Leading Phoenix-Based Homebuilder Eliminates Paper-Based Construction Bidding,

Slashing Administrative Costs and Printing Expenses While Improving

                Communication With Partners and Subcontractors

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., and PHOENIX, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As with many homebuilders in the red-hot Phoenix real estate market, Hacienda Builders has seen its business grow quickly in recent years. The firm completed approximately 450 homes in 2002, is on track to close out 700 this year and expects to build about 900 in 2004. Looking ahead, Hacienda's management realized that sustaining this rate of growth and maintaining its competitive edge would be difficult if it had to continue relying on its antiquated paper-based processes for sending out start work orders and bid solicitation packages. Taking the initiative, Hacienda deployed the Buzzsaw(R) web-based collaboration service from Autodesk.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000518/SFTH083LOGO )

According to the National Association of Builders' (NAHB's) single-family homebuilding in 2003 is expected to surpass last year's 1.7 million units -- an increase largely fueled by low, long-term mortgage rates. Autodesk has witnessed this growth through an increase of new customers in homebuilding market that are looking to support their growth with the implementation of project management services.

"We knew that our bid process had to become more efficient if we were going to achieve our growth goals without hiring more people or sacrificing quality," said Tiffany Swift, a Project Coordinator with Hacienda. "Autodesk Buzzsaw is streamlining bid management even as we double the number of homes we build over the next year. Already Buzzsaw has virtually eliminated the paper trail from the process, and reduced by half the time its takes to assemble and distribute bid packets to our subcontractor partners. I'm happy to say that as of September 15th, we are not faxing anything anymore. From now on, it's all going to be in Buzzsaw."

With its paper-based bidding system, Hacienda needed to dedicate two full-time employees working for two weeks in order to prepare and distribute subcontractor bid packets for a new subdivision. Since a typical subdivision contains five different basic plans of about 10-20 pages, and Hacienda works with a subcontractor pool of more than 60 firms, these bid administrators had to organize and collate as many as 6,000 pages of construction information every time the firm began a new job. Moreover, notifications had to be faxed out and then individual packets had to be distributed to each subcontractor.

Hacienda isn't alone in showing the foresight to automate paper-based processes. As construction across the Southwest boomed in recent years, builders, architects and government agencies all found that traditional means of administering bids and communicating with extended design/build teams complicated day-to-day administration and cut into profitability. An increasing number of these building concerns -- including Fulton Homes, the City of Fort Worth, KB Homes, Centex Homes, the federal General Services Administration and retail construction specialist The Dimension Group -- have standardized on the Buzzsaw service in order to increase efficiency and reduce paperwork. In turn, these industry leaders have spurred subcontractors across the region to adopt Buzzsaw, further improving workflow and strengthening partnerships throughout the regional building community.

"Online bidding and project management have become essential to our business over the last year," said Patti Jones, operations controller at Levelline Framing. "Two years ago, the developers we work with let us know about bids via fax, then they'd deliver sets of plans for individual subdivisions. If there were any problems with the fax -- out of toner or paper, or if it simply got lost -- we could miss out on a significant piece of business, or be late for a deadline. With Buzzsaw, we get an email when a new bid is up, then we simply log on and download all the plans electronically. It's faster, cheaper and a lot easier for all involved. Buzzsaw is becoming the standard medium for a lot of our interactions with our developer partners."

At the Facilities Management Division of Fort Worth's Department of Transportation and Public Works, they are gearing up to use the Buzzsaw service for improving communication with contractors and reducing overall construction administration costs. "Because Buzzsaw eliminates the need to print out paper plans in many cases, we believe it will help us and our contractors to drastically reduce our reprographic expenses," said Mike Mathews, head of the division's Architectural Services Section. "In addition, by enabling us to share documents online, Buzzsaw provides everyone on the team with access to important project details no matter where they are located; it's not longer necessary to drive to a plan house or the city's plans desk."

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. For information about the Buzzsaw service, visit the product site at www.autodesk.com/buzzsaw. For information about Autodesk Professional Services, see www.autodesk.com/professionalservices.

NOTE: Autodesk and Buzzsaw 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: Gabrielle Friedly, 415-356-0741

EMAIL: gabrielle.friedly@autodesk.com

SOURCE  Autodesk, Inc.
    -0-                             11/12/2003
    /CONTACT:  Gabrielle Friedly of Autodesk, Inc., +1-415-356-0741, or
gabrielle.friedly@autodesk.com/
    /Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000518/SFTH083LOGO
              AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org
             PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840/
    /Web site:  http://www.autodesk.com/
    (ADSK)

CO:  Autodesk, Inc.
ST:  California
IN:  CPR STW CST MLM
SU:  LIC



EB 
-- SFW051 --
4409 11/12/2003 08:02 EST http://www.prnewswire.com