SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2003--Rounding out
the next generation of manufacturing solutions, Autodesk, Inc.
(Nasdaq:
ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content
company, today announced the immediate availability of Autodesk
Inventor(R) Series 7 software, the latest version of the best-selling
software for 3D design and the upcoming availability of the Autodesk
Streamline(R) 5 manufacturing collaboration service this summer.
Combined with AutoCAD(R) 2004 and AutoCAD(R) Mechanical 2004 software,
these solutions help customers solve critical business challenges by
giving them the tools to innovate, increase productivity, optimize
processes, and bring higher quality products to market faster for less
cost.
"Together, these design and collaboration solutions give customers
the ability to create and share digital design information that is
critical to both engineers and non-engineers across the extended
enterprise," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing
Solutions Division at Autodesk. One of Autodesk's customers that use
Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Streamline, HMS Products Co.
(
www.hmsproducts.com) is creating functional animations to demonstrate
their press automation solutions to customers, eliminating time
consuming and expensive prototypes, which can cost $250,000 and up.
"We have been selling press room automation systems without
creating prototypes," said John Baranowski, director of Engineering IT
at HMS Products Co. in Troy, Mich. "We can show our systems' features
and functionality simply by using our digital designs created in
Autodesk Inventor and using animation technology provided by Autodesk.
With Autodesk Streamline, even heavy design data can be viewed by our
supply chain partners and customers through streaming graphics
technology. The models are viewed in seconds rather than the 10-15
minutes it would take on a good personal computer. Our customers are
impressed."
Autodesk Inventor Series 7
The Autodesk Inventor(R) Series 7, which includes Autodesk
Inventor 7 and Autodesk(R) Mechanical Desktop(R) 2004 software,
continues to offer industry-leading DWG compatibility by supporting
data exchange with AutoCAD 2004 files. Autodesk Inventor 7 software's
improved workflow functionality groups frequently used commands to
reduce the number of steps required for common design tasks. Users
benefit from a quicker workflow wizard that offers better translation
results. Autodesk Inventor 7 now supports publishing DWF(TM) files for
use with the Autodesk Express Viewer application. New capabilities for
DWF files include multiple 2D sheets, password support, print ready
format, and a single publish format for all Autodesk design tools.
Autodesk Inventor 7 includes two enhancements for large assembly
performance. Users can now make visible only those components needed
for a given design task, limiting the number of parts displayed and
the amount of memory needed. Taking advantage of new capabilities in
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional, Autodesk Inventor 7 software
can now take advantage of workstations with 3GB of system memory. This
is 30 percent more memory than previously possible, allowing even
larger designs to be created faster than ever before.
Autodesk Inventor now allows surfaces to be trimmed. Adding this
ability allows users to import or create surfaces, trim them, and knit
them into complex surfaces or solid shapes. This strengthens Autodesk
Inventor software's hybrid surface-solids modeling tools and expands
the types of complex parts Autodesk Inventor users can design.
Autodesk Streamline 5
The Autodesk Streamline 5 online collaboration service continues
to provide value throughout the product life cycle by helping
customers instantly share digital design data across their extended
manufacturing chain. For added flexibility and easy access, Autodesk
Streamline 5 users will be able to view Autodesk Streamline files
offline, without an Internet connection. The service lets users search
across files for Autodesk Streamline content in seconds. The new CAD
neutrality in Autodesk Streamline 5 means that users can publish
Autodesk Streamline files from PTC's Pro/ENGINEER. The service offers
a simple, easy-to-use method for tracking the Request for Quote
process within its centralized environment. This solution allows
companies to utilize RFQ forms to facilitate the distribution and
collection of quotes and other information from various suppliers.
New performance and administration features will offer enhanced
project hosting capabilities. To extend its reach in the global
economy, the product has been Unicoded-enabled so that data can be
viewed correctly in different localized operating systems.
Availability
Autodesk Inventor Series 7 is available immediately and Autodesk
Streamline 5 will be available in summer worldwide through authorized
resellers. The solutions are also available through the Autodesk
Subscription Program in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle
East, Africa, and parts of Asia Pacific. For more information, please
visit
www.autodesk.com/inventor and
www.autodesk.com/streamline.
About Autodesk
Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital
content company, offering customers progressive business solutions
through powerful technology products and services. Autodesk helps
customers in the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital
media, and wireless data services fields increase the value of their
digital design data and improve efficiencies across their entire
project lifecycle management processes. For more information about the
company, see
www.autodesk.com.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk
Streamline, DWF, and Volo are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the United States and/or other
countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong
to their respective holders.
CONTACT: Autodesk Cindi Goodsell, 415/507-8452 Email Contact