Autodesk Inventor Series Software Helps Daiwa House Create, Manage, and Share

Design Data; Emerging Standard for Tokyo University Design Students

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, continues to experience momentum in adoption and use of its products in Japan. As manufacturers in the region continue to adopt Autodesk Inventor(R) Series as their preferred platform for product design, skilled use of Autodesk software is fast becoming a mandatory part of the curriculum at educational institutions training Japan's future industrial designers and engineers. The APAC region reported $68 million in revenues for the first quarter of FY05 up 34% year-on-year and 23% from Q4 with sales particularly strong in Japan.

Responding not only to the increasing use of 3D modeling software, but also to the prevalence of Autodesk design solutions worldwide, Tokyo University is making form modeling and visualization using 3D CAD and computer graphics software a prerequisite for students in the school's graphic science curriculum. Students will learn the principles of graphic science and 3D modeling using Autodesk Inventor Series. Tokyo University instructors anticipate Autodesk Inventor Series will help students learn and master complex concepts such as analysis assemblies and operation simulations.

"Japan's industrial designers, renowned for product and process innovation, can take advantage of Autodesk's design and data management solutions to create, manage, and share their design data for streamlined production and greater productivity, with fewer costly errors," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing Solutions Division at Autodesk. "Tokyo University joins institutions and education programs worldwide that have made our products central to more than two million students' training each year. Autodesk software is quickly becoming a standard for 3D designers and engineers around the globe."

Several Japanese manufacturers have chosen Autodesk Inventor Series, the world's #1 selling 3D mechanical design software, for diverse industrial design applications ranging from forming machines to garbage processing equipment, hybrid streetlights, and pre-fabricated housing. Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd., has adopted Autodesk Inventor Series for its ease of use, extensive functionality, and interaction with high-end software for performance analytics.

Leading Japanese Manufacturer Standardize on Autodesk Inventor Series

Daiwa House Industry, a leading prefabricated housing manufacturer, selected Autodesk Inventor Series for its ease of modeling, support for large- scale assemblies, and for the ability to perform structural and stress analyses. Because the Autodesk solution allowed Daiwa House to model products in progress, the company was able to design and build the optimal line that produces material along the production line. Daiwa House was also able to develop the production equipment, designing and installing in-house, rather than outsourcing it. Daiwa House completed a large-scale production line in April 2002, increasing manufacturing capacity by 40 percent at half the anticipated capital expense. The company eventually plans to develop, design, and manufacture all production lines in-house and standardize design operations on Autodesk Inventor Series.

A Comprehensive Portfolio of Manufacturing Solutions

Delivering on its strategy to help customers create, manage, and share their digital design data and solve critical business challenges, Autodesk offers the most comprehensive portfolio of integrated 2D and 3D design and data management solutions available -- helping customers design better quality products, accelerate time to market, and achieve maximum project visibility and collaboration. Unlike other offerings on the market today, these solutions are easy to deploy and use, and help companies easily transition from 2D to 3D design at their own pace. Autodesk's manufacturing solutions include Autodesk Inventor Series, the world's #1 selling 3D mechanical design software, and Autodesk Inventor(R) Professional -- both with Autodesk(R) Vault data management capabilities built in; AutoCAD(R) Mechanical and AutoCAD(R) Electrical software; and the Autodesk Streamline(R) collaboration service. In addition, customers can take advantage of widely available third-party applications purpose-built for Autodesk software.

For an annual fee, Autodesk Subscription customers benefit from a complete technology, training and support program that protects their software investments by providing them with the most current design technology, Web Support direct from Autodesk, flexible self-paced training options and a broad range of other technology and business benefits. For more information about Autodesk Subscription, visit www.autodesk.com/subscription.

Autodesk Consulting offers services that can help you streamline your business processes and get the best possible return on your investment in Autodesk technology. Visit us at www.autodesk.com/consulting.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, and Autodesk Streamline are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

(C) Copyright 2004 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Autodesk, Inc. 05/26/2004
CONTACT: Tiffany Pence of Autodesk, Inc., +1-415-547-2475 or Tiffany.Pence@Autodesk.com
Web site: http://www.autodesk.com