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What we think>> We had a chance to speak with Kross after the announcement. While Autodesk Vault remains the primary product for engineering work-in-process, Productstream is the anticipated solution for release management, change management, and BOM management. Three versions are offered: Productstream Creator costs $1800 plus a subscription fee, Productstream Reviewer costs $500 plus, and Productstream Server. Of course this should be very useful for Inventor customers, but is also expected to be used by AutoCAD customers for managing their files as well. You might ask about Productstream 1, and so did we. It turns out that in 2004, Autodesk offered a very limited release to about 100 customers to wring out the product. Their input was used the develop the general release for this version 2. As in other PLM offerings, managing and controlling this type data is quite complex, primarily because of the need to control all relevant product data in a central repository. Thus Autodesk, to date, has only certified 10 dealers worldwide for Productstream 2. Potential users might also want to consider a highly flexible offering like Product Sight, which allows data to reside "outside the can."

What we think>> Available this month, this offers customers the ability to install a highly competitive PLM environment without any of the IT complexities. We remain particularly excited about ProjectLink, a highly efficient way to manage and control development projects of all sorts. Easy to get started with and train on ProjectLink is especially useful. The on demand version at $100 per user per month can be somewhat pricey for large numbers of users, but may easily pay for itself in productivity and project tracking. PTC also discounts for quantities. Windchill on demand will prove to be most effective for Pro/ENGINER customers. Competitors of a general nature include Arena Solutions and CoCreate, and to a more limited extent, Autodesk's Streamline.

What we think>> What is important in this announcement is the close working relationship between the two companies. Substantial modifications will need to be made between the myriad DS PLM products and many of the Microsoft platform software to allow the required interchange of data necessary to present PLM data transparently to users.

As we have said in the past, an inhibitor to the wide expansion of PLM is its difficulty of use. We could not agree more with the comment that PLM use is limited to engineering and closely related functions. New technologies are needed to gather and present the data to less technical users, perhaps similar to the way data mining allows corporate users to make sense of highly complex inter-related data.

We applaud the "reach" of this announcement. We believe that this is just what is needed to move PLM into the mainstream, much like has been done with MCAD by products like SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, and Solid Edge.

Chris Kelley, vice president of marketing for PLM Open noted that UGS has a strong relationship with Microsoft, being one of 30 Microsoft global ISV's, and has been rolling out software specially designed for the Microsoft platform for some time. He went on to point out their 25 Oct announcement of a full PLM solution built on the Microsoft platform - noting especially Teamcenter support for SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3 Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition on Windows Server 2003. Kelley pointed out that Dassault appears to be able to influence the Microsoft roadmap (and vice versa) something that is difficult today with an ISV partnership. Nevertheless UGS seems encouraged to have their direction verified by Microsoft and with their leading position in defining XML for PLM, expects work closely in defining the XML standard for 3D.

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New products: Delcam's US patented, high-speed machining technique, race line machining, available in the company's PowerMILL CAM software, gives much smoother toolpaths, especially when roughing mould cores with significant upstands in their design. High-speed cutters can be used at their optimum feed rates for a much larger percentage of the job because the elimination of many sudden changes of direction reduces the rapid changes in loadings that can lead to cutter breakages and damage to critical machine tool components, including the spindle. In many cases, the overall length of the toolpaths will also be significantly reduced, with reductions in machining times and cutter wear. Race Line Machining contributed to an overall reduction in machining times of more than 50% at Azaleia, the largest footwear manufacturer in Latin America. www.delcam.com

CAD Potential, Inc. ("Cadpo") announced the launch of its i.get.it e-learning solution for COSMOSWorks. i.get.it, making COSMOSWorks training available to anyone, anywhere. Online training for COSMOSWorks Designer is available now, with COSMOSWorks Professional, COSMOSMotion, and COSMOSFloWorks to follow in 2005. www.cadpo.com

InnovMetric Software released PolyWorks/IMView, a free software that enables the visualization of point-cloud-based inspection projects and polygonal models obtained with PolyWorks. PolyWorks/IMView allows users to: visualize measurement results in 3D by rotating color-mapped CAD models, navigate easily through inspection results, and obtain basic interactive measurements, such as angles, distances, radii, and cross-sections. This free viewer is currently available on InnovMetric's new website at www.innovmetric.com.

SolidWorks Corporation announced a price-quoting service to help its customers more efficiently do business with fellow users of SolidWorks 3D mechanical design software. Powered by MfgQuote, the new service enables purchasing agents to automatically send requests for quotations (RFQs) to suppliers they discover on the SolidWorks Manufacturing Network, a free business to-business online directory for design and manufacturing services. Suppliers are provided with a quote wizard to respond to the RFQs they receive via the Network. They use other MfgQuote tools to perform real-time due diligence on potential clients, giving them access to reliable new leads. www.solidworks.com

Surfware, Inc., developer of SURFCAM CAD/CAM Systems, collaborated with FARO Technologies to provide cutting edge solutions for CA). One of many new features in its latest service pack, SURFCAM now supports USB FaroARM products. The FaroARM interface for SURFCAM allows use of any FARO 6-Axis or 7-Axis portable digitizer as an auxiliary pointing device to input 3D coordinate data into an active SURFCAM session. It also allows SURFCAM users to freely intermix digitized input with all other input modes. This facilitates model creation, tool path generation, and material removal simulation in a single environment, continuously displaying the FaroARM probe tip for graphical verification. www.surfware.com

UGS launched the JT2Go solution, collaboration rich, no-cost 3D viewing products which will enable companies to share detailed 3D product and manufacturing data globally using the lightweight JT format. The new offerings include JT2Go viewing technology and JT plug-ins for Microsoft Office to provide rich collaboration using standard desktop applications. The Microsoft Office plug-ins enable a JT file to be easily embedded and viewed in any Microsoft Office document. The JT2Go viewer enables product development teams and supply chains to review drawings; view and interrogate 3D product information and collaborate in the context of complete bill of materials using PLM XML. These capabilities enable key PLM processes such as engineering design reviews, request for quotes, package reviews and manufacturing tooling reviews. www.jtopen.com or www.jt2go.ugs.com.

