Boeing Chooses Deneb's Digital Manufacturing Solutions to Reduce Production Time and Errors On Its New C-17 Globemaster Aircraft.

TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 10, 1999--

Deneb/IGRIP(R) from Deneb Robotics, a Dassault Systemes (Nasdaq : DASTY) company, has been chosen by the Boeing Company Airlift and Tanker Programs in Long Beach, California, for Digital Manufacturing applications on one of the world's largest pieces of robotic machinery: a Brotje riveting machine.

The Brotje was installed in 1998, and is now used in the production of the fuselage of the U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. According to Boeing, the original Brotje programs would have taken four to five times longer to create without Deneb/IGRIP.

"Deneb/IGRIP is used to simulate all the Brotje riveters' motion and functionality including automatic tool changing," states Robert Dale, NC Programming Manager, C-17 Programs. "Deneb/IGRIP is also used to check for potential collisions."

The Off-Line-Programming (OLP) environment at Boeing Long Beach consists of Deneb/IGRIP. Boeing leveraged the robust, open architecture of Deneb/IGRIP to write their own custom application program within the software. In addition, Deneb/Virtual NC(R) is used to program the new Electro Impact spar riveter installed in July 1998. Virtual NC emulates machine tools, controllers and material removal operations to validate production programs, processes, and tooling setups offline. "The kinematic model and post-processor Deneb `Mimic' file (used to emulate NC controls) was created in six weeks by one of Boeing's programmers," adds Robert Dale.

Deneb/IGRIP, a robotic simulation software that incorporates real-world robotic and peripheral equipment, motion attributes, kinematics, dynamics and I/O logic, was originally selected by the Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems Group in St. Louis (formerly McDonnell Douglas). Engineers there chose Deneb after in-depth comparisons with other simulation systems. At Long Beach, similar comparisons were performed with an eye toward the differences between Long Beach and St. Louis aircraft, and the fact that the C-17 is so much larger then fighter aircraft. Brotje had already committed to use IGRIP for its own simulations, and that helped Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs in Long Beach, which is known as the Long Beach division.

Deneb/IGRIP gives programmers the ability to preview the execution of their program in the digital environment instead of taking the actual machine out of production for program prove out. Machine operators know that no holes will go undrilled and unriveted, that the proper fasteners will always be used and that the programs won't try to insert more than one fastener in a hole. This means that neither the equipment nor the fuselage panels will be damaged as long as the model accurately represents the actual system configuration.

"We are very pleased to see the successful use of Deneb/IGRIP as the common user interface and off-line programming tool for the Brotje as well as additional automated assembly machines from different manufacturers in the Long Beach facility" says Bob Brown, President of Deneb Robotics. "We found that even when new to these systems, and with no experience in this kind of programming, operators were able to make usable programs very quickly. It would have been extremely difficult to program the 11 different axis's of motion on the Brotje without Deneb/IGRIP".

Now, Boeing is building on this success by extending Deneb/IGRIP simulation to the riveting of the assembly, which joins the fuselage bulkheads to the cargo floor. And, of course, the Brotje could be used to build fuselages for any wide-body aircraft. It is by no means limited to the C-17.

The Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems Group designs, produces and supports the fighters, bombers, transports, rotorcraft, missiles and munitions used to defend the United States and its allies around the globe. As the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer, Boeing has delivered more than 10,000 fighter aircraft and 8,700 missiles to the U.S. government and international customers. From the battle-proven F/A-18 Hornet, AH-64 Apache and the C-17 Globemaster III, to the next generation of fighters such as the F-22 Raptor, Super Hornet and the Joint Strike Fighter, this Boeing business unit delivers products with exceptional performance and value.

Dassault Systemes S.A. (Nasdaq: DASTY), is the premier global software developer for the CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM II market, providing companies with e-business solutions to implement their digital enterprise, thus creating and simulating the entire product life cycle from initial concept to product in service. CATIA, ENOVIA and DENEB solutions support industry-specific business processes to help unleash creativity and innovation, reduce development cycle time, improve quality, competitiveness and shareholder value: CATIA supports the digital product definition and simulation, DENEB provides solutions to define and simulate digital manufacturing processes and ENOVIA delivers enterprise solutions that manage a comprehensive, collaborative and distributed model of the digital product, processes and resources. The combined integration creates the Digital Product life cycle Pipeline, supporting re-use of corporate knowledge. SolidWorks and Smart Solutions, as Dassault Systemes companies, offer respectively 3D design-centric and TeamPDM software solutions based on Windows.

Deneb Robotics Inc., a Dassault Systemes S.A. company, is a worldwide recognized leader of multi-CAD digital manufacturing software. Deneb offers an integrated suite of tools that begin at the conceptual phase of product and process design enabling design for assembly, design for manufacturability and design for maintainability. Deneb Robotics' software is widely used in the aerospace, automotive, defense, environmental, nuclear and research communities. With offices in Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, India and the United States, Deneb Robotics has earned an international reputation for physics-based simulation products that combine ease of use with the state-of-the-art in digital manufacturing technologies and methodologies. Deneb is located in Troy, Michigan.

Dassault Systemes information is available at http://www.dsweb.com Deneb information is available at http://www.deneb.com

Deneb/IGRIP, Deneb/UltraFamily, Deneb/ENVISION, Deneb/ERGO, Deneb/ASSEMBLY, Deneb/ReView, Deneb/QUEST, Deneb/DPM and Virtual NC are registered Trademarks of Deneb Robotics Inc. All other products are the brand names or registered trademarks of their respective companies.