• The debt is not a big issue. UGS expects a public offering in the next 12-24 months and in the meantime is required to pay down only a small portion of the principal.
• The consolidation of UG and I-deas into NX is continuing apace and will soon be complete.
• In spite of the effort to consolidate these two major pieces of software, the company continues to add substantial new functionality.
• Teamcenter appears to be pulling away from its competitors in winning large accounts.
• UGS' lead in advanced engineering solutions such as systems engineering and knowledge capture appears to be increasing.
• Its component business, with the recent acquisition of D-Cubed, is growing.
• The company senses movement among its customers to focus on design data as a real way to increase returns. Many customers are, in fact, disappointed with the return on their financially oriented ERP systems and now plan to focus on product related issues where they can garner real leverage.
• From 2003 to 2004 UGS saw the number of customers increase by 7%, the number of seats increase by 36%, and their software pipeline increase by more than 30%.
• The E-factory alliance with Tecnomatix is strong and increasingly important to both companies. Tecnomatix plans to offer a fully integrated Teamcenter solution soon.
• The company added a new function to its PLM flow - Teamcenter Sourcing. It acquired the eBreviate reverse auction software from its former sister company at EDS - A.T. Kearney and they now engage customers together with A.T. Kearney's huge sourcing practice.

  What we think>> UGS has come roaring out of their cage. A bevy of new products, partnerships and customer wins was unveiled at the meeting. We were most impressed by the new energy of the management and development teams. Short presentations of the status of and future directions for their major product lines - NX, Teamcenter, and Solid Edge - revealed well thought out, but aggressive programs. We give them high marks for executing well on all fronts and for exploring new technology, such as systems engineering. CEO Tony Affuso was clear that core CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM is vital to their success even though its growth is slower than other areas. They plan to continue to invest heavily in these core capabilities.

New products: IMSI's CAD Render Studio, a 3D rendering and animation package designed for use with CAD applications lacking this functionality, provides photo-realistic rendering, animation, and publishing for most current 3D CAD applications. CAD Render Studio is the perfect add-on to design products such as AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, DesignCAD, and Rhinoceros. CAD Render Studio includes advanced publishing tools found in other high-end modeling products and CAD programs, as well as tools for 3D model creation and editing, while supporting a wide range of CAD and visualization file formats. CAD Render Studio retails for $299.95 and is currently available directly from IMSI and www.cadalog.com.

Fully integrated with SolidWorks 2005 and based on Moldflow Plastics Advisers technology, MoldflowXpress is an entry-level plastics design validation tool that predicts whether a 3D solid model of an injection molded plastic part will fill based on geometry, injection location, type of material and processing conditions. Users of the MoldflowXpress technology will be offered an easy upgrade path to Moldflow Plastics Advisers for SolidWorks software to allow them to perform more in-depth analyses of their SolidWorks 2005 3D solid models. Utilizing analysis technology in the early stages of part and mold design allows manufacturers to more easily optimize production and monitor conditions to control quality, maintain yield and maximize value in an economy where the overriding driver is the pressure to deliver new products with more features at higher quality. www.solidworks.com or www.moldflowxpress.com.

IBM and Dassault Systemes Solution extend SMARTEAM to include a specialized PLM industry solution for electronics manufacturers with advanced systems engineering services, reducing the cost and risk associated with launching new products. Collaborative Systems Engineering for Electronics" (CSE-E) combines software and DS PLM practices developed by Dassault Systemes. The solution optimizes the early definition stages of product development when companies establish the requirements, functions and systems architecture of a new product, and generally commit to up to 80% of its cost. CSE-E also shortens time-to-market by facilitating design reuse from the earliest stages of the development process, and reduces the costs and risks associated with the launch of a new product. www.ibm.com or www.3ds.com.

Lattice3D, OmniTrust Security Systems, Inc. and Nomura Research Institute (NRI) unveiled the 3D Protected Browser, a Web browser protection system that prevents the unauthorized copying and publishing of CAD/CAM design data as it is being shared and viewed. Before this, there was no way to prevent misuse and theft of valuable design assets after they are distributed. 3D Protected Browser also enables secure but rapid network and email-based publishing and sharing of 3D CAD data through the use of Lattice3D's XVL compression. Already used by more than 2,000 major manufacturing companies, XVL can compress CAD data in a lossless form to approximately 1/100 its original size, allowing it to be easily shared. Available as simple HTML and web server plug-ins, 3D Protected Browser enables employees to view customer design information on their screens, and to input data into fields, but not print, copy, save or screen-capture. When viewing 3D CAD data using XVL Protected Browser, users can set up controls to prevent screen capture, file saving, and printing. 3D Protected Browser supports Windows 2000, XP, and Internet Explorer V 5.01 or later. On the server side, the product supports SPARC Solaris8 or later, Apache 1.3.2X, Windows NT4.0, 2000 and IIS5.0,5.1. North American pricing ranges from $20 - $50 per seat depending on volume. www.lattice3D.com