CNC Software released Mastercam Art, bringing brings its power and experience to artistic relief design and cutting. Mastercam Art allows you to bring 2D sketches, clip art, photos, and CAD files to life by crafting them on-screen and cutting them with easy, specialized toolpaths, eliminating many of the typical problems of creating machinable artwork. Input ranging from a scanned pencil drawing to a fully developed CAD model, can be quickly "sculpted" on-screen in 3D until it looks the way you want it. A suite of software tools allows for easy and quick changes, or reverting to a previous design. Once you have modeled your project, Mastercam Art has a wide variety of fast cutting techniques to ensure the part comes off the machine exactly as imagined. Also, Mastercam's latest release introduces significant new capabilities for multiaxis users, helping ensure safer and more accurate 5-axis machining. Some new features of the release include: shank and holder collision detection, approach/retract part collision checking, new undercut programming, setting negative stock for flat end mills, and expanded translators, including IGES, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Solid Edge, and Pro/E. www.mastercam.com

Upgrades: Kubotek USA announced KeyCreator 4.0, the evolution of CADKEY. The major enhancements to KeyCreator 4.0 are focused on productivity, numerical control (NC) and interoperability. This new version of the software is a step toward the delivery of the Kubotek M3 vision (Measure, Model and Machine). In an M3 manufacturing environment, designers can capture real-world data by scanning a physical item, then change the item (customize, iterate, warp or distort it) and quickly produce the item, either prototyping to determine manufacturability or to quickly produce a finished product. The M3 vision is based on the premise that CAD is immature, being hard to use, based on proprietary architectures and poorly integrated with complementary solutions. Today's design and engineering tools impose limits on creativity and force designers to follow a rigidly defined process - one that is counterintuitive to the creative process. "While the M3 vision may seem counterintuitive to the casual observer, it is based on the real world experiences of several of Kubotek Corporation's global customers," said Robert Bean, COO, Kubotek USA. "Overseas we're starting to see the birth of 'Super Shops' where they are able to quickly design and manufacture highly stylized, organically shaped products, which in some cases, are completely customized. Our customers have proven that it is possible to do this quickly and cost-effectively." www.kubotekusa.com

What we think>> We had a chance to speak with Bob Bean and Naotake Kakashita, President Kubotek USA about where the company. Both felt that since the acquisition of CADKEY, the company had a good first year. There are now about 6,000 customers on maintenance, 70% of which are in the USA. Revenue was up last year and they are investing heavily in development. Their M3 concept, which we found intriguing, focused primarily on consumer products, the idea being to start with digitizing input from existing physical models, all the way through machining of the model, while allowing easy conversion surface modeling and manipulation of that data. The aim is to focus on the industrial design aspects of the product. CADKEY was known for its ability to easily read geometry from many sources. Of course, the interior of electronic items still need to be designed and users need to evaluate whether a feature based system or a non-history based system proves to be more productive for this aspect of the design. If your focus is on rapid ID from existing models, then KeyCreator might be right for your applications. KeyCreator 4 design and modeling costs $3,000 USD; KeyCreator 4 plus trace costs $6,000 USD.

The Process, Power & Marine division of Intergraph and Det Norske Veritas Software agreed to realign sales and distribution of the IntelliShip software for the commercial shipbuilding and offshore oil and gas markets. The agreement will further expand the value of IntelliShip in early design and asset lifecycle management to shipyards and ship owners. IntelliShip is a highly-advanced marine engineering, modeling and lifecycle information management environment. www.intergraph.com

Spatial Corp. announced the R14 release of the Spatial 3D Modeling and Data Interoperability product lines, which focuses on addressing customer interoperability issues throughout the manufacturing process. New and enhanced functionality in ACIS R14 is targeted to support downstream applications that rely on imported CAD data in their workflow and includes: a new healing function, an improved remove faces function, and improvement in the detection and repair of bad geometry. The InterOp R14 release supports the latest versions of the leading CAD systems as well as OpenHSF support for the CATIA V5 Reader, Enhanced support for assemblies, and new features targeted at manufacturing applications. www.spatial.com

Capvidia released FormatWorks 2005 add-in to SolidWorks, provides new functions that further automate the repair and healing process of translated data. Specifically designed for data import and repair of models in the SolidWorks environment, FormatWorks repair can be performed on imported 3D models or models created in SolidWorks. All kinds of geometrical and topological problems preventing SolidWorks from forming of a valid solid can be easily resolved with help of FormatWorks. www.capvidia.com

