Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Market Leaders Team to Ensure Interoperability Between UGS' JT and Autodesk's DWF File Formats

PLANO, Texas and SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Addressing the growing need for manufacturers to build products faster, more efficiently and with higher quality, UGS and Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) today announced a strategic alliance to enable complex product and process information to be widely and quickly shared, without the obstacle of format incompatibility.

Designed to initially benefit nearly 10 million users worldwide, the new alliance calls for the companies to jointly build on the success of UGS' JT and Autodesk's DWF(TM) (Design Web Format(TM)) -- two open, widely-used and highly-complementary formats for sharing digital product design, engineering and manufacturing data -- to facilitate interoperability between applications utilizing the two file formats.

As part of the alliance, Autodesk, the design software company with the world's largest engineering user base, will become a member of UGS' JT Open Program, a global initiative to support JT, while UGS, a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, will join the Autodesk Developer Network and become a DWF Developer partner.

"This alliance between UGS and Autodesk puts our customers first by ensuring seamless data interoperability between our products and efficient data flow up and down the value chain and between organizations," said Tony Affuso, chairman, CEO and president of UGS. "By combining technology strengths and leveraging the widespread adoption of our data formats, UGS and Autodesk will help customers -- and the PLM industry at large -- advance to a higher level of manufacturing productivity. "Customers are rightfully demanding open technologies and systems, and this alliance is a direct response to those demands, pushing the closed and proprietary systems of yesterday one step closer to obsolescence."

Natural evolution elevates productivity while protecting customer investments

UGS and Autodesk are committed to ensuring that interoperability efforts, which will tap UGS' PLM XML schema, will not disrupt existing users' investment in design data. To that end, UGS will support the exchange of DWF format in all its PLM applications by expanding upon JT and PLM XML. In a like manner, Autodesk will support the exchange of JT in its applications with a complementary expansion of DWF-based tools.

"This alliance is in direct response to market demand. Together Autodesk and UGS will empower customers to create, manage and share compact, high-fidelity versions of complex designs in industry-leading, open file formats," said Carl Bass, chief operating officer of Autodesk.

"Customers can be certain that this digital information can be easily shared, that data accuracy and integrity are maintained and that the value of their present and future technology investments is maximized."

Widely used formats benefit customers

More than five million users depend on Autodesk DWF for viewing 2D and 3D digital product data, and it is used throughout the globe for sharing complex, computer-aided design (CAD), engineering and mapping information. The DWF specification and the Autodesk(R) DWF(TM) Toolkit are published and available to any developer free of charge to build applications with DWF.

The JT format from UGS, the world's most widely used format for sharing lightweight 3D product images and manufacturing information, is used by nearly four million users and has been adopted by virtually all of the world's leading CAD applications.

About UGS

UGS is a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services with nearly 4 million licensed seats and 42,000 clients worldwide. The company promotes openness and standardization and works collaboratively with its clients in creating enterprise solutions enabling them to transform their process of innovation and thus begin to capture the value of PLM. For more information on UGS products and services, visit www.ugs.com .

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With six million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields. Autodesk's solutions help customers create, manage, and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage by becoming more productive, streamlining project efficiency, and maximizing profits.

Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For additional information about Autodesk, please visit www.autodesk.com .

NOTE: UGS is a registered trademark of UGS Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries.

Autodesk, Design Web Format and DWF are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries.

All other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.

Forward Looking Statement

The statements in this news release that are not historical statements are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond UGS' control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. The company has included a discussion of pertinent risk factors in the final offering memorandum relating to our 10% Senior Subordinated Notes, a copy of which discussion of risk factors is available from the company. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

    CONTACTS:
     Jim Phelan - UGS                        Jennifer Giles - Autodesk
     314-264-8216                            415-547-2458
     jimp@ugs.com                            Jennifer.giles@autodesk.com

SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.
02/14/2005
CONTACT: Jim Phelan of UGS, 314-264-8216, or jimp@ugs.com; or Jennifer Giles of Autodesk, +1-415-547-2458, or Jennifer.giles@autodesk.com
Web site: http://www.ugs.com
Web site: http://www.autodesk.com