Moers, Germany, March 23, 2006 - CAD Schroer GmbH (CSG), the global engineering solutions provider, today announced the release of version 2.1 of its renowned MEDUSA4™ Design Automation Suite. More than just a run-of-the-mill “dot release”, this version features a whole raft of new products, as well as the migration of some remaining MEDUSA® applications to the state-of-the-art Fourth Generation technology. The star of the show is the relaunched MEDUSA4 PLANT DESIGN SYSTEM, MPDS4™, which introduces two new disciplines, including the pioneering Factory Layout application for mechanical machinery vendors who sell complete installations. MPDS4 FACTORY LAYOUT™ offers virtually unique 2D to 3D functionality for quick and easy installation layout and space management, making sophisticated 3D project proposals possible - and affordable - even in the early tender stage.

New to the Fourth Generation

MPDS4 – Meeting the Challenges of Plant Design

With version 2.1 of MEDUSA4, CAD Schroer is relaunching its suite of powerful, multi-user plant engineering applications, which combine the speed and precision of interactive 3D CAD with extraordinary information management capabilities.

“MPDS is an industry-proven solution, which has been used by plant designers in the mechanical machinery, power, process and marine industries for many years. One of the key things that sets the product apart is the ability to build extremely large assemblies,” explains Mark Simpson, CSG Product Manager. “When other vendors speak of large assemblies, they are typically talking about a few hundred, or a few thousand, components. Our customers are using MPDS on design projects consisting of hundreds of thousands of individual components.” The 3D modelling product uses a multi-user, relational database which can handle massive amounts of data, and offers superb 2D connections for quick and easy production of accurate drawings.

FACTORY LAYOUT - NEW to MEDUSA!

Updated to the latest, Fourth Generation technology, MPDS4 includes a host of design applications, introducing two brand new disciplines, including the ground-breaking FACTORY LAYOUT application. “This is a whole new concept for interaction between the 2D world of general arrangement drawings and the 3D world of services and space management,” says Mark. “We have spoken to many customers about their requirements, and this is the kind of thing mechanical machinery vendors have been looking for. They don’t just sell individual machines – they sell their equipment as part of a complete installation - be it a packaging or bottling plant, or conveyor systems for airports. FACTORY LAYOUT is already causing a big stir!” The application allows engineers to draw and place intelligent symbols in 2D, and automatically construct a 3D world. Designers can edit components in either environment, and even model the terrain of factory floors or external grounds, using spot height data from surveys, or enter text data to model drainage falls in new installations, for example. FACTORY LAYOUT offers the optimum solution for each step of the design process, and the ability to use 3D simply and effectively early in the tender stage for serious competitive advantage.

Also new to the MPDS family is the powerful MPDS4 ELECTRICAL™ discipline, which allows users to build networks of cable ladders, trays and trunking; add power distribution bus bars; create cables between any items of equipment; and auto-route cables across support networks. The comprehensive list of updated and improved add-on applications includes MPDS4 PIPING DESIGN™ with ISOGEN™ piping isometrics; MPDS4 STEEL DESIGN™ for constructing steel frames for buildings and equipment support; MPDS4 DUCTING™ for routing HVAC, of differing sections, into a plant; MPDS4 HANGERS AND SUPPORTS™ for accurately modelling pipe supports and show them automatically on pipe isometrics; and MPDS4 ENGINEERING REVIEW for realistic design reviews within the design environment. The powerful process and instrumentation diagram application, MPDS4 P&ID™ will be available at version 2.2.

MEDUSA4 Sheet Metal Design™ (SMD)

Relaunched with a new generation interface, CAD Schroer’s popular SMD application is a very simple to use, yet extremely powerful, Sheet Metal Design system, fully integrated with the MEDUSA4 design automation solution.

Improvements to MEDUSA4 Rev. 2.1

CSG’s developers have also been busy further improving MEDUSA’4s renowned drafting and design automation capabilities. Some of the highlights include:

SMART EDIT™

Introduced in the last release, the SMART Edit “parametrics on demand” functionality is now even better in the areas of 3D and parametric design.

MEDParts™

The MEDParts standard CAD parts library has received a face lift, with a new, even more appealing user interface.

JDBC Database Connectivity

MEDUSA4 now has the capability to use most Java Thin Data Base driver clients, which means that MEDUSA4 administrators can provide access for the MEDUSA Bacis2 environment direct to any database which has a client.

MEDUSA in Chinese

“A technically challenging project, with great potential for the future,” says Mark: MEDUSA4 now supports Chinese text. Using the English, German, French or Japanese MEDUSA4 user interface, designers can place Chinese (unicode) text on any drawing.

Dashboard Management Tool

A new Dashboard Management Tool allows administrators to create and store context-sensitive dashboards and properties dialogs for user-specified groups; selection criteria can be very diverse, allowing the user interface to react intelligently to any “special” groups defined. This means that it is now very simple to integrate customisations of the MEDUSA sheet structure into the user interface in the MEDUSA4 dashboard style, gaining even more productivity.

Text and Leader Lines

Implemented as an integral part of the standard text mechanism in response to customer requests, MEDUSA4, which has long had the ability to create dimension style notes, with a bounding box and a leader line, now allows users to add a bounding box and leader line(s) to any text at random, especially unstructured imported notes.

Building on Excellence

MEDUSA4 Rev.2.1 successfully combines proven concepts and technology with engineering innovation, never losing touch of CAD Schroer’s long-standing commitments: to create and constantly improve software that works the way engineers do, to offer quality and technical excellence, and to provide businesses the systems and resourcing flexibility they need in an ever more complex PLM environment.

“We want to thank our loyal customer base for all the valued input,” says Michael Schroer, Managing Director, “and I hope that this release proves, once again, that we offer immense value for our clients’ maintenance contributions.”

To find out more, please visit the CSG website at www.cad-schroer.com.

About CAD Schroer

CAD Schroer (CSG) is a global software development company and engineering solutions provider, headquartered in Moers, near Duesseldorf, Germany. The company has offices throughout Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, support centres in the United States, and independent subsidiaries in Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom. Its products are also sold through an extensive, customer-focused partner network in countries throughout the globe.

CSG’s product suites include the 2D/3D PLM solution MEDUSA4, as well as STHENO/PRO, a powerful drafting plug-in for Pro/ENGINEER® users. Both systems come with a number of user-specific add-on modules offering efficiency gains for the most diverse areas of product and plant design and development.

CAD Schroer’s aim is to provide customers with the best possible solutions for design engineers and the engineering process, as well as supporting their clients’ strategic goals. The company’s own technical and engineering background, and its emphasis on close working relationships with customers worldwide, have fostered a “by engineers for engineers” approach to software development - always keeping abreast of the latest demands placed on engineers by modern product development processes in a highly competitive market space.


Contact Information

Website: www.cad-schroer.com
Email: Email Contact
Tel: Germany: +49 2841 9184 0
UK: +44 1223 460 408
France: +33 141 94 51 40
Switzerland: +41 44 802 89-80


Michael Schroer
CAD Schroer GmbH
Fritz-Peters-Straße 26-30
47447 Moers
Germany

For more information on CAD Schroer's products and partners, please visit www.cad-schroer.com.