Bluebeam Software launched Bluebeam Pushbutton Plus for SolidWorks, providing SolidWorks users with Batch PDF conversion from SolidWorks, PDF booklet creation using the Bluebeam Stapler tool, conversion to seven different file formats, automatic PDF bookmarking, integrated file property management, customized text stamping and watermarking, and secure PDF creation. Bluebeam Pushbutton Plus' new suite of security features allow SolidWorks users to password-protect their sensitive PDF drawings. Users can also restrict the ability to copy from, annotate or print a PDF file created using Bluebeam PDF technology. www.bluebeam.com

Informative Graphics Corporation's latest release of the Brava! Enterprise content visualization server augments intranet and extranet deployments where content is to be securely accessed, shared and annotated in a collaborative workflow. It's thin-client software can view, markup and print a variety of document, image and CAD drawings using Internet Explorer. www.infograph.com

CoCreate released Designer Modeling 2005 combining OneSpace Designer CAD and data management software. Designer Modeling 2005 includes a family of products for rapid 3D modeling, 2D drafting and analysis and team-focused data management. Designer Modeling 2005 uses dynamic modeling technology, eliminating the sequenced steps that constrain designs, giving engineers the flexibility to adapt and respond to evolving product development as well as take the initiative to execute new ideas. It includes advances in surfacing and ergonomic shaping, predictive skinning from loosely defined surface boundaries, advanced surfacing techniques, and streamlined surfacing setup and modification. A new Advanced Design module combines several previous modules into one cost-effective solution and adds a new capability for realistic motion simulation. Everyone working across a shared assembly structure is kept informed in real-time of part changes that could affect their designs. For a free evaluation CD of Designer Modeling 2005, visit http://www.cocreate.com/prod_eval.cfm.

ESI Group announced Visual-Crash for PAM, the first of ESI Group's new open integrated environment available now for PAM-CRASH. ESI Group leveraged the acquisition of EASi by integrating the company's renowned technology into its virtual engineering solution, known as the Virtual Try-Out Space. This strategy paves the way to a unique open environment where competitive simulation software can be coupled with ESI Group's state-of-the-art solvers. First delivered for PAM-CRASH users, this open environment allows users to address any crash and safety related simulations as it effectively replaces the most competitive environment solutions. www.esi-group.com

Geomagic Studio 7, scheduled for release in January 2005, features major advances in registration and large-dataset handling. This latest version enables faster and easier registration. A new fitting algorithm automatically determines when convergence to a final alignment has occurred and new code analyzes scan overlap regions and creates groups of objects that can be registered in a hierarchical fashion. www.geomagic.com

GEOMATE's latest release of ToleranceCalc wizard allows users to easily extract 1D and 2D linear tolerance vectors from any DXF compliant CAD application, at any stage of the design process, and then receive worst-case stack-up analysis results in minutes. Additionally, users can apply standard Monte Carlo analysis to obtain sigma-quality and reject rate information using just a few mouse-clicks. ToleranceCalc wizard does not require any specialized knowledge of dimensional engineering and can be used by design and quality engineers as well as designers the very first day. The price is a remarkable low $95. www.inventbetter.com/tolerancecalc.html

GibbsCAM 2004+ began shipping to customers last month. Enhanced process simulation capabilities have been added to GibbsCAM providing dynamic view orientation, the ability to export STL model of work-in-process stock for reuse, and comparison between in-process stock and finished part. This release also officially introduces the new GibbsCAM TMS (Tombstone Management System) module which improves the efficiency of programming tombstone fixtured parts. In conjunction with TMS, a new Machine Simulation option is also offered to allow program motions to be validated against machine tool models to identify potential problems reducing the need for dry-runs on the shop floor. www.GibbsCAM.com

INUS Tech announced rapidformXO, Verifier. INUS Technology's rapidformXO software has received the highest class of accuracy certification available from the German PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt). rapidformXO is the world's first full-featured 3D scanning software to receive class 1 certification from the PTB among 3D scan data (dense point cloud handling software). Using newly enhanced algorithms for geometry calculations, rapidformXO-verifier provided fitting results accurate to less than 0.1 micrometers in length features and 0.1 arcseconds (1/36,000 degree) in angular features for a variety of theoretical geometries created by the PTB for this test. rapidformXO-builder, verifier, & exchange are scheduled for concurrent release in March 2005. www.rapidform.com

Alias announced that Alias StudioTools 12, Alias ImageStudio 2 and PortfolioWall 2 software products are shipping. Alias StudioTools 12 includes DesignStudio, Studio, AutoStudio and SurfaceStudio, delivers a full digital design workflow in a single package, from 2D sketching to production modeling. Alias StudioTools 12 software builds on its artist-centric tools to support creativity and flexibility, producing a higher quality end result, whether that result is a sketch, concept model, rendering, animation or production-ready surface. Alias ImageStudio 2 offers rendering software that can create high quality rendered imagery from 3D models, allowing designers to spend less time preparing renderings of 3D models and more time designing and modeling. Alias PortfolioWall 2's visual collaboration software adds a number of overall productivity enhancements. StudioViewer 12 is included with AutoStudio 12 software for easy model evaluation. Alias StudioTools 12 pricing starts at US$7,500, Alias ImageStudio 2 starts at US$1,499 and PortfolioWall 2 starts at US$3,000. www.alias.com

