Spatial Ships Version 6.3 of the ACIS 3D Geometric Modeler; ACIS 6.3 Signifies Spatial's New Quality and Reliability Initiative.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2001

Spatial Corporation, a Dassault Systemes S.A. (Nasdaq:DASTY) company, today announced the availability of version 6.3 of the ACIS(R) 3D Geometric Modeler.

ACIS 6.3 represents improved quality and reliability of 3D solid modeling and 3D model translation and healing component technology. This latest ACIS release is focused on technical excellence, enhanced quality and reliability, and increased customer support throughout all stages of development.

"We have expanded our quality program with the implementation of a new set of test criteria and suites. Spatial's new quality initiative utilizes a full execution of `real-world' test suites that represent our customers' methodology and ACIS usage. ACIS 6.3 went through this comprehensive program. An example of our enhanced quality standards, ACIS 6.3 for Windows NT, is shipping with no known memory leaks," said Didier Bourcier, Vice President of Research and Development, Spatial. "We are continuously striving to advance our quality system with new processes and metrics, in order to meet our customers' changing needs and to help them effectively build advanced, high-quality software applications."

"As a long-time ACIS licensee, we are pleased that Spatial has engineered ACIS 6.3 based on a new, high-caliber set of quality standards and tests," said Dominique Laffret, President and CEO, CN Industries (France). "The superior open, object-oriented architecture of ACIS gives our developers a functional foundation that enables them to implement advanced 3D solid modeling functionality in our GOelan V4 software solutions. With ACIS, we are able to provide our GOelan customers with reliable, state-of-the-art CAM software that will help them to effectively increase their manufacturing and machining productivity."

"Setting and adhering to new quality standards are key elements of Spatial's goal to further strengthen ACIS and, in turn, greatly contribute to the reliability and performance of ACIS 6.3. As a customer-oriented company, it is very important that ACIS licensees receive the high-quality, advanced 3D technology and services they need to successfully build software applications and that will positively impact their time-to-market," stated Michael Payne, Chief Executive Officer, Spatial. "Spatial's expansion of its quality practices reflects our commitment to excellence in all aspects of our operations and services."

Robert (Buzz) Kross, Vice President, Manufacturing Division, Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK), said, "Since being acquired by Dassault Systemes, Spatial has given product quality, support, and their customers' success a new, high-priority focus. Version 6.3 of ACIS, exemplifies this new focus. It proves that when you respond aggressively to customer needs, you build a long-term, dedicated customer base that regards you as a quality company with credibility and leadership. With ACIS 6.3, Spatial is helping us deliver to Autodesk Inventor and Mechanical Desktop customers the quality 3D modeling performance necessary for them to compete effectively in a global marketplace."

"We are pleased to hear that Spatial developed release 6.3 of ACIS based on a new, more detailed set of quality standards and tests. Our next-generation mold base design system, Mold Zukan 3D, based on ACIS brings the advantages of 3D viewing, interference checking, model import/export, and more to our customers. It can help users reduce the cost of designing and ordering mold bases. As a result, delivery of their products can be shortened," said Yoshio Ishii, Manager Product Planning Group, Machinery & Tooling, Futaba Corporation (Japan). "Futaba Corporation is a global company that is well known as the manufacturer of radio control (RC) equipment, as well as a large Asian supplier of die and mold-related components to industrial manufacturers. By implementing high-quality ACIS 6.3 in our software, the role of our design system for industry will be significantly greater."

"We are extremely pleased with the great importance Spatial now puts in delivering quality, advanced 3D modeling technology and look forward to implementing the ACIS 6.3 release in Vellum Solids," said Robert Bou, President, Ashlar, Inc. "Thanks to ACIS's excellent solid modeling foundation, Vellum Solids triumphed in a number of recent CAD product reviews conducted by several industry-leading publications. Vellum Solids received `highly recommended' ratings on modeling features important to computer-aided industrial designers, including surface modeling, chamfering, blending, and filleting. My complements on behalf of the entire Ashlar team to Spatial for delivering the quality, best-of-breed 3D technology components that were essential ingredients in achieving Vellum Solids' high ratings."

"We recognize that bringing flow modeling into the mainstream of product design provides tremendous benefits to the engineer, but only if the 3D modeling technology delivered is of high quality," explains Scott Gilmore, Manager of Added-Value Analysis Products, Fluent Inc. (http://www.fluent.com). "With ACIS 6.3 in GAMBIT 2.0, we will provide a much-improved path from CAD to CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis. The robust solid modeling technology and quality built into ACIS 6.3 will greatly enhance GAMBIT, enabling substantial productivity gains for our customers."

Erhard Hobrecker, Managing Director of Metromec Software AG (Switzerland), said, "Metromec provides its world-wide customers with high-quality software for coordinate measuring systems. Spatial's new ACIS 6.3 release will certainly help us to enhance the performance of our standard product, MetroSoft CM, especially for the inspection of free-form surface objects. Our customers, namely in the automotive and aircraft industries, will appreciate the improved performance, particularly in conjunction with their CAD-based engineering."

John MacKrell, Senior Consultant, CIMdata Inc., a leading technology consulting and market research firm, said, "Dassault Systemes' acquisition of ACIS and positioning of the Spatial organization should provide ACIS users with a new level of support and technological innovation. Their increased emphasis on quality and performance will ultimately improve the productivity of those companies that are the end users of ACIS-based products. This is a welcomed development in the life of this important technology."

ACIS Overview

Spatial's flagship product, the ACIS 3D Geometric Modeler, is written in C++ and features an open, object-oriented architecture. ACIS integrates wireframe, surface, and solid modeling with both manifold and non-manifold topology. Quality and reliability are at the heart of ACIS 6.3 development. Spatial engineers ACIS with a focus on technical excellence, performance, advanced solid modeling functionality, usability, and maintainability.

Spatial's ACIS interoperability components allow software developers to enhance their ACIS-enabled applications with translation technology for the import/export/viewing of 3D models and healing technology for mending 3D models' geometry or topology, improving the integrity and quality of models. ACIS Translators support a variety of neutral and native file formats, including CATIA, IGES, Pro/Engineer, STEP, and VDA-FS. Spatial also offers ACIS Deformable Modeling, an interactive sculpturing tool for creating and manipulating smooth, fair, free-form curves and surfaces.

The ACIS 3D Geometric Modeler has been adopted by leading developers and manufacturers as the foundation for a variety of applications in the CAD/CAM/CAE industry. OEM software developers can license ACIS components `free' of traditional upfront license fees and are only asked to pay an annual OEM Partner Fee and Variable Partner Fees when their completed ACIS-enabled application ships.

Spatial offers consulting and support services that provide the technical expertise needed to assist software developers with the integration of ACIS technology components. Additionally, Spatial offers custom engineering services, training courses, and technical support that are geared towards helping customers to successfully deliver their ACIS-enabled applications to market faster.

About Spatial Corporation

Spatial Corp., a Dassault Systemes S.A. (Nasdaq:DASTY, Bourse de Paris) company, is a market-leading provider of world-class 3D software components. Spatial develops, markets, and supports best-of-breed 3D components and services, to address the exponential requirements of 3D in Internet-based e-commerce and Business-to-Business (B2B) applications. Spatial products, for 3D modeling, visualization, and interoperability, have been adopted by some of the world's most recognized software developers, manufacturers, research institutes, and universities. Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, Spatial has offices in the USA, Germany, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit Spatial's Web site at http://www.spatial.com or contact Spatial by email at [e-mail] or by phone at 303-544-2900 or 800-767-5710.

ACIS and SAT are registered trademarks of Spatial Corp. All other products are trademarks of their respective owners.