Upgrades: VERICUT 5.4 features several enhancements designed to increase the ability of manufacturing engineers to inspect, analyze, and document the CNC programming and machining process in order to produce better results and reduce the time spent in the programming and machining cycle. VERICUT 5.4 can automatically create inspection instructions, complete with in-process feature dimensions. Other new and improved features in VERICUT 5.4 include: more powerful auto-differencing, expanded reporting capabilities, cutting graph display, new measurement capabilities, optimization for hard materials, smaller solid model files sizes, and tool chain simulation support. www.cgtech.com

Mastercam’s latest release delivers a dramatic boost in speed while creating a specific set of toolpaths, and will be able to take advantage of a series of new high-speed machining tool motions. Mastercam’s new approach offers dramatic increases in multi-surface contour roughing and finishing, where the user can easily save three quarters or more of their processing time and will deliver a better finish on STL files. Two powerful new high-speed machining techniques help ensure smoother transitions and will reduce interrupted cuts. www.mastercam.com

Square One has extended pdf2vector to include support for DXF. The new release of pdf2vector v5.4 aids engineers in repurposing and redesigning technical drawings such as building layouts and product designs which are archived and exchanged in the Adobe PDF format. pdf2vector enables users to automatically extract both the geometry and text from a PDF file in the same editable quality as the original and use it immediately within AutoCAD or other applications supporting import of the DXF format. Prices start at $395 for the end-user version. www.square1.nl

ANSYS ICEM CFD and AI*Environment 5.0 provide users abundant control over geometry, mesh and solver setup for widely used CFD and structural analysis solvers, respectively. ANSYS ICEM CFD 5.0 represents a dramatic redesign. ICEM CFD 5.0 provides a more streamlined meshing process, context sensitive help and a common interface for all ANSYS ICEM CFD meshers. New at Release 5.0 is the integration of the hex meshing and post-processing modules. Version 5.0 AI*Environment, a pre- and post- processing software dedicated to structural analysis, can be run within the ANSYS Workbench Environment as the Advanced Meshing Tab. The ANSYS Workbench Environment provides users with consistency between ANSYS tools, through a shared database. AI*Environment 5.0 also provides users with direct access to their CAD system that allows the cleanest path of CAD geometry to a high-quality mesh. www.ansys.com

Delcam's new version of its PowerSHAPE hybrid modelling software offers all of the surface and solid modelling capabilities within PowerSHAPE, together with the PS-Draft drafting software and the PS-Render system for generating photo-realistic images. PowerSHAPE Pro offers total integration of solids and surfaces, with both sets of commands available from a single toolbar. Unique functionality within PowerSHAPE Pro includes a range of powerful morphing commands for whole model edits of CAD models. These allow rapid styling changes to be made in a single operation that would otherwise require extensive, time-consuming modification of the separate elements in a design. An embossing technology allows design features generated with PowerSHAPE, or with Delcam's ArtCAM artistic software or the CopyCAD reverse engineering program, to be wrapped onto a CAD model. The size, position and orientation of the wrapped shape can be fully controlled by the user. www.delcam.com

Proficiency's Collaboration Gateway Version 3.5, a feature-based CAD interoperability solution supports assembly constraints, surfacing features and methodology, and provides enhanced support for top-down associative design techniques. As with prior releases, Version 3.5 also incorporates an increasingly robust feature set for high-throughput exchange of mechanical CAD models between Dassault Systemes' CATIA v4 and CATIA v5, PTC's Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire, and UGS' Unigraphics NX and I-deas NX Series. Included is the Proficiency UPR Viewer, a lightweight application that allows CAD and non-CAD users anywhere within an organization to query, view, and leverage the product design data defined within CAD models and assemblies, independent of the original authoring system. Unlike other commercial viewing applications, the Proficiency UPR Viewer exposes the engineering-rich content traditionally only available through the full CAD system. Model details like the feature tree, sketch geometry, constraints, dimensions, and metadata are conveniently and graphically displayed. www.proficiency.com

LMS Virtual.Lab Rev 4 offers an integrated software suite to simulate the performance of mechanical systems on attributes such as structural integrity, comfort, sound quality, system dynamics, handling and durability. Rev 4 introduces a new LMS Virtual.Lab morphing module that enables users to quickly modify existing Finite Element models into new models and to perform a multitude of analyses before complete CAD or new FE models become available. LMS Virtual.Lab Rev 4 also increases the performance and capability of all its integrated simulation applications, including Motion, Noise and Vibration, Interior and Exterior Acoustics, and Durability. www.lmsvirtuallab.com