Zuken adds to its free PCB design suite, CADSTAR Express. CADSTAR Express with P.R.Editor XR 2000 is a fully functional version of CADSTAR 7.0 with a limit of 50 library components and 300 pins. Zuken's web site has samples of CADSTAR Exchange, an on-line library containing over 100,000 components. Aimed at design engineers, board designers, students and hobbyists, CADSTAR Express comes with a comprehensive, interactive do-it-yourself manual that guides users through the design process, enabling full evaluation of the tool suite. www.zuken.com

Rev 5.1 of Pimento, from LMS, introduces a sound and vibration analyzer solution that breaks new ground in modal and acoustic testing. Pimento features a new 4 and 8 channel step-in hardware configuration, combined with a comprehensive range of applications, revolutionary LMS PolyMAX modal parameter estimations and a set of pre-configured ISO and ANSI testing procedures. Also brand-new are Pimento's intuitive 3-click procedure operation and 5-minute procedure definition features, which save significant testing, analysis and reporting time. www.lmspimento.com

Moldflow Corporation will resell a customized version of Elysium's CAD Doctor geometry translation, repair and simplification product. Designed specifically for the needs of the plastics injection molding industry, The Moldflow CAD Doctor enables the interactive diagnostic analysis of 3D CAD data with tools for generating optimized models for predictive analysis applications such as the Moldflow Plastics Advisers (MPA) and Moldflow Plastics Insight (MPI). www.elysiuminc.com or www.moldflow.com.

QuadriSpace's Document3D latest release directly creates printed manuals from SolidWorks files. Printed, interactive and web documents can be published from the same source. This release provides improved print capabilities, an easier to use interface for creating exploded views and documenting procedures, and intelligent explode tools. www.document3d.com

EdgeCAM Version 9 introduced EdgeCAM Solid Machinist for CATIA V5, allowing the user to load native part and assembly files. EdgeCAM Solid Machinist for ACIS, allows the user to directly load native .sat and .sab files. This adds to the ability to load native Autodesk Inventor, Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks, and Solid Edge files. EdgeCAM Solid Machinist seamlessly integrates CAM associatively to the native CAD model. Using Automatic Feature Recognition, EdgeCAM Solid Machinist interrogates the model to find machinable features. No matter how complex the part, holes, 2D and 3D contour pocket and boss features can be found and information extracted with a single mouse click. The user also has the ability to find single, nested or both types of pockets. The information is used with EdgeCAM Tool Selector to select the optimal tools from the available toolstore to machine the features using EdgeCAM's predesigned cutting strategies. www.pathtrace.com

ANSYS announced ANSYS 9.0, the first software release featuring electromagnetic, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and mesh creation technologies integrated within the ANSYS Workbench product development environment. ANSYS 9.0 thus provides a more productive and collaborative engineering tool for simulation-driven, integrated product development. Workbench's allows companies to be more productive by eliminating manual file transfer, result translation and reanalysis, saving time and money. www.ansys.com

Marketing: IBM and Dassault Systemes announced their support for a new Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Center of Excellence at Purdue University. The Center will provide PLM education and research, develop PLM training materials and house a demonstration facility. The university's PLM program will concentrate on complex product development and lifecycle management issues, such as design optimization in a grid environment, secure supply chain collaboration, knowledge-based systems for dynamic maintenance, structural diagnostics and prognostics, and product-health management.

Alibre Inc. announced an offer for users of AutoCAD LT to upgrade to Alibre Design 8.0. Under this program, AutoCAD LT users may purchase Alibre Design for US$495 and Alibre Design Professional 8.0 for US$795. Over five hours of video-based training on CD-ROM is also included. The offer runs through Dec. 31, 2004, requires proof of purchase of AutoCAD LT 2000i or later, and is available in North America only. More information and an online product tour are available at www.alibre.com.

Lattice3D, announced that attendees of the Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium selected it as the winner of the Great Ideas Competition 2004. The competition was held in Houston October 25, 2004 and was organized by SAE International. Lattice3D presented its award-winning XVL-based technologies, currently used by major automotive, manufacturing and aerospace companies worldwide. The Lattice3D technology allows 3D data to be taken directly from engineering and converted and compressed into an XVL file. The XVL files can be used to produce 3D user manuals, 3D documentation, 3D parts lists, 3D assembly instructions, 3D maintenance manuals and more in almost any format including Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF and Internet formats such as HTML. www.lattice3D.com

Proficiency won one of INDUSTRYWEEK's 12th annual Technology and Innovations Program as one of the Technologies of the Year for 2004. Proficiency's Collaboration Gateway enables the exchange of design information and best practices using the Collaboration Gateway's Universal Product Representation (UPR) - a representation of mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD) intelligence including features, constraints, dimensions, histories, assemblies, metadata, and other information. www.industryweek.com

AVEVA was presented with a 'Plaque of Appreciation' in recognition of the successful completion of the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) CAD Unification project and for providing exceptional services over the last three years. DSME's Cad Unification Project has led to a full implementation of the entire Tribon M3 system, a leading technology system for the shipbuilding industry. All new commercial projects and several offshore projects are now being designed completely in Tribon M3 for both hull and outfitting. www.aveva.com

PTC, with more than 3,000 successful electronics and high tech customers, strengthened its electronics and high tech offerings in response to trends that increasingly affect customers in this industry: downward pressure on prices, new requirements for environmental compliance, and the globalization of product development and manufacturing. InterComm Deaconates allows a company to compare and identify changes in printed circuit board (PCB) designs early in the product development process. PTC allows companies to maintain audit trails and meet environmental certification. PTC has integrated InterComm into Windchill 7.0 to provide direct integration with ECAD systems including Cadence Design Systems and Mentor Graphics for collaboration with internal and external teams on detailed PCB design data while protecting intellectual property. www.ptc.com

Competitive wins: Elettronica, a leading manufacturer of Electronic Defense equipment and systems headquartered in Rome, Italy, has successfully completed implementation of MatrixOne's PLM platform. Elettronica chose the MatrixOne PLM platform primarily for its ability to serve as a single product information environment for Elettronica's highly customized and user-specific application frameworks. A secondary benefit realized from the MatrixOne solution arises from the simplicity of information retrieval, allowing for streamlined search and retrieval of product information. www.matrixone.com

The Babcock & Wilcox Company uses the RuleStream solution to accelerate the sale and design of the company's specialized wet desulfurization systems - often referred to as scrubbers. RuleStream's solution allows B&W to accelerate its engineered-to-order wet scrubber program, streamlining the Request for Proposal (RFP) and design processes associated with this highly customized product. Wet scrubbers are quickly becoming a necessity for utility companies to reduce power plant sulfur dioxide emissions. Armstrong Pumps Inc. will implement RuleStream's RPM (rules-driven product management) solution to efficiently scale its product development processes. Armstrong will focus its initial RuleStream implementation on extending the functionality of its ACE Online product selection and configuration system by automating the configuration of 3D components and assemblies, developing a highly scalable platform for automating multiple product lines, and improving data integration across the multiple software systems currently in use for streamlining the product development process. Engineering deliverables that once took hours could soon be generated in minutes using the new system. Armstrong also expects increased accuracy and speed in responding to RFQs and order fulfillment requests. www.rulestream.com

SARGENT Manufacturing, a leader in locks, standardized on SolidWorks 3D and reduced design change time by 15 percent by completing complex design steps faster, by automating engineering changes throughout the design, and by using COSMOSXpress design validation to ensure design accuracy before manufacturing begins. Tempus Computers, Ltd. uses SolidWorks and SolidWorks' short learning curve allows Tempus' engineers to quickly begin designing new products, including a new line of equipment to hold Panasonic's Toughbook series of mobile computers. Nutek Singapore, a leading manufacturer for the electronics industry, standardized on SolidWorks to deliver customized, automated production systems that meet demanding customer specifications within tight deadlines. Lead time for this entire process used to take four weeks. With SolidWorks software, Nutek has reduced its design time for new products by 30 percent and for minor customizations on existing products by up to 80 percent. Superior Die Set uses the SolidWorks 3D PartStream.NET service to market its products to customers around the world via an interactive online storefront. Schilling Robotics, LLC, uses SolidWorks to design critical parts of an "exoskeleton" that will someday help soldiers, firefighters, rescue workers, and others carry back-breaking burdens without feeling the weight. The Davis, Calif.-based manufacturer is designing the hip/thigh/knee assembly for the second-generation Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX). The BLEEX consists of a backpack-like frame and mechanical braces connected to the user's feet, legs, and hips. Human users wearing the BLEEX can carry a 70-pound backpack yet feel as though they are carrying five pounds. www.schilling.com or www.solidworks.com

Avio, one of the largest Italian aerospace companies and a world leader in mechanical transmissions, bought MSC.Software's MSC.MasterKey License System. Under the MSC.MasterKey License System, Avio will expand their use of MSC.Software's SimOffice products by integrating new tools into their product development process. Instead of individual software licenses, a pool of tokens is utilized in which a token value is associated with every VPD solution. From the token pool, over 180 VPD solutions may be accessed. www.mscsoftware.com

Aperto Networks and Mobile Digital Media (MDM) chose Arena's on-demand service over other PLM solutions in the marketplace. Both companies selected Arena after extensive evaluation of available solutions on the market. "Arena is the only provider with proven on-demand expertise, a true web-native solution and an extensive track record of customer satisfaction," said Allen Adolph, vice president of operations at Aperto Networks, a leading WiMAX-class broadband wireless access systems provider. "Aperto made a clear determination that on-demand PLM had tremendous advantages in terms of speed of deployment, ease-of-use, and cost and complexity of ownership. I've implemented several PLM solutions in my career and found, following this latest round of reviews, that Arena clearly provides the best solution." Aperto Networks deployed Arena Solutions in six weeks, two-thirds of which consisted of a significant data migration and cleansing project and Oracle integration. User acceptance has been exceptional, with a tripling of the initial user base within one month of implementation. www.arenasolutions.com

Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, purchased COSMOSDesignSTAR for conducting analyses of all its camera products. "We organized a project team to select the best design and computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools for Nikon," said Mr. Shunsuke Ueno, manager of the Development Management Department of Imaging for Nikon. "The team was made up of camera designers and experts in CAE. They used COSMOSDesignSTAR software and compared it to several other tools for six months, and based on the testing results, Nikon chose it as the best application because of its ease-of-use, powerful capabilities (especially nonlinear analysis), and its cost and performance ratio." Nikon Corporation is particularly interested in the software's nonlinear analysis capabilities because many of its analyses focus on gaps and large displacements. In use in some 2,000 companies, COSMOSDesignSTAR is fully associative with Autodesk Inventor, Solid Edge, and SolidWorks software, and supports CATIA V5 through Rev. 13, and can also work with designs from other popular CAD programs via STEP and IGES transfer. www.cosmosm.com

