSS are scheduled to be extended to the first and second docks. Additional implementations are being discussed.

About Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.

Samsung Heavy Industries was founded in 1974 with the goal of making contributions to the growth of the Korea's heavy chemical industries and global leading companies of the world. Currently with 4 major business portfolio--shipbuilding, marine, digital control systems and the construction business--SHI has grown into a world-class heavy industry company. Based on its world's best technological competitiveness in the shipbuilding area, the company is focusing its management capabilities on manufacturing high-value-added special ships such as deep-sea oil exploration vessels, LNG vessels, super-sized container ships and passenger ships. www.shi.samsung.co.kr/

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 www.delmia.com.

About Dassault Systemes

As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, the Dassault Systemes group brings value to more than 90,000 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 lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance. The Dassault Systemes portfolio consists of CATIA for designing the virtual product - SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design - DELMIA for virtual production - SIMULIA for virtual testing and ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management, including ENOVIA VPLM, ENOVIA MatrixOne and ENOVIA SmarTeam. Dassault Systemes is listed on the Nasdaq (DASTY) and Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) stock exchanges. For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com

CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, SIMULIA and SolidWorks are registered trademarks of Dassault Systemes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries.