CONSOL Energy and Farnham & Pfile Harness Technology from IBM and Dassault Systemes to Develop Ultra-Efficient Energy-Producing Facility

Power company to produce cleaner energy and cut costs by 30% with Product Lifecycle Management solutions CATIA and ENOVIA

Belle Vernon, Pa., USA and Paris, France - October 24, 2002 - IBM and Dassault Systemes (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) today announced that CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) and Farnham & Pfile Construction, Inc. are using an IBM Product Lifecycle Management Solution to develop and maintain a computer-controlled coal-processing plant that ranks among the world’s most efficient energy facilities. The solution is based on Dassault Systemes’ 3D PLM CATIA and ENOVIA virtual product design and product data management applications.

CONSOL Energy, a producer of coal and coalbed methane, and its contractor, Farnham & Pfile, selected IBM and Dassault Systemes to enhance the coal processing plant built in Mondsville, West Virginia. The new plant, in operation since August, is capable of processing up to thirteen million tons of coal a year, operating twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

CONSOL Energy and Farnham & Pfile selected CATIA for its powerful product development capabilities (design, analysis, and manufacturing), and ENOVIA for its extensive product data management and global lifecycle collaboration features. Using CATIA and ENOVIA, the two companies were able to consult each other and make design modifications in real time during the 16-month construction period.

“Plant owners and operators constantly strive to maximize productivity while minimizing maintenance costs and related downtime,” said Dan Yanchak, general manager of preparation services for CONSOL Energy. “At the outset of this project, we realized that CATIA V5 would be valuable and integral to the ongoing operation of the plant. With CATIA’s digital mock-up and reviewing tools, data is digitally available and current and, thanks to ENOVIA, always available online. We also plan to integrate ENOVIA with our SAP system for tight integration with business processes - an initiative that will keep CONSOL Energy at the forefront of the energy industry."

“CATIA V5 gave us a big advantage over our competition through cost savings and process improvement,” said Tom Porterfield, vice president of operations at Farnham & Pfile. “For the new plant, we were able to provide our ceramic pipe suppliers with detailed drawings that ensured less liability and fewer potential errors. As a result, supplier costs were reduced by 30 percent and we passed on those savings. With $5 million worth of piping in a plant, that adds up to substantial savings.”

In the design and construction phases of the new facility, the process flow sheet, piping, equipment and all processing were performed with CATIA. This included development of the plant’s intelligent piping library, a unique application that dramatically reduced costs and ensured that designs were initially accurate. For maintenance, ENOVIA enables engineers to review and extract real time plant data, including the history of each equipment unit and its role in the facility, such as the number of hours a pump has been running and connecting piping and equipment.

“IBM has long been committed to providing energy companies with the solutions to provide sustainable competitive advantages,” said David Samuel, general manager, IBM Energy and Utilities Industry. “By facilitating integration, collaboration, knowledge management and asset lifecycle management throughout the energy supply chain, IBM technology and that of our longtime partner, Farnham & Pfile, play a major role in the development of what will be one of the world’s most modern and efficient coal processing facilities.”

“CONSOL Energy and Farnham and Pfile have proven that the same benefits of using CATIA and ENOVIA in the aerospace, automotive, and shipbuilding domains can be extended to the plant domain and its business improvements,” said Philippe Forestier, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Dassault Systemes. “We believe owner-operator-driven 3D PLM is the future of the plant domain and are proud to be part of a project that will turn this potential into reality.”