Northrop Grumman selected IBM and Dassault Systemes Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions and services to design, build and manage the United States Navy's advanced, 21st-century surface combatant program, the DD(X). Northrop Grumman, leading a development consortium of six companies and more than one hundred suppliers, will use CATIA V5 and ENOVIA Life Cycle Applications (LCA), for product data and lifecycle management and decision support; and is considering using DELMIA for digital factory and manufacturing processes development, and operations support. Northrop Grumman and its partners will deploy nearly 600 licenses of CATIA V5 and ENOVIA. The DD(X) is the centerpiece of the US Navy's technological transformation and is the cornerstone program for a new family of surface combatants to be designed and built over the next 25 years. The US Navy plans to develop the DD(X) fleet over the next four years, with detailed design starting in 2005 and with the lead ship entering service in 2011. IBM Global Services will provide project management, implementation, and integration services, and implementation of product design best practices based on IBM and Dassault Systemes' shipbuilding industry expertise and tools. www.ibm.com/solutions/plm

Leading printer manufacturers around the world use CoCreate's OneSpace Designer Modeling as the tool of choice for fast and flexible 3D CAD design. Printer manufacturers such as Brother, Canon, Epson, Fuji Xerox Printing Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Mutoh, Oce, and Oki Data rely on Designer Modeling to support 3D CAD development. History-based modeling tools constrain designs and make changes difficult, especially under the time pressures of releasing a design to manufacturing. Throughout the design cycle, team members also need the freedom to hand off their work to other contributors to continue or complete the design. Designer Modeling offers the alternative approach that has popularized it across printer manufacturers and other industries that face time-to-market pressures: dynamic modeling, or history-free modeling, lets designers quickly make changes and pass designs to other team members. Teams using Designer Modeling can support frequent or late-stage design changes as well as true team design where engineers work on each other's complex models. OneSpace Designer Modeling is priced at $2,780 for an annual subscription which includes updates and support. Alternatively, it can be purchased as a perpetual license. www.cocreate.com

superDimension Ltd., a medical equipment manufacturer that specializes in minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of lung disease via CT-guided bronchoscopy, has developed and received US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its superDimension/Bronchus system using their Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) technology. IBM PLM Solutions, with SMARTEAM for collaborative product data and lifecycle management developed by Dassault Systemes, have enabled superDimension to develop and deliver a real-time minimally invasive lung navigation system an estimated 30% faster than originally planned. "In addition to data management, SMARTEAM was also used to create a complex workflow for engineering change orders and change requests in the development of the Bronchus System," said Denis Senpere, vice president PLM Europe, Dassault Systemes. "Using SMARTEAM for the entire process, changes are quicker, more accurate, paperless, and can easily be updated and accessed online."

Delcam's PowerINSPECT inspection software has proved to be a good fit with the quality control requirements at General Motors. When engineers at the company want to make sure that the various body panels in a car are fitting together properly, or to find out why they are not, they often turn to the Design Check and Vehicle Assessment team in the Warren Vehicle Engineering Center in Michigan. Decades of buyer surveys have shown GM, and the rest of the automotive industry, that the way the sheet-metal skins of cars fit together is a huge factor in the decision to buy a given model. The actual data are gathered as points with touch-probes or laser-scanners fitted to inspection arms from Romer Cimcore and are used to check a rectangular array of lines a few inches apart on all the exterior parts for accuracy. In addition, color maps from PowerINSPECT are often used to show deviations from the nominal CAD model within the surfaces. What GM gets from these efforts at the WVEC is assurance that vehicle bodies are fitting together as designed and, for those rare times when they don't, reliable and easily understood dimensional data that points to where the problems lie. www.delcam.com

Hydro-Quebec chose IBM PLM solutions developed by Dassault Systemes for the design of new hydroelectric projects. Hydro-Quebec is the first owner-operator in the hydroelectric industry to use digital 3D design technology for the development of its future facilities. Hydro-Quebec will use CATIA V5 to design products, and SMARTEAM to manage engineering data developed by the company and its partners. With the PLM solutions, Hydro-Quebec will be able to better integrate data from multiple disciplines, including mechanical equipment, fluid and electrical systems, as well as concrete and steel structures, in a single development environment. Said Etienne Droit, executive vice president Sales and Services, Dassault Systemes, "As with companies in the shipbuilding and aerospace industries before it, Hydro-Quebec will benefit from these powerful tools and be able to focus on innovation with the collaborative design capabilities of our PLM Solutions."

