Auburn Hills, MI., USA, May 3, 2007 - Dassault Systèmes (NASDAQ: DASTY: Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced that Airbus has completed a major research project that is expected to result in a greater level of automated drilling applications within the aerospace giant. This patent-applied-for process, which incorporates DELMIA V5 Robotics software, is aimed to reduce costs, cut production time, and improve quality.

“Our research is part of a drive to significantly reduce manual processing across aircraft programs. Standard industrial robots are not accurate enough for our process specifications, as absolute positional accuracy of ±0.2 mm is required in many application areas. Our team brought together two development partners, KUKA UK and M3, using DELMIA solutions, to address this problem and come up with a way to bring a low cost, flexible robotic platform into the aerospace sector,” explains Mark Summers, engineering group leader, Automation and Robotics, Airbus UK. Company-wide, Airbus drills around 50 million holes per year, half of which are manually processed.

M3 is a METRIS metrology integrator, and a DELMIA UK Service Partner. The new Airbus process links a METRIS system to the KUKA robot dynamically, on-line. All of the robot programs being created off-line use DELMIA’s Robotics simulation solutions.

“Because aircraft parts are so large and accuracy requirements so high, Off-Line Robotic Programming was needed. DELMIA Robotics Simulation software technology with our metrology interface and integration means the robot is consistently running programs, accurately, and data is referenced back to the CAD master dynamically on-site. The first production system will be put into action at Airbus in the UK,” said Roger Holden, managing director of M3, the company with joint commercial rights to this solution (with KUKA UK). The project is a real partnership between Airbus, KUKA, METRIS, and DELMIA.

The unique and fully integrated metrology system measures the virtual world first and adapts the real world to fit, making the robot intelligent enough to make its own adaptations. This means that it can make accurate allowances for temperature fluctuations, for example. The system makes the robot aware of deflections by measuring the relative positions of the target and the robot as it moves towards it. The robot is then able to coordinate that data and make the necessary compensations.

About Airbus

Airbus is a leading manufacturer of airliners with more than 100 seats. The company’s product line-up covers a range of 12 aircraft models from a 100-seat single-aisle, to the largest civil airliner ever, the double-deck A380. In 2006, Airbus achieved a turnover of approximately 26 billion euros. It has delivered more than 4,500 Airbus aircraft to 250 customers around the globe. To date, Airbus has received orders for more than 7,100 aircraft. Information about Airbus is available at http://www.airbus.com

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 lifecyle. 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 Systèmes

As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systèmes brings value to more than 90,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes 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 Systèmes 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 Systèmes is listed on the Nasdaq (DASTY) and Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) stock exchanges. For more information, visit : http://www.3ds.com