SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Apr 18, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Rounding out the next generation of manufacturing solutions, Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced the immediate availability of Autodesk Inventor(R) Series 7 software, the latest version of the best-selling software for 3D design and the upcoming availability of the Autodesk Streamline(R) 5 manufacturing collaboration service this summer. Combined with AutoCAD(R) 2004 and AutoCAD(R) Mechanical 2004 software, these solutions help customers solve critical business challenges by giving them the tools to innovate, increase productivity, optimize processes, and bring higher quality products to market faster for less cost.

"Together, these design and collaboration solutions give customers the ability to create and share digital design information that is critical to both engineers and non-engineers across the extended enterprise," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing Solutions Division at Autodesk. One of Autodesk's customers that use Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Streamline, HMS Products Co. (www.hmsproducts.com) is creating functional animations to demonstrate their press automation solutions to customers, eliminating time consuming and expensive prototypes, which can cost $250,000 and up.

"We have been selling press room automation systems without creating prototypes," said John Baranowski, director of Engineering IT at HMS Products Co. in Troy, Mich. "We can show our systems' features and functionality simply by using our digital designs created in Autodesk Inventor and using animation technology provided by Autodesk. With Autodesk Streamline, even heavy design data can be viewed by our supply chain partners and customers through streaming graphics technology. The models are viewed in seconds rather than the 10-15 minutes it would take on a good personal computer. Our customers are impressed."

Autodesk Inventor Series 7

The Autodesk Inventor(R) Series 7, which includes Autodesk Inventor 7 and Autodesk(R) Mechanical Desktop(R) 2004 software, continues to offer industry-leading DWG compatibility by supporting data exchange with AutoCAD 2004 files. Autodesk Inventor 7 software's improved workflow functionality groups frequently used commands to reduce the number of steps required for common design tasks. Users benefit from a quicker workflow wizard that offers better translation results. Autodesk Inventor 7 now supports publishing DWF(TM) files for use with the Autodesk Express Viewer application. New capabilities for DWF files include multiple 2D sheets, password support, print ready format, and a single publish format for all Autodesk design tools.

Autodesk Inventor 7 includes two enhancements for large assembly performance. Users can now make visible only those components needed for a given design task, limiting the number of parts displayed and the amount of memory needed. Taking advantage of new capabilities in Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional, Autodesk Inventor 7 software can now take advantage of workstations with 3GB of system memory. This is 30 percent more memory than previously possible, allowing even larger designs to be created faster than ever before.

Autodesk Inventor now allows surfaces to be trimmed. Adding this ability allows users to import or create surfaces, trim them, and knit them into complex surfaces or solid shapes. This strengthens Autodesk Inventor software's hybrid surface-solids modeling tools and expands the types of complex parts Autodesk Inventor users can design.

Autodesk Streamline 5

The Autodesk Streamline 5 online collaboration service continues to provide value throughout the product life cycle by helping customers instantly share digital design data across their extended manufacturing chain. For added flexibility and easy access, Autodesk Streamline 5 users will be able to view Autodesk Streamline files offline, without an Internet connection. The service lets users search across files for Autodesk Streamline content in seconds. The new CAD neutrality in Autodesk Streamline 5 means that users can publish Autodesk Streamline files from PTC's Pro/ENGINEER. The service offers a simple, easy-to-use method for tracking the Request for Quote process within its centralized environment. This solution allows companies to utilize RFQ forms to facilitate the distribution and collection of quotes and other information from various suppliers.

New performance and administration features will offer enhanced project hosting capabilities. To extend its reach in the global economy, the product has been Unicoded-enabled so that data can be viewed correctly in different localized operating systems.

Availability

Autodesk Inventor Series 7 is available immediately and Autodesk Streamline 5 will be available in summer worldwide through authorized resellers. The solutions are also available through the Autodesk Subscription Program in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.autodesk.com/inventor and www.autodesk.com/streamline.

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, Mechanical Desktop, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Streamline, DWF, and Volo are either registered trademarks or 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.

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

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