Malmo University of Sweden invested in 200 licenses of IronCAD, chosen because of its capability and user friendly features for use in design education. IronCAD will be used mainly in the University's "Material & Virtual Design" Department. Reasons for its selection included: ease-of-use and user friendliness, compatibility with the other software in use at the school, support for iterative work within the CAD system itself, and its suitability for the educational environment. www.ironcad.com

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the central research and development organization for the United States Department of Defense, selected PTC as the prime contractor for a research project to deliver 3D Integrated Circuit (3D IC) design management capabilities. PTC will use the proceeds from this funded research project to enhance Windchill, Pro/ENGINEER, and InterComm. DARPA plans to use these solutions along with other advanced IC solutions to dramatically improve the performance of next-generation military electronics. As part of this multi-million dollar, multi-year funded research project, PTC has sub-contracted with Raytheon and North Carolina State University. PTC will provide product development process management and design collaboration solutions developed with Windchill, mechanical and thermal analysis of these next generation integrated circuits with Pro/ENGINEER, information extraction and visualization with InterComm, and integration to third-party design and analysis applications through Windchill

Three leading German engineering universities have each purchased 500 licenses of the SolidWorks Education Edition, including SolidWorks 3D mechanical design and COSMOS design analysis software, to teach students how to solve design challenges while preparing them for jobs after graduation. The universities of applied sciences in Furtwangen and in Darmstadt, as well as the College for Technology in Ludenscheid, are teaching students how to convert their design concepts into working 3D models that they can test, refine, and build with the SolidWorks Education Edition. "SolidWorks is not only easy to learn and use, it brings 3D CAD to life for students, feeding their interest in engineering as a career," said Harry Kunte, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences at Furtwangen.

Transport Design International Ltd. (TDI) will exclusively use VX CAD/CAM for designing a new and unique minitram urban transport system. TDI is the lead partner in the development of the new Minitram Public Transport System. VX software has been used throughout the development process, from the initial concept through to manufacturing data as 2D drawings and 3D models for CNC milling. Paul Salkeld, TDI Design Manager, commented: "The project is in the early stages but a fully approved demonstration vehicle of the electrically powered Minitram has now been completed. The VX CAD system has enabled the project to expand quickly to offer other vehicle variations. The simple process of sketching and modeling enabled us to develop a design quickly. The facility to edit history operations and detect alignment or geometry problems was also very important." www.vx.com

Financials: ANSYS, Inc. revenue up 15%. ANSYS announced third quarter results which included total revenue of $32.3 million, as compared to $28.0 million in the third quarter of 2003; total revenue of $95.7 million in the first nine months of 2004 as compared to $80.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2003; diluted earnings per share of $0.23 for the third quarter of 2004 as compared to $0.17 for the third quarter of 2003.

Autodesk revenue up 28%. Autodesk's third fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2004 showed net revenues of $300 million, a 28 percent increase over $234 million reported in the third quarter of the prior year. The company also announced that it has declared a 2-for-1 stock split on its common stock. Third quarter net income increased 228 percent over the prior year to $74 million on a GAAP basis. "Autodesk had another outstanding quarter," said Carol Bartz, Autodesk chairman and CEO. Autodesk's performance was driven by strong revenues from new seats, increasing penetration of its 3D products, continued success with the subscription program, and continued commitment to improved productivity and efficiency. New seat revenue increased 36 percent over the prior year. Customer adoption of Inventor, the world's best selling 3D mechanical design software, reached record levels. Subscription revenues increased 55 percent over the third quarter of the prior year.

RAND Worldwide revenue down 5%. Rand A Technology Corporation, operating as RAND Worldwide, announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2004. The following financial figures have been adjusted to reflect discontinued operations based on the pending agreement with Dassault Systemes (see Press Release dated October 26, 2004). The transaction is expected to close before year-end and the proceeds of approximately $50 million will eliminate $38 million of outstanding debt and move RAND Worldwide to a debt-free position for 2005. Additionally, the Company has decided to exit unprofitable operations in Italy and its Shared Services Centre in Ireland. Revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2004 was $23.3 million, compared with $24.5 million the previous quarter and $27.5 million during the quarter ended September 30, 2003. The Company's net loss for the third quarter of 2004 was ($12.9 million), compared with net income of $4.6 million the previous quarter and a net loss of ($10.2 million) for the third quarter of 2003. Kriss Bush, Chief Financial Officer of RAND Worldwide stated, "Once the Dassault transaction closes, RAND Worldwide will have a debt-free balance sheet and will be in a positive cash position, which gives the Company a solid foundation for the future."

UGS revenue up 18%. UGS announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2004. Revenue was US$253.8 million, or 18 percent growth over the same period a year earlier; there was overall software revenue growth of 16 percent over the same period a year earlier; Collaborative Product Development Management (cPDm) revenue grew 32 percent, including cPDm software revenue growth of 37 percent, over the same period a year earlier. Highlights included the largest-ever Nordic contract with Saab AB in which UGS will serve as the company's new technology partner for PLM; Rolls-Royce, following a competitive evaluation process, selected and entered into a framework agreement with UGS for the supply of PLM-related products and services; Hyundai Heavy Industries Construction and Equipment Division selected UGS' NX and Teamcenter software and services. During the year UGS announced the release of NX3. Along with a new look and feel with a streamlined user interface, NX 3 also features new capabilities and enhancements across the board. For the first time, all participants in the development process can use a single digital model - from planning through engineering into manufacture - synchronized within a single NX Managed Development Environment.

On the move: People: Trenton H. Brown, to president and chief executive officer of Proficiency, formerly Rand Worldwide executive vice president of worldwide sales and chief operating officer. Brown takes the reins from Scott A. Berkey. Marc Dulude, general partner of Ampersand Ventures, to Proficiency as chairman of the board. Shlomo Dovrat, Proficiency's former chairman and a general partner and founder of Carmel Ventures, will continue to serve on the board as a director.

Todd McCall, to Cyon Research Director of Sales, formerly marketing manger for IBM and founder of MBA, Inc.

