-- Enterprise-oriented Architecture, New Functionality Extends Utility of Feature-based Exchange --

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Proficiency, the leader in feature-based design interoperability, today announced the latest release of its Collaboration Gateway(TM) feature-based interoperability solution. Version 2.5 incorporates new architectural components designed for enterprise- level deployments, as well as a more robust feature set for high-throughput exchange of CAD models between Dassault Systemes' CATIA(R) v4 and CATIA v5, PTC's Pro/ENGINEER(R), and EDS PLM Solutions' Unigraphics(TM) and I-DEAS(R). Proficiency customers will receive the upgrade for the new release in mid- June. Sample customers include The Ford Motor Company, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Federal Mogul Corporation, the Automotive Driveline Division of GKN, Caterpillar Inc., and Wartsila Switzerland Ltd.

  Highlights of the new release include:

  -- Enterprise Architecture - The Collaboration Gateway is designed for
     deployment on a corporate intranet, accessible by any number of users
     corporate-wide, and supports user counts from one to thousands.  New
     additions to the architecture address scalability, fail-over, and
     persistence of the server, providing 24x7x365 availability for
     worldwide users.

  -- Exchange Reporting - Submitted exchange tasks, detailed audit reports,
     and exchange results are archived in an embedded, industry-standard
     relational database which is capable of being queried, sorted, backed
     up, and archived.  This critical data may be used to improve the
     communication of design information between development partners and to
     digitally document and record design decisions.

  -- Advanced Feature Validation - Enhancements have been made to the
     integrated feature and model validation capability in the Collaboration
     Gateway.  This functionality, unique to Proficiency, highlights
     feature-level modeling issues resulting from differences between CAD
     systems, and allows the user to pre-determine the behavior of the
     exchange process.  Since the Collaboration Gateway pinpoints specific
     features for the user's attention as an integrated function of every
     exchange task, productivity is greatly enhanced, as compared to running
     separate surface-based comparison applications for post-exchange model
     validation.

  -- Selective Export - The Collaboration Gateway allows users to mark parts
     within an assembly that are to be exchanged feature-based,
     geometrically-only, or not at all.  This allows companies to protect
     their intellectual property when delivering models to collaboration
     partners (suppliers or customers), and to optimize data exchange
     throughput.

  -- Enhanced UPR (Universal Product Representation) Viewer - Proficiency's
     industry-first, feature-based, CAD-independent viewer allows users to
     view assembly structure, model geometry, and model history tree and
     features without the source CAD system being present.  In version 2.5,
     the UPR Viewer has been enhanced to also display feature parameters,
     sketch entities, dimensions, and constraints.  The UPR Viewer allows
     users unfamiliar with the authoring CAD system to see feature-based
     design information, thus allowing them to leverage or contribute to the
     collaborative development process.

  -- Expanded Feature Set - New features supported in version 2.5 include
     offsets, lofts, and new surfacing operations, in addition to GD&T
     (Geometric Dimension and Tolerance) information.

  Availability

Collaboration Gateway version 2.5 is available now, and is sold through a direct sales force with representatives in Detroit, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Munich, Germany. For more information, please visit http://www.proficiency.com/ or call +1.508.486.9868.

About Proficiency

Proficiency has been heralded as the leader in feature-based CAD interoperability. The Company's award-winning Collaboration Gateway allows development teams within manufacturers and their suppliers to efficiently collaborate on the design of complex products. A privately held company headquartered in Marlborough, Mass. USA, Proficiency has secured nearly $40M in venture capital investment led by Concord Ventures, Charles River Ventures and Carmel Ventures. The Company has numerous patents pending in engineering information representation technology. For more information on Proficiency, please visit http://www.proficiency.com/.

  Proficiency and Collaboration Gateway are trademarks of Proficiency, Ltd.

  Corporate Contact:                  Agency Contact:
   Michael Jannery                    Catherine Allen
   Proficiency, Inc.                  SHIFT Communications
   +1.508.486.9868, x223              +1.617.681.1227
   
Email Contact           
Email Contact

CONTACT: Corporate, Michael Jannery of Proficiency, Inc., +1-508-486-
9868, x223, Email Contact; or Agency, Catherine Allen of SHIFT
Communications, +1-617-681-1227, Email Contact

Web site: http://www.proficiency.com/