Parasolid version 16.0 includes new features from which users can derive new benefits including: lofted sweep functionality for designing complex swept features such as ducts and conduits, easy creation of closed sculptured shapes using periodic guide curves, complex blending both within and across tight-curvature regions to enhance blend automation, simultaneous multi-angle face tapering and improved mitering in concave regions to increase automation of tapering for castings and moldings, enhanced sheet trimming and extension for simpler modeling with composite sheets, and optimizing faceting and quality checking for more efficient meshing used in finite element analysis applications. Parasolid V16.0 now supports the MAC OS/X and IBM AIX 64-bit platforms. www.ugs.com

AutoVue 18 includes many new EDA features, including the ability to verify designs for manufacturability, cross-probe 3D PCBs and create/save user-defined layer sets. Several other EDA formats have been added since AutoVue 17.1 and were released in service packs to customers under maintenance. Many new features and formats aimed at the 3D mechanical and A/E/C markets were also added, including digital mockup capabilities, where designers can simulate models and assemblies on-the-fly and project real-world manufacturability without the expense and time associated with conventional physical prototypes. Features include: the ability to combine MCAD parts and assemblies of different formats, the ability to combine native mechanical and electronics files, precise part alignment by easily defining constraints, interference and clearance checking, and a 3D BOM (Bill of Materials). Said Pam Petropoulos, Marketing Manager at Cimmetry Systems, "with AutoVue 18, we break new ground by combining MCAD and ECAD designs into a comprehensive digital mockup, all the while retaining the embedded intelligence and attribute data of the original files." www.Cimmetry.com

PlassoTech Inc. today announced 3G.Design Simulation/Optimization Suite 2004Plus, including 3G.author, 3G.central and 3G.access. The new release includes a nonlinear structural analysis module for large deformation and advanced contact simulation, extensive shell element based functionality and extended load types. Additional capabilities include mesh previewing capabilities with extended feedback and MS Excel integration for importing and exporting results. www.plassotech.com

ALGOR V15 features new Superdraw sketching and modeling tools for 2-D design and analysis directly within FEMPRO, ALGOR's finite element modeling, results evaluation and presentation interface. V15 also includes an expanded, built-in library of materials; new Mechanical Event Simulation (MES) capabilities including a new pulley element; improved linear static stress, heat transfer and fluid flow analysis tools; more result evaluation and presentation capabilities; and much more. www.ALGOR.com

ART VPS Ltd. released a new software interface that makes hardware-accelerated ray tracing available to CATIA V5 and ENOVIA V5 users. The new interface, called RenderPipe for CATIA, integrates CATIA and ENOVIA with ART VPS's RenderDrive visualization system. RenderDrive simulates the complex physics of the real world to create an image from a 3D CAD model. ART VPS renderings are identical to a high-quality photograph, but with the added value of realistic 3D effects not possible with photos or traditional scan-line renderers. Ray tracing within ART VPS's specialized 3D graphics hardware enables images to be generated up to 35 times faster than with conventional software rendering. The new interface was developed using Dassault Systems' CAA V5 toolkit. ART VPS hardware starts at £1899.00 for workstation cards and £ 6950.00 for rendering network appliances. www.artvps.com/catia

D-Cubed, recently acquired by UGS, announced the latest release of the 2D DCM, the variational constraint solver used in most of the world's major CAD systems. In addition to performance and reliability improvements, the new features include alignment control for tangency constraints, circle inversion, and better control of underdefined sketches using Transform Bias. www.d-cubed.co.uk
Here is a highly optimized software modification for a specific marketplace. Raindrop Geomagic has released a new version of its Geomagic eShell software that cuts sculpting time for customized hearing instrument shells by 33 percent or more. The software does this by binaural sculpting, or the ability to simultaneously sculpt both the left and right sides of a shell. Binaural sculpting automatically transfers commands from the primary shell to the second shell, and allows automatic modification by the user. www.geomagic.com.

ICEM Surf 4.4, from ICEM Ltd. Whose principal market sector is the worldwide automotive industry, introduces enhanced data exchange capabilities with other CAD/CAM systems and advanced new surface modeling facilities. In addition to support of a new database architecture from ICEM designed to provide enhanced design workflow facilities, ICEM Surf 4.4 introduces major new capabilities, such as feature recognition, the creation of feature libraries and the exchange of intelligent features among different ICEM Surf users. Further additions include enhanced bi-directional geometric data exchange, in particular with Catia V5 from IBM/Dassault, enhanced safety analysis tools, extended functionality in the visualization tools and additional surface modeling and model manipulation facilities. An enhanced Surface Checker facility in ICEM Surf 4.4 helps to ensure that the highest quality of surface data is maintained when files are exchanged between ICEM Surf and CAD/CAM systems from other vendors. www.icem.com

IMSI released Version 15 of it's popular consumer CAD product, DesignCAD. Both 3D MAX and Express versions are now shipping. With multiple new and improved features, such as image handling, integrated raster to vector converter, AutoCAD 2004 DWG/DXF support, units of measure, New 3D symbol content (over 700 3D symbols and 30 photo realistically rendered symbols included), new 2D and 3D drawings tools and over 25 additional new and improved features, DesignCAD version 15 continues to be a feature leader in the sub-$100 CAD product category. DesignCAD 3D Max version 15 has a suggested retail price of $99.95. The 2D only DesignCAD Express version 15 has a suggested retail price of $49.95. www.imsisoft.com

Autodesk's latest upgrade to Design Web Format (DWF) adds support for sharing 3D models, in addition to the detailed 2D and object information it already carries. This functionality will be available in an upcoming release of its free, downloadable viewer software, Autodesk DWF Viewer 5, expected to be available mid-July. DWF Viewer is compatible with all major Autodesk design products and non-Autodesk files can be viewed using the Autodesk DWF Writer print driver. With the addition of 3D capabilities, DWF Viewer 5 enables full visual and printing fidelity of the original Inventor models at a size often 1/25 the size of the original Inventor model. Autodesk DWF Viewer is available as both a standalone application or as an ActiveX control. Autodesk DWF Viewer ActiveX control also allows users to embed DWF files in other Windows Office applications like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. www.autodesk.com

Marketing: Autodesk continues to experience momentum in adoption and use of its products in Japan. As manufacturers in the region continue to adopt Autodesk Inventor Series as their preferred platform for product design, skilled use of Autodesk software is fast becoming a mandatory part of the curriculum at educational institutions training Japan's future industrial designers and engineers. The APAC region reported $68 million in revenues for the first quarter of FY05 up 34% year-on-year and 23% from Q4 with sales particularly strong in Japan.

think3 was named as having one of the 2004 Ten Best Web Support Sites winners by the Association of Support Professionals. The prestigious seventh-annual competition showcases excellence in online service and support. As one of two winners in the small company division, think3 joins eight open division winners, including Apple Computer, Cognos and Hewlett-Packard.

HighRES was awarded SolidWorks Certified Gold Product Status for its 3D reverse engineering software suite. HighRES links portable CMM's directly to CAD software.With over 100 software modules, the HighRES software line currently links portable CMMs, digitizers and laser trackers such as FARO, ROMER and MicroScribe directly to native CAD and eliminates the need to import non-native digitized data. www.reverse-it.com
Informative Graphics Corporation free ModelPress Reader supports STL, CAD exported VRML, and HSF (OpenHSF). ModelPress Reader opens these popular standard file formats as well as IGC’s own 3DF and ISF, generated by ModelPress Publisher. IGC President and CEO Gary Heath says that adding HSF to ModelPress opens it up for possible use by companies adopting the OpenHSF initiative technology. www.infograph.com.

Surfware has achieved SolidWorks Certified CAM Product status. SURFCAM’s associative solution reads native SolidWorks geometry and is associative to SolidWorks. When tool paths are affected by a design change in SolidWorks, SURFCAM automatically detects the change and identifies which tool paths must be regenerated. www.surfware.com

Product Sight recently received honors from editors at Cadalyst magazine by receiving its biannual, "Wow!" award. "The Product Sight Lifecycle Environment fits with the trend we noted this year toward knowledge capture and management--to reap the benefits of reusing work you've done already, you need to be able to find that work when you need it," said Sara Ferris, editor-in-chief, Cadalyst. "Product Sight simplifies file searching and document management by eliminating the need to tag and vault your existing documents. It can search directly on contents such as part numbers, text, and dimensions in files in more than 200 formats." Product Sight is the inventor of Search Powered PLM that delivers the first and only virtual repository for product lifecycle management that coordinates multiple sources of managed and un-managed product data. www.productsight.com

>>> What we think: We agree. We spent several days with product Sight over the past two months and believe that this software can help any engineering environment grasp the vast amount of product related data. All you have to do is tell FindView what directories to search and it does the rest. It can search data already vaulted (assuming FindView can "connect to the vault and search it - and it already connects to the most popular ones) and can search that 80% of the data outside the product development vault. Product Sight's Pipeline software can then manage the data. if required. What we like best about FindView is that is is practically "out of the box" implementable. Take a look at this software. We think you will be impressed as well.

ANSYS, Inc. announces partnership with National Science Foundation Center for e-Design to help revolutionize the way companies design products. The goal for both ANSYS and the Center for e-Design is to provide, through on-going collaboration, a best-of-class environment for true, virtual simulation and prototyping tools that enable engineers to check for design problems in a secure computer-based environment. A key objective of the Center for e-Design is to develop a "systems engineering approach to design, pro-activeness of analysis, virtual prototyping, lean product data management, multidisciplinary constraints and preference capturing, and instant access and visualization." www.e-designcenter.info .