Gregory P. Spivy and William J. Weyand to MSC.Software Corp. board of directors. In addition, MSC.Software announced the execution of a stockholders agreement with ValueAct Capital. Mr. Weyand served as Chairman and CEO of SDRC from 1997 until August 2001. Mr. Spivy continues as a Partner of ValueAct Capital.

Partnering: Lattice3D announced the addition of five new resellers to the European market, expanding its reach across Germany and the Netherlands by appointing TID Informatik, Kumatronik, D&TS, Tanner and CatalogCreator GmbH to resell, implement and support Lattice3D publishing tools. CatalogCreator GmbH, the company, has integrated Lattice3D XVL technology and these 5 partners will sell Lattice3D converters and applications along with CatalogCreator, the product. The CatalogCreator product is an easy-to-use comprehensive solution for creating electronic product and spare part catalogs, intelligent and interactive service information systems, and technical and training documents. With over 500,000 users at 2,000 companies, Lattice3D's applications enable its customers to use existing 2D & 3D data beyond engineering--throughout the extended enterprise. The company's 3D software easily creates interactive 3D documents directly from CAD drawings. www.lattice3D.com

ALGOR partners with FatigueWizard, a top supplier of fatigue analysis software in Loughborough, United Kingdom, to distribute FatigueWizard - a software add-in within ALGOR's finite element analysis (FEA) software that allows engineers to use the results of an ALGOR stress analysis to carry out easy-to-use stress- and strain-based fatigue life calculations of product designs. www.algor.com

Informative Graphics Corporation (IGC) entered into a business and technology partnership with SealedMedia, Inc., a leading developer of document-level security solutions, with headquarters in Los Gatos, California. The two companies will work together to develop an integration of IGC's view, markup, and Visual Rights publishing technology for CAD drawings, 3D models and other non-Microsoft formats with SealedMedia's document security solution. SealedMedia will market the integration as a CAD option that will expand its offering in engineering environments.

CAXA, a leading domestic PLM vendor in China, and Dassault Systemes announced a strategic alliance to create and sell "China-engineered" solutions based on Dassault Systemes' V5 PLM technology. These solutions will be developed in a joint R&D center operated by CAXA in Beijing combining CAXA's R&D expertise and technology with Dassault Systemes' 3D PLM solutions and V5 technology components. Through the strategic alliance, CAXA will develop and market in China CAXA V5, a new generation of integrated and scalable 2D and 3D PLM solutions for the Chinese market that embed V5 technology components from Dassault Systemes. The CAXA V5 portfolio, which encompasses early design to process planning and manufacturing planning management, will provide breakthrough PLM value to the Chinese manufacturing industry by enabling companies to model and optimize the design-to-production cycle digitally, even while working in 2D. This new portfolio will enable Chinese small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to grow at their own pace into full-fledged 3D PLM users.

CADopia entered into a strategic partnership with SolidWorks Corporation and will incorporate SolidWorks eDrawings and Toolbox into CADopia IntelliCAD. Said Chris Garcia, vice president of research and development for SolidWorks Corporation, "CADopia delivered the DWGEditor capability on time, within budget, and with custom enhancements designed to meet the needs of SolidWorks customers." SolidWorks 2005 includes the DWGEditor feature as a part of its core functionality. The DWGEditor gives users the ability to edit 2D DWG and DXF files in their native format using an AutoCAD-like interface. The tool is ideal for design engineers who use 3D design software, but need to periodically maintain legacy 2D designs. The DWGEditor feature is based on CADopia IntelliCAD. www.cadopia.com

CoCreate Software has incorporated Systinet Server for Java into CoCreate's CAD data management product, Model Manager. As a result, organizations can easily access and share CAD design data across the entire enterprise using standards-based Web services and can incorporate Model Manager into a service-oriented architecture. The Systinet Server for Java exposes Model Manager's Web services to other enterprise systems such as ERP or PLM to make the data in Model Manager openly available for use in downstream processes. Enterprises can now harness Model Manager's power as the system of record for CAD design data while also giving other departments open access to the most current design data. www.cocreate.com

Delphi Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Delphi Corp., selected European-based Design Solutions as its latest training provider for its proven CAD/CAM methodologies Horizontal Modeling (HM) and Digital Process Design (DPD). Using HM, designers can produce higher quality 3-D CAD models with their existing CAD systems. Editing and changing data is easier and all the data is available and usable in downstream functions. DPD starts with horizontal models to rapidly create master process models and their associated process sheets. When combined, these methodologies enable greater concurrency between product and process design, shorter design-to-product cycles, increased productivity and greater innovation. www.delphi.com/dti/

ImpactXoft announced that MCG, a distributor of product design hardware, software and service solutions, has signed a master agreement to join ImpactXoft's Need SPeeD reseller program to distribute and support the IX SPeeD Suite in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. MCG has excelled at providing superior service with a commitment to improve the way that product developers leverage technology to meet their goals. As a master reseller for ImpactXoft, MCG will be responsible for selling the IX SPeeD Suite and signing and supporting distribution partners and customers in their region. www.impactxoft.com

Spicer Corporation joined JT Open. Implementation of the JT Toolkit adds another leading file format to the supported formats in the Imagenation product line. JT, the most widely used file format for 3D product visualization and collaboration in the PLM industry, provides a highly compact format with robust entity support, high performance and excellent support for large models and assemblies. www.spicer.com or www.jtopen.com

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