Software Helps Manage Design Input From More Than 30 Departments; Cuts Printing, Plotting and Courier Costs in Half

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- When the Sault Area Hospital and architectural firm Ellis Pastore Oswim (EPO) needed to merge the services of two aging area hospitals into one state-of-the-art facility, they turned to Autodesk (Nasdaq: ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company. The new 600,000-square-foot, 300-bed hospital serving northern Ontario with specialized services such as cancer and surgical care required a project management and collaboration service encompassing the entire design process. EPO, which specializes in technically complex facilities, chose the Autodesk(R) Buzzsaw(R) project management service to create, manage and share design data across more than 30 hospital departments involved in the development of the new hospital.

Compatibility with Autodesk(R) Architectural Desktop, the firm's design software of choice, was just one of several crucial factors in EPO's decision to use Autodesk Buzzsaw. The integration of the design-build process and Autodesk Buzzsaw helped EPO and Sault Area Hospital eliminate inefficiencies in the design process. Shortly after the project began, EPO recognized the need to share enormous amounts of information over the life of the project: More than 30 departments to be housed in the new hospital wanted the opportunity to provide detailed input on the design of their designated areas.

"On large, complex projects like the Sault Area Hospital, effective collaboration is an important component of project management," said Don Fillmore, project manager for EPO. "Buzzsaw helped us work more efficiently with a large team of healthcare specialists, and the hospital enjoyed a high degree of visibility and control."

EPO estimated cost upwards of $150,000 to provide detailed drawings of the evolving design to all the different review teams. While EPO saved money by eliminating the use of paper, the firm also saved time. "Buzzsaw cut our printing, plotting and courier costs by at least 50 percent," said Fillmore.

Autodesk Buzzsaw project portfolio management capabilities also reduced design and construction time and costs by providing unmatched visibility and control into all phases of the project across the review teams. "The integration of Buzzsaw and Architectural Desktop provided faster collaboration among the architects and the healthcare professionals by delivering visibility and control right to the desktop of the hospital review teams," said Franco Pastore, a principal at EPO. "Communication is an essential part of any construction project -- without Buzzsaw, we would have spent 25 percent more time managing design input from the hospital."

Reducing Cost Escalation

Beyond the day-to-day task of managing information flow, large healthcare projects face the challenge of avoiding cost escalation. Although it is difficult to estimate how much construction costs will grow between the project launch and the construction phase due to ancillary expenses including building materials and labor, faster design phase completion with fewer errors in design and construction documentation make it easier to avoid budget overruns.

"Escalation can be significant on a project like Sault Area Hospital. Expediting the project is key objective for everyone involved," said Pastore. "By using Autodesk's project portfolio management and collaboration services, we can keep timely project information in a central location and mitigate the risk of delays."

The design approval process also was accelerated through the use of Autodesk Architectural Desktop software. Sault Area Hospital departments individually reviewed the work spaces relevant to their teams, and three-dimensional renderings produced in the software ensured a clear understanding of the design concepts as well as design issues and challenges.

"EPO and Sault Area Hospital are clearly forward-looking organizations with a commitment to building a state-of-the-art facility within time and budget parameters," said Amar Hanspal, senior director, Autodesk Collaboration Services. "We designed our project portfolio management and collaboration services with the goal of enabling customers such as Sault to simplify management of the design-build process in order to focus on what's most important -- in Sault's case, delivering high quality patient care."

Autodesk Buzzsaw is an online collaboration service that allows building design and construction professionals to create, manage and share project documents online, requiring only an Internet connection to gain unprecedented visibility and control into projects. Users find Autodesk Buzzsaw enhances team productivity, helps reduce costs and facilitates lifecycle management of a project

Built on the familiar AutoCAD(R) platform, Autodesk Architectural Desktop is the most widely adopted object CAD-based product for architects, enhancing productivity through automated documentation, efficiency through use of intelligent architectural objects, and flexibility through file-based collaboration.

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 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 Buzzsaw, and Autodesk Architectural Desktop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

SOURCE Autodesk -0- 06/21/2004 /CONTACT: Colleen Nichols of Autodesk, +1-415-356-0722, or colleen.nichols@autodesk.com/ /Web site: http://www.autodesk.com / (ADSK) CO: Autodesk; Ellis Pastore Oswim; EPO ST: California IN: CPR STW SU: TX-MW -- SFM027 -- 9914 06/21/2004 05:30 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com