Z Corporation announced that the 66.2% unit growth in 2003 for its line of 3D printers led all major players in the rapid prototyping (RP) industry, according to the findings of Wohlers Report 2004, an annual detailed analysis of the RP industry. According to the Wohlers Report, the 3D printer market segment in the RP industry grew from 656 units in 2002 to 1,032 units in 2003, an increase of 57.3 percent. Said Tom Clay, Z Corp. president, "We will provide 3D printing with the speed, cost and accessibility of 2D printing. Our rapid sales growth tells us that the market shares our vision of fast, low-cost 3D printing." www.zcorp.com

At the recent PTC/USER World Event in Nashville, Tennessee, PTC announced Blue Ridge Numerics as the company’s Software Partner of the Year. Blue Ridge Numerics was selected from more than 200 software and technology partners for providing innovative and high quality products and for its support of the PTC customer base. Blue Ridge Numerics develops virtual prototyping software applications around a single product vision called Upfront CFD. www.cfdesign.com

Competitive wins: Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design, one of France’s largest yacht architectural firms, has selected IBM and Dassault Systemes PLM systems for development of its new boat designs. "In order to design the wide and various range of boats we design, we are obliged to use a series of specialized, yet separate tools," said Olivier Racoupeau, associate chairman, Berret-Racoupeau. "With the industry solution approach of Dassault Systemes and IBM, we can optimize and integrate our design process. The integration of naval architectural design principles within CATIA V5 enables us to propose more complete and innovative project studies, with the added benefit of data continuity."

Axiom Systems, Inc., an IBM Business Partner, announced that The Lee Company, a pioneer in the development of miniature precision fluid control components, has implemented PLM from IBM to streamline the product development process between engineering, manufacturing, sales and quality assurance departments. Founded in 1948, The Lee Company is a small business with big aspirations. Looking to replace its aging technical document management tool with a more robust PLM environment, The Lee Company looked at several applications, but chose SMARTEAM from IBM for its seamless integration with multiple computer aided design tools and Microsoft Office, ease of implementation and out-of-the-box workflow management. The implementation was completed in less than four weeks with installation, configuration and training services provided by Axiom Systems. Over 30 engineers, sales and marketing employees have access to the SMARTEAM environment, which facilitates more collaboration and discussion on product design to meet customer requirements.

Japanese auto component manufacturer Kikuchi Co., Ltd. has reduced the cycle time required for designing jigs for its welding assembly lines by 22% only three months after deploying IBM and Dassault Systemes PLM Solutions. Kikuchi deployed CATIA V5, for 3D digital product definition, and SMARTEAM, for collaborative product data and lifecycle management, with the goal of developing jigs and fixtures more efficiently. Kikuchi also implemented CATIA V5’s Knowledgeware and digital mock-up (DMU) capabilities in order to improve the accuracy of robot off-line teaching, shorten modeling time, and enable more flexibility in design changes. Kikuchi uses CATIA V5’s design templates to automatically select recommended parts from a standard parts library, thereby reducing the parts procurement costs. Kikuchi plans to expand its PLM deployment to its production engineering domain with the goal of shortening design cycle time by up to 50 percent.

Intermec Technologies selected CoCreate's OneSpace.net and is scaling to deploy the collaboration software worldwide. Intermec is a leader in global supply chain solutions and in the development, manufacture, and integration of wired and wireless automated data collection, RFID, mobile computing systems, bar code printers, and label media. The company will deploy OneSpace.net in European and United States facilities. Immediate plans include using OneSpace.net to connect dispersed project teams of as many as 50 team members each. Intermec sought a better way to connect its widespread teams and communicate complex project information. OneSpace.net provided a common data repository for tracking and organizing project data, automatic change notification, and a specialized application-sharing tool.

Unipoint Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Unipoint) has shortened its product development process by more than 60% since implementing IBM and Dassault Systemes PLM Solutions in 2002. With PLM, Unipoint and its suppliers have increased use of standard parts and reduced design errors, thus improving overall production efficiency. A leading player in the automotive aftermarket for new starter motors, alternators, air-conditioning parts and wiper blades, Unipoint has customers in over 75 countries. Unipoint implemented IBM PLM Solutions with CATIA V5 for virtual product development and SMARTEAM for collaborative product data and lifecycle management.

