SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Aug 31, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), a world leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, today announced Autodesk Plant Design Suite 2012, the latest version of its award-winning suite of plant design solutions. Available in Standard, Premium and Ultimate editions, the new suite simplifies cross-department coordination among process plant design stakeholders. Users of Plant Design Suite Ultimate 2012 will have access to the combination of Autodesk Inventor 2012 software for plant equipment and skid design, and Autodesk Revit Structure 2012 software for structural design and detailing for the first time. The company also announced the 2012 versions of AutoCAD P&ID and AutoCAD Plant 3D.

With Autodesk Plant Design Suite 2012, users can create compelling designs more quickly while sharing data throughout the piping, structural and equipment design processes. By engaging stakeholders at multiple workflow stages, Autodesk Plant Design Suite 2012 helps reduce construction mistakes, expensive reworks and extended plant shutdowns.

"Today's compressed timelines and tighter budgets mean cooperation on every process level is more important, yet more difficult to realize. The latest edition of Plant Design Suite was specifically developed with multidisciplinary coordination in mind," said Mark Strassman, vice president, Autodesk Construction & Plant. "With Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Revit Structure, AutoCAD Plant 3D and Autodesk Navisworks Manage now all part of the suite, Autodesk provides the best of AutoCAD, the best of BIM, and the best of digital prototyping solutions for a more streamlined workflow--all in one package."

Built on the power and familiarity of AutoCAD, Autodesk Plant Design Suite provides an easily deployable set of plant-specific features and content for a range of tasks -- from 2D drafting and schematics to 3D model-based design and review. Providing complementary software within one package, Autodesk eases project installation, deployment and management, all while helping to save plant designers time and money.

"One of the more challenging aspects of undertaking a plant retrofit, revamp or expansion is finding the right mix of tools to manage the complexities and nuances of individual projects," said Armando Valdez, central region unit manager for COMIMSA. "We see real value in Autodesk offering a compatible set of tools in one economical and convenient purchase. The Plant Design Suite helps to reduce training time and minimizes support headaches for multiple tools and vendors, and also gives us access to more technology to help us innovate and differentiate ourselves from our competitors."

Key components of Autodesk Plant Design Suite 2012, which are all part of the Ultimate edition, include:

• AutoCAD 2012 for general drafting, design and layout
• AutoCAD P&ID 2012 for piping and instrumentation design, featuring improved symbol library management and better support for mixed metric projects
• AutoCAD Plant 3D 2012 for 3D modeling and documentation of piping, featuring enhanced AutoCAD isometrics and customizable report creation
• AutoCAD Structural Detailing 2012 for drafting and editing structural details
• Autodesk Revit Structure 2012 for 3D modeling of structural components
• Autodesk Inventor 2012 for Digital Prototyping of plant equipment and skids
• Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012 for model aggregation, visualization, and simulation
• Autodesk Navisworks Manage 2012 for clash detection
• Autodesk Showcase 2012 for showing interactive presentations
• Autodesk SketchBook Designer 2012 for design illustration and graphic communication

Availability

English language versions of AutoCAD P&ID 2012, AutoCAD Plant 3D 2012, Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012 and Autodesk Navisworks Manage 2012 are available now. The English language version of Autodesk Plant Design Suite 2012 is scheduled to be available within the next month.

Get more information and download free* trial versions of AutoCAD Plant 3D 2012 and AutoCAD P&ID 2012. Users also can visit AutoCAD Plant Exchange to access experts, discussions, learning tools and videos to make them more productive using the Autodesk Plant Solutions design software.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and entertainment industries -- including the last 16 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects -- use Autodesk software to design, visualize and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software for global markets. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.

*These products are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license and services agreement that accompanies the software.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Inventor, Navisworks, Revit, Showcase and SketchBook are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

© 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE: Autodesk, Inc.

Autodesk, Inc.
Brett Smith, 415-547-2405
brett.smith@autodesk.com