published by Business Wire - 20 June 2007

CATIA, ENOVIA and DELMIA Help Brazilian Aerospace Giant Begin Assembly with Accurate Fuselage Components

PARIS--Dassault Systèmes , a world leader in 3D and product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, today announced that its CATIA virtual authoring, ENOVIA collaboration, and DELMIA digital manufacturing solutions have helped Brazilian aerospace company Embraer begin assembling the Phenom 100, its newest executive jet, with zero cost and time-consuming design or manufacturing errors.

"The fuselage components we designed in CATIA fit together exactly as designed and exactly as simulated," said Humberto Pereira, director of development engineering, Embraer. "That accuracy helped us maintain a testing and production schedule that keeps us on track to meet our goal of getting the Phenom 100 into the air mid 2007 and into full service in 2008."

"Our PLM solutions' ultimate function is to make our customers more profitable through innovative product development, and that's the exact role they're fulfilling at Embraer," said Marcelo Lemos, general manager Latin America, Dassault Systèmes. "The Phenom program is as much about corporate strategy as it is about aircraft design because Embraer is investing in a new market. The company's first foray into the executive jets demanded a combination of performance and cost-effective production that can only come from advanced 3D modeling done in a collaborative framework. Our solutions helped Embraer align its design and manufacturing processes with its business goals to produce the best aircraft design for the task at hand."

The Phenom 100 and the companion Phenom 300 aircraft are Embraer's first entries into the growing light and very light executive jet markets. Embraer invested in innovations such as employing composite material in primary structures to develop a larger yet lighter plane that can carry passengers comfortably and at higher speeds than competing aircraft, with improved fuel efficiency. Embraer is counting on these qualities to help the Phenoms to improve their strategic position in the market.

Embraer, the world's third largest manufacturer of commercial aircraft, used CATIA to model fuselage sections of its Phenom 100 executive jet. CATIA models and DELMIA manufacturing simulations helped the company produce the sections exactly to specification, which eliminated expensive re-work. ENOVIA enabled Embraer engineers to collaborate throughout the design process, which eliminated the late-stage errors that can arise from conflicts between engineering teams. Embraer recently started Phenom 100 prototype construction in anticipation of first flight, to take place in mid 2007.