Engineous and Boeing signed an intellectual property agreement for the development of a rapid air vehicle synthesis solution, which involves the exchange of Boeing intellectual property created within the Boeing Phantom Works organization. Through this agreement, Engineous has been designated as Boeing’s software systems integrator responsible for the commercialization of a rapid air vehicle synthesis solution called CAVSIM or Conceptual Air Vehicle Simulation. CAVSIM utilizes NURB (nonuniform rational Bsplines) technologies developed by Phantom Works, combined with Knowledge-Fusion a knowledge-based engineering tool from UGS/PLM Solutions and ACSYNT (AirCraft SYNThesis) from AVID LLC. These robust commercial technologies have been integrated together through Engineous’ iSIGHT product, producing a groundbreaking rapid prototyping solution for Boeing. The CAVSIM solution developed will generate interactive geometry and real-time updates within the Knowledge-Fusion environment, providing truly parametric airframe and component surface geometries. The integrated tools suite, linked via iSIGHT, will drive the geometries through a dynamic and intelligent feedback loop utilizing iSIGHT’s integration and optimization engine and its parallel computing capabilities to minimize exploration time and maximize fidelity of the design space.

Lam Research Corporation is the first client to select a new, Web-based product lifecycle management (PLM) service from IBM to help improve efficiency in product lifecycle processes. IBM plans to provide Lam with a comprehensive network-based solution for managing and archiving product design documents and processes, including knowledge management and collaboration features, in a security-enhanced environment. IBM's new on demand PLM service facilitates standardization of design practices and enables collaboration throughout the Lam value chain, helping increase product quality, improve market responsiveness and lower cost of production. Lam will tap into the service on an as-needed basis, paying only for the resources used. The service allows Lam to eliminate upfront capital expenditures and reduce deployment time, compared to a traditional implementation where Lam would install the infrastructure and manage the application in-house. IBM also intends to offer this service to the member companies of the CapOneSource Alliance, a not-for-profit alliance of providers and consumers of common corporate services. A combination of e-business Hosting Services and IBM Business Consulting Services provides a comprehensive PLM on demand service for manufacturers around the world. Specifically for Lam, this new IBM PLM service is being built on PTC Windchill's application software suite, including PDMLink and ProjectLink Version 7, and is expected to be utilized in late summer of 2004. IBM expects to offer a similar service for other PLM applications by year end.

PTC announces new strategic PLM and process improvement solutions deployment for Toyota's Powertrain. Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 is the powertrain development standard, incorporating dozens of improvements for powertrain development, which Toyota and PTC conceived and developed over the last 18 months. The deployment is a part of the multi-year, joint process redesign and development initiative PTC and Toyota signed in May 2003.

EAB Engineering of Norway standardized on SolidWorks to quickly develop dependable permanent installations and tools for extracting oil and gas from kilometers below the sea's surface. EAB's products, from permanent oil distribution units weighing several hundred tons to giant winches for hauling thousands of meters of lines, have the design precision that companies like British Petroleum, ExxonMobil, and Shell Oil rely on to efficiently harvest oil and gas from huge reserves in the North Sea and around the world. EAB, formerly Mjorud EAB, chose SolidWorks to strengthen its industry-wide reputation for inventiveness, efficiency, and quality. EAB standardized on SolidWorks after using Autodesk Inventor, Pro/ENGINEER, and Unigraphics.

Acumen Technical Associates, Inc. uses SolidWorks' 3D PartStream.NET service to improve the effectiveness of marketing its ACUFRAME brand of modular T-slotted aluminum framing, guarding, and convertible tooling products to global customers. Acumen's 3D PartStream.NET-powered online catalog allows users to download 3D models into their product designs to check fit and function. The service has saved the company as much as $500,000 in paper catalog printing costs while increasing non-New England customer queries by 600 percent in four months.

Energy Absorption Systems Inc. (EASI), a highway safety equipment maker, has adopted Autodesk Inventor Series for its complete design needs. The solution provides EASI with the ability to automatically update all drawings when a product element changes, the capacity to evaluate design performance in advance of production and a seamless transition path from 2D to 3D. EASI selected Autodesk Inventor Series so that design and documentation work is easily synchronized. Autodesk Inventor Series gives them the flexibility to create product development and engineering drawings within the same software environment. Using Autodesk Inventor Series, changes to a particular element automatically updates the 3D product model, so it remains accurate throughout the product lifecycle. Autodesk Inventor Series allows EASI to reuse legacy 2D designs created with these AutoCAD and even re-evaluate drawings to find opportunities for product enhancements.

DataCore Technology, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in implementing Engineering Data Management (EDM), and Cyco Software have been selected by Entergy Nuclear Northeast to implement Cyco AutoManager Meridian in each of their five nuclear power generation sites in New York, Massachusetts and Vermont. Chugach Electric Association selected Cyco AutoManager Meridian to store all infrastructure data and engineering drawings in one central, secured vault location. The solution was implemented by DataCore Technology. Chugach Electric Association, based in Anchorage, AK, is the largest electric utility in Alaska.

