Leading Manufacturer of Customized Vehicles Reduces Production Time by 30 Percent with Inventor Software

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) today announced that Craftsmen Industries, a leading provider of customized vehicles for the event and promotion industry, has been named as the Autodesk Inventor of the Month for December 2007. The Inventor of the Month program (http://www.autodesk.com/inventorofthemonth) recognizes the most innovative design and engineering advancements made by the extensive community using Autodesk Inventor software, which provides the foundation for Digital Prototyping (http://www.autodesk.com/digitalprototyping).

Craftsmen's offerings for the mobile marketing industry range from basic mobile displays to sophisticated, expandable exhibit trailers. The company also produces one-of-a-kind custom vehicles that transform ordinary vehicles into visually compelling advertisements on wheels. Due to the sheer size of these trailers and vehicles, construction of physical prototypes is not a viable option for Craftsmen-particularly given the tight turnaround time for each project. Rather than building, modifying, and then rebuilding a series of physical prototypes to get the desired end result, Craftsmen embraces Digital Prototyping as a way to visualize, simulate and analyze its designs in 3D before anything is actually built.

Specialized Sheet Metal Design tools in Inventor give Craftsmen the ability to easily design sheet metal parts and incorporate manufacturing information such as tool parameters and flat pattern optimization into the digital prototype. As a result, Craftsmen employees are able to validate bend angles and other sheet metal qualities as they work, reducing costly engineering changes discovered after the design is sent to manufacturing.

"As the foundation of Digital Prototyping, Inventor lets us leverage a single, 3D digital model," said Tim Matejka, Design Engineer at Craftsmen. "These digital prototypes enhance our productivity in several important ways, whether it's being able to quickly and easily make changes to our designs, or to communicate our designs more clearly and effectively to the manufacturing team."

By using Inventor to create digital prototypes in place of physical prototypes, Craftsmen has reduced its average project turnaround time by 30 percent, allowing the company to successfully meet client deadlines and take on more new business.

"Innovative companies like Craftsmen are realizing the ways that Digital Prototyping can help them reduce errors, improve quality and save time-even when transforming the wildest of ideas into reality," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, senior vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. "It is a pleasure to name Craftsmen as our Inventor of the Month for December."

About the Autodesk Inventor of the Month Program

Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the more than 700,000 users of Autodesk Inventor software, the foundation for Digital Prototyping. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information on Autodesk Inventor of the Month, contact us at IOM@autodesk.com.

About Craftsmen Industries

Craftsmen Industries is the leading manufacturer of customized vehicles for the event & promotion industry. From basic mobile displays to sophisticated double expandable exhibit trailers and one-of-a-kind custom vehicles, Craftsmen Industries is the ideal partner for companies and agencies utilizing mobile marketing tours. For additional information about Craftsmen Industries, visit http://www.craftsmenind.com.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art digital prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are built. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit http://www.autodesk.com/.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and Inventor are 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. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

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    (C) 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

     Contact:  Christine Stoner  416.874.8841   Alyson Howard  312.297.7430
     Email:    christine.stoner@autodesk.com    alyson.howard@edelman.com

SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.

CONTACT: Christine Stoner of Autodesk, Inc., +1-416-874-8841, christine.stoner@autodesk.com; or Alyson Howard, +1-312-297-7430, alyson.howard@edelman.com, for Autodesk, Inc.
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http://www.craftsmenind.com
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