SAN FRANCISCO, Jun 24, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Autodesk Buzzsaw Helps Leading Industry Manufacturer Reduce Cycle Times Associated with Fabrication of Custom-Engineered Metal Building and Roofing Systems

MAGNATRAX Corporation, one of North America's leading manufacturers and marketers of engineered building products and services for nonresidential and residential construction markets, uses the Autodesk Buzzsaw collaboration service to help expand business operations and control costs within its custom-engineered metal building and roofing systems operating divisions. Using Buzzsaw from Autodesk (Nasdaq:ADSK) for more than 350 projects, MAGNATRAX has reduced the already tight metal building industry order-to-delivery cycle time, while improving its ability to access and communicate with international partners.

Custom-engineered metal building and roofing systems have become popular in today's construction markets because of their cost effectiveness and potential for quick, six-to-eight week order-to-delivery cycle times. To meet this growing demand, MAGNATRAX explored expanding its business by accessing non-domestic engineering resources. However, MAGNATRAX knew that tapping into offshore engineering resources would create new telecommunication challenges that could compromise process efficiencies. In the metal building systems industry lead-time is everything, and an efficient process is crucial. The need to access international resources is what drove MAGNATRAX to explore a project collaboration service like Autodesk Buzzsaw that could help them manage international project teams and resource partners while continuing to manage strict delivery time constraints.

"Buzzsaw is proving to be an essential part of the MAGNATRAX growth strategy and is one of the primary vehicles enabling us to expand the virtual walls of our enterprise," said Doug King, MAGNATRAX's chief information officer. "In order to achieve our ongoing growth and efficiency targets, we must provide our customers and suppliers with a platform for 24x7 seamless communication and collaboration -- exactly what Buzzsaw's technology has enabled us to do."

MAGNATRAX began using the Buzzsaw project collaboration service nearly a year ago to transfer information and communicate with its outsourced engineering resources overseas. With over 350 active projects on its Buzzsaw site today, MAGNATRAX's metal building and roofing system project teams are now using the service to transfer all project information -- everything from order documentation to customer sketches to AutoCAD files. The transfer, tracking, and verification capacities in Buzzsaw have eliminated international data transfer problems and streamlined communications in North America and overseas. According to King, the company's production engineering workforce has realized significant efficiencies since they began managing projects with Buzzsaw. In addition, the company continues to save time and money for previously essential processes including courier, phone, and fax services.

"Our customers in the AEC industry understand that the ability to control costs and respond quickly to project inquiries are key components in gaining a competitive advantage, and, as seen with MAGNATRAX, the Buzzsaw service is helping them gain that control and increase overall responsiveness," said Chris Bradshaw, vice president of Autodesk Building Collaboration Services.

    Autodesk Buzzsaw for Building Management

Powered by proprietary ProjectPoint technology, Autodesk Buzzsaw is an online project collaboration service that connects building project team members and helps them communicate by storing and sharing information in one, secure location. Buzzsaw helps owners, developers, architects, and engineers save time and increase profitability throughout the entire design, construction, and building management process. Currently, more than 650 companies in the AEC industry are using the Buzzsaw service. In an effort to support international companies, a local language version was recently introduced in Japan.

    About MAGNATRAX Corporation

With newly relocated headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, MAGNATRAX Corporation is one of North America's leading diversified manufacturers and marketers of custom-engineered construction building products and services, including metal building and roofing systems and components, entry systems, and bulk storage units. The company was formed in 1999 and continues to successfully deliver custom products throughout North America and in selected international markets.

    About Autodesk

Founded in 1982, Autodesk, Inc., is the world's leading design and digital media creation, management, and distribution company. The company serves a diverse portfolio of markets, including building design, geographic information systems, manufacturing, digital media, and wireless data services. By delivering tools that foster innovation and creativity, Autodesk helps customers throughout the value chain leverage digital design data to work better, faster, and smarter. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com. For information about the Autodesk Buzzsaw service, visit the product site at www.autodesk.com/collaborate.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Buzzsaw, and ProjectPoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the United States and other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

CONTACT:          Autodesk, Inc.
                  Gabrielle Friedly, 415/356-0741
                  gabrielle.friedly@autodesk.com

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