Fisher Valve Division, a member of the Emerson Process Management family, with employees in more than 80 countries, used CoCreate’s OneSpace.net to create their newest product - the FIELDVUE DVC2000 Digital Valve Controller, a microprocessor-based instrument designed for reliable performance and ease of use. To optimize collaboration among the DVC2000 team members spread across multiple continents, Fisher took advantage of OneSpace.net, an engineering collaboration toolset designed for product development teams and their contributors. It includes a secure project workspace, an integrated meeting center for web-based meetings, application sharing, instant messaging, decision and task tracking, and a 3D model explorer for evaluating product designs.

The PSA Peugeot Citroen Group will use MatrixOne Team Central, one of the Matrix10 Business Process applications, as a key collaboration solution for its global network of partners.

Malardalen University, one of Sweden's fastest-growing academic institutions and largest producers of engineers, has standardized on SolidWorks 3D mechanical design and COSMOSWorks analysis software. Beginning this fall, the 15,000-student university will use 500 licenses of SolidWorks Education Edition software, which includes COSMOSWorks, for instruction in all engineering disciplines and departments, replacing the complex computer-aided design (CAD) software the institution used for the past five years. Said Lars Bark, senior CAD instructor at the university and member of one of the largest engineering departments in Sweden. "We chose SolidWorks because it is easy to learn and use, especially compared to our previous software, which had been forcing students to spend too much time learning complex commands. SolidWorks can do any job Pro/E can, yet is easy to understand and intuitive. As they proved when they first tried the software, students can start working and designing right away in SolidWorks, even without faculty help. By working faster, they will graduate with more understanding of the design process and with more knowledge." COSMOSWorks will likewise support students in their studies of 3D design analysis.

Nissan Motor Corporation of Japan has recently placed a contract for the supply and implementation of ICEM Surf to be used Nissan Design’s surface data development on future vehicle development programs. ICEM software will enable Nissan Design to create a ‘digital pipeline’ through the development of the accurate 3D digital surface models required for the detailed design process.

In the 32nd edition of the America's Cup, BMW ORACLE Racing team will be striving to win the America’s Cup from the title holder Team Alinghi, the defending champions. BMW ORACLE Racing selected the CD adapco Group to provide CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software. The construction of an America’s Cup yacht only pursues one aim: to make the boat as fast as possible by any means. The key will be determining the design with the least drag within the design constraints of weight, structural strength and lift. Small design modifications can result in significant competitive gain. By using CFD the complete RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) equations can be solved, making it possible to build a computational model of the yacht and gain an accurate picture of flow physics to evaluate ways of improving its performance.

Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH has purchased 67 licenses of OneSpace Model Manager and will use the product as their enterprise-wide data management solution. In 2002 the company upgraded its development software to 3D CAD with the purchase of OneSpace Designer Modeling. Within six months, Grenzebach reduced its design phase by 30%. The company expects to surpass those results as they continue to standardize and re-use 3D parts and assemblies using Model Manager. "With a good data management process, we’ll save considerable amounts of time and money," said Christian Herfert, research and development manager at Grenzebach.

Little Tikes New Infinity Climber designed in SolidWorks wins the 2004 IDEA award for design excellence. "Winning the IDEA award is a significant achievement given the caliber of the submissions," said Brian Jenkins, vice president of new product development at Little Tikes Commercial. "But we wouldn't have been able to draw or define the Infinity without SolidWorks software because of the complex geometry, and therefore we probably wouldn't have even pursued the concept. SolidWorks allowed us to try several different possibilities before we defined the right formula. It then let us quickly create dozens of configurations used in different climbers." Jenkins attributes his designers' ability to easily explore several design options to SolidWorks' ease of use. Its intuitive user interface lets users try different possibilities faster and with fewer errors than other computer-aided design (CAD) products. Little Tikes Commercial also chose SolidWorks for its short learning curve and compatibility with 2D AutoCAD software.

Red Cedar Technology licensed CEI's EnSight data readers to further speed design optimization in its HEEDS software. HEEDS (Hierarchical Evolutionary Engineering Design System) allows engineers to automatically and concurrently explore hundreds of design parameters and their relationships in product and process design scenarios. CEI's EnSight visualization software provides data readers for the world's leading CAE programs. EnSight readers will allow HEEDS users to separate native output files from CAE codes and then extract the data needed to optimize a particular design.

Financials: MatrixOne plans to acquire Synchronicity Software, Inc., for consideration valued at approximately $18 million in stock and cash. The acquisition, which is subject to various closing conditions, is expected to be completed in early August 2004. Synchronicity is a leading provider in electronic design management, team collaboration and intellectual property (IP) reuse solutions for the global electronics industry. Synchronicity has more than 120 electronics industry customers, including 13 of the top 15 semiconductor companies.

Accel-KKR, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’) and Alias management, completed the acquisition of Alias from SGI for $57.5 million US. Accel-KKR is a technology-focused private equity firm and Teachers’ is one of Canada's largest pension plans with net assets of more than $75 billion CDN. Alias is the leading provider of 3D graphics technology and services for the film, video games, web, interactive media, automotive, industrial design, education and visualization markets.

