SAN RAFAEL, Calif., July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced that partner momentum is rapidly increasing for Autodesk Inventor(R) Series design solutions, as its application development initiatives continue to make it easier for mainstream manufacturers to transition from 2D to 3D. In conjunction with the success of Autodesk Inventor Series, the world's #1 selling 3D mechanical design software, the Autodesk Inventor Certified Application Program reached a significant milestone, delivering more than 76 certified software applications for the manufacturing sector and making this program the largest in the industry.

The Autodesk Inventor Certified Application program is focused on delivering tailored solutions to manufacturers for virtually every industry, from consumer goods to industrial equipment. These development partners want to capitalize on the $2.6 billion (U.S.) design software market, and see opportunity in the fact that more than one-third of Autodesk's worldwide customer base leverages add-on software applications. Since the program's inception two years ago, participation has expanded tenfold with more Inventor-complementary applications offered to mid-sized manufacturers than any other 3D mechanical design solution available today.

"Autodesk is fully committed to providing the most comprehensive design solutions in the industry and we are working closely with our development partners to help manufacturers realize the potential of 3D design," said Robert Kross, vice president of Autodesk's Manufacturing Solutions Division. "Our partners are developing customized applications to meet specific manufacturing needs. They are making design innovation possible in vertical sectors of manufacturing, and helping Autodesk users gain even greater value from their technology investment."

From assembly modeling and engineering analysis to document management and NC manufacturing, Autodesk-certified products are built upon Autodesk's application programming interface (API) and have met the functional and performance guidelines, requirements and testing criteria outlined by Autodesk. The Autodesk Inventor Certified Application Program has 64 partners worldwide, with 76 certified applications. In addition, the Autodesk Inventor Certified Hardware Program has three certified I/O devices, 28 certified video cards and 11 certified workstations.

Pathtrace Systems Inc. offers EdgeCAM, the de facto standard in solids-based machining. With more than 20 years of manufacturing experience, Pathtrace Systems is a long-standing Autodesk developer and was recently named an Autodesk Global Preferred Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAM) Partner.

"By fully integrating EdgeCAM with Autodesk Inventor Series, customers have the tools to tackle the most complicated engineering problems by automatically updating their designs -- ensuring data accuracy and consistency and thus speeding a product's time to market," said Steve Sivitter, CEO, Pathtrace Systems Inc. "The Autodesk Inventor Certified Application Program is beneficial because it provides partners with an open API and access to code early in the development process to ensure partner products are fully integrated into the Autodesk solution."

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. Autodesk's manufacturing solutions include Autodesk Inventor Series, the #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.

Autodesk Consulting, including integrated consulting and training, helps customers worldwide maximize the value of their investment in Autodesk technology. For more information about Autodesk Consulting, see www.autodesk.com/consulting.

Autodesk(R) Subscription is the easiest way to keep design tools and learning up to date. For an annual fee, customers benefit from the latest versions of their licensed Autodesk software, web support direct from Autodesk, self-paced training options, and a broad range of other technology and business benefits. For more information, contact your Autodesk Authorized Reseller or visit www.autodesk.com/subscription.

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.

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

Contact: Tiffany Pence of Autodesk, +1-415-547-2475, or tiffany.pence@autodesk.com.

SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.

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