SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2003-- Hydrakraft Significantly Improves its Product Development Processes With Autodesk Manufacturing Technology

Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced that Hydrakraft AS of Norway credits Autodesk manufacturing technology for its improved product development processes that reduced cycle time by as much as 50 percent in just one year. Hydrakraft AS of Norway, a leading equipment manufacturer for the offshore, fishery, seismic, and sub sea industry, reported a 100 percent revenue increase in the same time period as a result of this significant change in the way they approach product development. The solution providing the fuel for the company's gains includes Autodesk Inventor(R) Series award winning design software and Autodesk Streamline(R) online collaboration service. Hydrakraft extended its commitment to Autodesk as it moved from 2D to 3D design.

"Our investment in Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Streamline was an important business decision. It has helped us through difficult economic times and now is contributing to our sales growth," said Jon Olav Kopperstad, marketing manager, Hydrakraft. "With Autodesk Streamline, we have eliminated wasted time and expense traveling to customer sites or using overnight couriers to share information."

Midsize manufacturers are up against similar pressures as the large manufacturers:

    --  reduce costs;

    --  increase productivity;

    --  share information with customers and supply chains spread
        around the world; and

    --  leverage design data from product concept through retirement.

Increasingly, manufacturers at all levels are turning to Autodesk for a complete solution for the lifecycle of a product, which includes design, management and collaboration.

"Our customers, mainstream manufacturers, have no tolerance for investing in traditional product lifecycle management (PLM) systems such as those from Dassault Systemes and Parametric Technology Corp. -- the costly process and integration programs that often fail," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing Solutions Division at Autodesk. "To better manage the product development process, manufacturers are turning to Autodesk for our design, management, and collaboration solution that is quick and easy to deploy, value-priced, and offers a rapid return on investment so results are realized quickly."

Hydrakraft's Lifecycle Management Solution Critical to Business

Success

When Hydrakraft (www.hydrakraft.no) first considered Autodesk, the company was trying to solve two critical business issues: It needed a powerful 3D design tool to incorporate critical design information directly into their product model. Hydrakraft also needed to quickly and easily share 2D and 3D design data with customers and suppliers to streamline the company's product development process. Hydrakraft chose to implement an Autodesk Manufacturing solution that consisted of Autodesk Inventor design software and Autodesk Streamline collaboration service. Within three months of implementing the solution, Hydrakraft was able to shorten its design cycle time, lower costs, and manufacture better quality products. Unlike solutions on the market today, Autodesk's design offerings -- AutoCAD(R), AutoCAD Mechanical, Autodesk Inventor Professional, Autodesk Inventor Series 2D and 3D mechanical design package -- and Autodesk Streamline collaboration service solve problems for small and medium-sized manufacturers, because they are easier to implement and deploy, and provide a faster return on investment. In addition, customers can take advantage of Autodesk's third-party applications, Autodesk(R) Professional Services, and strong business channel partners to garner greater value from their software.

Nestor, an Autodesk Authorized Systems Center in Norway, provided Hydrakraft with training and support for the Autodesk solutions. "Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Streamline are helping Hydrakraft improve its product development process because communication in the value chain is critical to improve results and quality," said Halvor Jensen, managing director at Nestor (www.nestor.no). "We trained both the sales force and the engineers, as well as helped Hydrakraft with sales support when they started to use Autodesk Streamline."

As an Autodesk Subscription Program customer, Hydrakraft is able to benefit from simplified software management and easy budgeting. For an annual fee, the program will keep them up to date on the latest versions of Autodesk software as soon as they become available, including extensions. For more information about the Autodesk Subscription Program, please 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.

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

    CONTACT: Autodesk, Inc. Cindi Goodsell, 415/507-8452
             cindi.goodsell@autodesk.com

    SOURCE: Autodesk, Inc.