Dassault Systemes: Ford Motor Company Awards Global Training Program to Dassault Systemes Services

Business Wire,  June 25, 2008  

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Standardizes Processes to Leverage Power of CATIA Across Enterprise

MONTREAL -- Dassault Systemes (DS) (Paris:DSY) (NASDAQ:DASTY) (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, recently finalized a contract to support Ford Motor Company's CP3 NG program worldwide with a standard global training curriculum based on CATIA, its PLM design solution and Companion, its award-winning e-learning solution.

In North America, Dassault Systemes Services, the services and consulting division of Dassault Systemes, will provide instructors, material and training; globally, it will work with trainers that Ford already has in place, delivering materials and curricula.

Ford began its transition to CATIA in 2003, relying upon it for body-in-white development of the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr platform. Since then, the company has methodically rolled out CATIA to interiors, chassis, electrical and powertrain systems.

The training program will help Ford standardize its methodologies across the global enterprise in order to gain the most efficiency from the CATIA portfolio. Using a modular approach, Dassault Systemes Services will tailor each training module to meet Ford's needs by business division, based on prescribed tracks. Course length is typically two to five days and much of the course material will be used in an on-line learning environment. There are 93 courses available in all, with 10-100 modules per course and a set schedule of classes.

Ford uses a blended learning solution of instructor-lead training and self-paced computer-based training. To maximize the adaptability and flexibility of Ford's training program, Dassault Systemes Services will deploy Companion, its e-learning solution. Companion comprises over two hundred courses per release, covering the family of Dassault Systemes PLM products and includes specialized courses for specific automotive industry domains. Companion has already been used by numerous customers as the learning backbone for enterprise-wide deployments of Dassault Systemes' PLM solutions. As a complement to the flexible Companion platform, Dassault Systemes Services will deploy mobile classrooms, which can be shipped anywhere in the world and set up in a few hours.

"We are proud to be a strategic partner with Ford, sharing its commitment to the design and manufacture of high quality, world-class vehicles," said Michel Tellier, president, Dassault Systemes Services. "The proficiency of Ford's global design team is largely influenced by the consistency, quality and thoroughness of their skills development and the training they receive accordingly. We share Ford's commitment to realize the value of moving to a single worldwide CAD strategy and training is a critical component and enabler of this goal."

About Dassault Systemes

As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systemes brings value to more than 100,000 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 to recycling. 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 - ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management and 3DVIA for online 3D lifelike experiences. Dassault Systemes is listed on the Nasdaq (DASTY) and Eurolist (#13065, Dassault SystemesY.PA) stock exchanges. For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com.

CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, SIMULIA, SolidWorks and 3D VIA are registered trademarks of Dassault Systemes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries.

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