RAND Worldwide concluded the previously announced new joint venture with Dassault Systemes. creating RAND North America, Inc., a business focused on increasing sales of Dassault Systemes Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software in North America. RAND Worldwide has transferred its North American PLM software sales business unit to RAND North America, a new U.S. company, 60 percent owned by Dassault Systemes and 40 percent owned by RAND Worldwide. The venture will be headed up by CEO, Brian Semkiw, who has stepped down as chief executive of RAND Worldwide but remains on the Company's Board of Directors. RAND North America entered into an agreement with RAND Worldwide whereby all RAND North America training, maintenance, support (hotline), and consulting services will be sub-contracted to RAND Worldwide for a three-year period. RAND North America will also sell RAND Worldwide's range of integration services and proprietary software.

RAND Worldwide announced the acquisition of the French company, RGB Technologies. The acquisition expands RAND Worldwide’s product and services offering in the Northeastern region of France, which is dominated by the automotive customer sector. In addition to strengthening the Company’s PLM services offering, further synergies arise from the fact that RGB is most widely recognized for its expertise in CATIA V4 maintenance under Unix, as well as for its ability to implement ENOVIA PLM solutions.

MSC.Software will lower its second-quarter earnings estimate because of legal fees and other associated costs connected to an ongoing independent review by outside counsel. These fees are expected to approach $2 million, $1 million more than expected. June 17 marked the end of the term in which certain MSC.Nastran customers with paid-up licenses in the U.S. could change their agreement with MSC.Software and obtain a refund of their outstanding MSC.Nastran license fees, if the customer switched to UGS, the new Nastran provider. During the 12-month term, two customers, representing three separate contracts, exercised their option to obtain refunds, totaling about $1.5 million.

On the move: People: Joseph M. O'Donnell, to the PTC Board of Directors. O'Donnell is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Artesyn Technologies.

Kriss W. Bush, CPA, to CFO, RAND Worldwide, formerly a senior advisor to the Canadian government International Tax Advisory Committee of CCRA.

Carl Bass, to chief operating officer (COO), Autodesk, formerly senior executive vice president of the Autodesk Design Solutions Group (DSG).

Malcolm Davies, to Chief Operating Officer, Gehry Technologies, formerly in executive positions in corporate management and sales/marketing at a variety of CAD industry firms, including Rebis, CADKEY, and Nemetschek USA. Gehry Technologies is a spin-off jointly created and funded by the firm of famed architect Frank O. Gehry and Dassault Systemes.

Partnering: OPEN MIND Technologies will now be offering its customers the NCSIMUL machining simulation package as an add-on for its hyperMILL CAM software. The agreement includes worldwide distribution of NCSIMUL by OPEN MIND Technologies sales network.

Mentor Graphics Corporation joined the Spatial CAA V5 Adopter Program to facilitate bi-directional data exchange between HSD's electrical design software and Dassault Systemes' CATIA V5 mechanical CAD (MCAD) solution.

CGTech and Makino joined forces to build virtual machine models for simulation using VERICUT software.

Etrage LLC joined the PTC Partner Advantage Program, as a silver level software partner.

PARTsolutions signed an agreement to join the PTC Partner Advantage Program as a Gold Level Partner and announces the immediate availability of the PARTsolutions Enterprise intelligent parts management solution for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0.

Surfware, Inc. formed a strategic agreement where MachineWorks verification will be fully integrated within the SURFCAM manufacturing product line.

Dassault Systemes will leverage Lattice Technology's XVL solutions and expertise to create a universal 3D XML (Extensible Markup Language) open format for Product Lifecycle Management.

IronCAD 7 includes support for the OpenHSF file format. Any HSF-enabled application can read, view and navigate native IronCAD model and assembly files.

Geometric Software Solutions has become a Gold Tier Member of PTC's Partner Advantage Program; Geometric will support eDrawings for Pro/ENGINEER on the latest versions of PTC's products.

SolidProfessor becomes a solution partner of SolidWorks to provide multimedia instruction for both novice and experienced users of SolidWorks .

PlassoTech's 3G.author software uses Spatial's Interoperability solutions.

Nuovamacut Automazione Spa will represent 3DquickPress, a SolidWorks Solution for the design automation of progressive dies in metal industries to their Italian customer base.

Blue Ridge Numerics received formal notification today that its recently released CFdesign v7.0 fluid flow and thermal simulation software satisfies all requirements of the Solid Edge Certified Select Partner Solution Program. This important designation assures Solid Edge customers CFdesign v7.0 provides the highest level integrated solution. CFdesign v7.0 includes the industry-first Motion Module which puts native Solid Edge v15 components and assemblies in motion, showing the interaction and effects between the physical device and its fluids environment. The simulation is associative with Solid Edge v15 throughout the design optimization process.

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