Small and Medium Sized Business YLMF Improves Productivity by 20 % Using PLM Solution from IBM and Dassault Systemes

Hong Kong’s leading mold and tooling manufacturer reduces cost and development time with CATIA V5 product design software

Hong Kong, China, and Paris, France - September 16, 2002 - Yau Lieng May Fair Industrial Company (YLMF), today announced that it has improved productivity by 20 % since 2000 by using a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Solution from IBM and Dassault Systemes. IBM’s PLM solutions, with core applications developed by Dassault Systemes (NASDAQ: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), help manufacturers innovate, improve quality, and reduce both costs and product development times. They also help companies collaborate internally, across geographic boundaries and with suppliers.

YLMF migrated from a 2D CAD system to CATIA V5 two years ago as part of an initiative to integrate its development process and encourage collaboration between engineers. The company, one of South China’s leading mold and tooling manufacturers, chose CATIA V5 for its advanced technology and ease of use. CATIA V5 provides YLMF with an integrated product development environment that reduces errors and error-related costs, shortens design and data translation time, and enhances product quality.

“CATIA V5 enables us to perform detailed and precise design, collaborate clearly by sharing 3D data, and streamline our systems and processes,” said K.H. Ho, marketing director at YLMF. “Most of all, we can reduce costs and time spent on re-works, design changes, data translation, and engineer training by using CATIA V5. To keep competitive, we must use the most advanced PLM solutions and up-to-date machinery available today.”

Raoul Van Engelshoven, vice president, IBM Product Lifecycle Management Asia Pacific, said, “In this industry, the ability for YLMF to react quickly to ever changing customer requirements is a fundamental differentiator, and by means of the IBM PLM Solution set, YLMF was able to change their business model in such a way that they can now collaborate with their customers from the earliest phases of design and are therefore much more pro-active. They have not only improved speed of execution but simultaneously increased quality while reducing costs, with the ultimate result of becoming much more competitive. We will continue to work with our customers and provide them with the tools and methodologies they need to succeed with this type of business transformation.”

IBM-Dassault Systemes business partner in Hong Kong MTECH Engineering studied YLMF’s working methodology and objectives before putting the CATIA V5 Solution in place. “To maximize return on investment, YLMF top management had a clear strategy. They wanted to implement CATIA V5 to enhance their business process and transform this benefit into customer satisfaction,” said Stephen Au, managing director, MTECH Engineering Co., Ltd. “We understand that MTECH’s role, supported by IBM and Dassault Systemes, is to help our customer to optimize the technology to increase their business performance.”

“Improving productivity is the goal of SMBs and large companies alike,” said Dassault Systemes Executive Committee Advisor, Francis Bernard. “We are very pleased that YLMF has further enhanced its competitiveness using CATIA V5. It once again proves that CATIA V5 benefits all companies, regardless of size. In the case of YLMF, this means supporting their innovative development process so they will be ready for new challenges and opportunities in the global mold and tooling market.”