Southampton, UK. 6 May, 2005. –
ICEM Ltd., the leading developer of surface modelling, surface quality analysis and design visualisation software, has announced that Topia, a Japanese engineering design services and prototype manufacturing company, has selected ICEM Surf to help improve productivity in its surface model development and prototype manufacturing processes.

ICEM Surf will provide Topia with reverse engineering and Class A surface modelling facilities to enable it to better meet the demands of its customers for prototype components, as well as for highly accurate surface model data that can be incorporated into a customer’s own digital design processes.

With the help of ICEM’s Japanese business partner, Hitachi Zosen Information Systems, Topia will deploy 16 end user licences of ICEM Surf version 4.4, including add-on modules for scan modelling/reverse engineering, quick surfacing, dynamic global modification of surfaces and surface diagnosis, tooling development and remote design collaboration. The system will also include industry-standard and direct data exchange interfaces to other vendors’ solid modelling-based CAD/CAM systems.

“As we examine ways to expand our business, we need to ensure that we have the right automation tools in place to support our plans”, said Kazuya Yamaguchi, design department manager, Topia. “ICEM Surf meets this requirement by providing us with the most advanced software tools for creating, diagnosing and controlling the surface model data needed for our internal prototype manufacturing process and for the manufacturing processes of our customers.”

“We are delighted to add Topia to our growing list of customers in Japan and the Asia Pacific region in general”, said Lee Cureton, chief executive, ICEM Ltd. “It is a further endorsement of ICEM’s ability to improve the design development workflow both of OEMs and of these companies’ Tier 1 and 2 suppliers by integrating the surface modelling process into the overall product lifecycle management (PLM) environment.”

About Topia.
With automotive companies such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Daihatsu, Isuzu and Suzuki among its major customers, as well as office automation systems manufacturers including Cannon, Xerox and Konica Minolta, Topia Co. Ltd. specialises in providing engineering design services together with metal forming, machining, welding and assembly capabilities for prototype manufacture. Based in Suzuka-shi, Mie Pref. in Japan, the company employs some 470 people and in 2004 had revenues of 6,000 million Yen.

About ICEM Ltd.
With its headquarters in the UK, ICEM Ltd. is the leading worldwide developer of advanced surface modelling, design and visualisation software. ICEM software is a critical component of the product lifecycle management (PLM) software environments of many of the world’s leading automotive, aerospace, sporting goods and consumer durable products manufacturers and their suppliers. With a worldwide network of sales and support offices and specialist distributors covering Europe, the USA, South America, Australia and the Asia Pacific region, ICEM’s principal market sector is the worldwide automotive industry. It includes most of the leading manufacturers among its customers, including the Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler Group, Volkswagen Audi Group, Porsche, BMW, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Nissan, Subaru and Harley Davidson among others, as well as leading automotive industry supplier companies. The company also has a significant presence in the industrial design market.