Embraer using ENOVIA and CATIA Solutions, IBM Hardware and Services to Speed Development of ERJ170 and 190 Aircraft

Embraer, a leading South American civil and military aircraft manufacture, said it will use 120 seats of ENOVIAvpm (Virtual Product Model), 200 seats of CATIA and 260 IBM RS/6000* servers to enhance and speed development of the ERJ-170/ERJ-190 commercial aircraft.

Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil, September 30, 1999--In addition, all of the 16 suppliers affiliated with this project will be required to install CATIA and ENOVIAvpm Solutions in order to facilitate communication.

CATIA will be the primary design tool used to create this revolutionary new aircraft whose cost-performance ratio is the greatest in the industry. ENOVIAvpm is a Product Development Management solution that will allow Embraer to graphically organize and share detailed product and process knowledge during the product development life cycle and across the extended enterprise.

Developed to satisfy a demand for commercial aircraft in the 70 to 110 seat range, the ERJ-170/ERJ-190 can be built in 36 months, as opposed to comparable aircraft that take four years to build. Another important feature of these aircraft is the passenger cabin interior, which will be one of the most comfortable ever developed in the industry. The unique interior arrangement allows for a two-by-two seating configuration with more head, shoulder and leg room than any competing airplane, as well as overhead bins that accommodate the increasingly popular wheeled carry-on bags. The longer fuselage, provided with two fore and two aft doors, allows for easier boarding/unboarding operations and ground servicing.

Initiated two years ago, the ERJ-170/ERJ-190 design has been refined with inputs from potential customer carriers during the development phase, ensuring that both aircraft will be designed to meet operator's needs. In addition, Embraer's suppliers, charged with developing parts and supplies for the aircraft, have also had input into the design at the earliest stages, fostering innovative cost saving ideas and communication. The use of CATIA's digital mockups, as opposed to physical models, will produce significant savings of both time and money for Embraer. ENOVIAvpm also allowed for increased collaboration among both manufacturing and designers engineers within Embraer, while encouraging more innovation and simultaneously reducing cycle time and engineering changes.

Embraer is already experiencing a tremendous demand for the ERJ-170/ERJ-190, with an order backlog of $18 billion, and letters of intention worth $80 billion. That translates into potential combined export sales of close to US $100 billion in the next ten years, plus the creation of thousands of jobs in Brazil and a similar number abroad during the same period. Initial deliveries of the ERJ-170 shall take place in 2002 and of the ERJ-190 in early 2004.

CATIA and ENOVIAvpm will run on IBM RS/6000 servers which support a wide range of applications and provides the reliability, availability and price/performance that today's information technology managers demand.

Maurício Botelho, Embraer's President and CEO declared: "Embraer has a unique opportunity to consolidate its position in the regional aviation market by serving it with the best aircraft that focuses on both passenger and airline's concerns of greater comfort and safety, as well as the lowest acquisition and operational costs. This program is generating a strong interest among potential operators and suppliers due to its customer-oriented conception and the undeniably high credibility enjoyed by Embraer’s products in the world market."

"Our decision to choose CATIA was based on its position as the proven CAD/CAM/CAE solution for the aerospace industry. ENOVIAvpm was chosen because of its ability to enable both internal and external communication, which was so critical to the success of this project. These solutions, along with the computing power of IBM's RS/6000 servers, have produced increases in collaboration and productivity throughout our organization, enabling the creation of a revolutionary class of aircraft."

According to Jerry Latta, IBM General Manager, Global Aerospace and Defense Industry: "IBM is committed to helping Embraer implement e-business solutions to become a world-leader in designing and building aircraft of all types. IBM has expertise in extended enterprise product development and manufacturing, integrated supply chain, procurement support and customer relationship management solutions that can help aerospace and other manufacturing companies around the world."

Philippe Forestier, Chief Executive Officer of Dassault Systemes of America added: "The Embraer decision to select and implement CATIA confirms the superiority and flexibility of our offer in the aerospace sector. By exploiting a new approach to PDM with ENOVIA, Embraer wishes to establish a highly efficient, innovative virtual product development environment, that can be expanded to ensure total product life cycle support."