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What we think>> What's different about Lattice? This is the only 3D publishing software that converts the CAD boundary rep information into highly compressed surface data (using Gregory patches). To get the data to XVL format, Lattice3D's converters run within the target CAD system and translate the following data to XVL: geometry, assembly structure, comments and annotations, dimensions, materials and textures, lights and cameras, and animation. Once converted into XVL the data can be manipulated and re-tessellated remotely instead relying on the original conversion. In addition, all calculations, cross sections, etc. will be highly accurate, called high fidelity by Lattice3D. This should prove to be the standard to measure others by for vendor independent digital mockup.

What we think>> We had the chance to speak with Brian Stolle, CEO of Agile, soon after the acquisition. Cimmetry's revenue in the prior twelve months was $12 million US, making the purchase price about 3.5 times revenue - a bit pricey by today's standards. Agile's run rate is about $130 million USD, so Cimmetry is about one tenth the size of Agile. Stolle plans that Cimmetry will remain a separate company, retaining all of its employees, remaining in Montreal, Canada, and retaining its OEM relationships with other vendors. So why the acquisition? We think two primary reasons. First, Cimmetry's 9,600 customers offer a big selling opportunity for Agile. Second, Agile can use Cimmetry's software as a built-in DMU (digital mockup capability), extending it to fit more tightly with its own products.

What should Cimmetry customers do? Nothing that you wouldn't have done before. Agile has a very strong balance sheet, making Cimmetry a stronger company.

What we think>> DWF and JT are claimed by UGS and Autodesk to together have almost 10 million users, with Autodesk claiming 5 million and UGS 4 million, although we cannot imagine this many are working in mechanical CAD. In response to questioning, both claimed that this alliance was customer driven, primarily from an OEM / supplier point of view. The companies already have plans and are adding resources to enable this sharing of tessellated (approximated with triangles) 3D data and 2D data, not for the interoperability of surfaces or solid models. That would still require a CAD translator. One would expect to see the ability of both systems to transparently read and write to either format, and be able to use each one interchangeably. Anywhere you could use a JT model (such as in DMU) one could use a DWF model and vice versa.

What we think>> Arena's offering, using web based architecture and remotely hosted services seems to avoid the pain of developing and maintaining an IT infrastructure for PLM. On the other hand, it requires complete outsourcing of highly sensitive data, which may not be a problem with today's encryption technology. This offering certainly seems to deserve a pilot test for companies that have not yet implemented PLM or PDM systems.

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New products: PTC announced the general availability of its PTC Windchill Aerospace & Defense Module, a software add-on module for Windchill PDMLink that was developed to meet the unique needs of the global Aerospace & Defense (A&D) industry for traceability of highly complex product and program information across the program lifecycle. To support the rapid and low-risk implementation of the Integrated Digital Environments (IDEs) frequently mandated by A&D contracts, PTC offers a fixed price, quick- start service package as well as specialized training. Early adopters include BAE SYSTEMS, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and United Defense. With Windchill Aerospace & Defense Module, Windchill PDMLink now offers: contract deliverables management, advanced serialized parts management, advanced effectivity management, as-built / as-maintained configuration management, and advanced change management processes.

A few weeks later, IBM and Dassault Systèmes announced a specialized PLM Industry Solution for aerospace suppliers. This Aerospace Supplier Collaboration (ASC) enables companies to better manage and control the processes common to suppliers in the aerospace industry. ASC delivers a suite of aerospace-industry process models, templates, and practices based on SMARTEAM, an industry-leading collaborative product data and lifecycle management solution. The solution manages data in the context of an aircraft program structure, internal communication, traceability of information, and control of key engineering processes (engineering and manufacturing change, distribution of work tasks, preliminary data release, configuration management, and document management). It also manages and automates the release of maturing product data across the enterprise and supply chain. Magellan Aerospace Corporation, an early adopter achieved a 30-35% improvement in effectiveness of engineers' time with ASC.

Actify Publisher 2005, an advanced file publishing tool, allows users to centralize and automate the conversion of native 2D/3D CAD files into Actify's proprietary .3D file format. With this release, users can now define and manage each aspect of the publishing process, including which source CAD files to automatically publish, where to post the newly published files, who to notify of the completed process, and more. Users with large amounts of old, inaccessible legacy CAD data, as well as new CAD data, will spend little to no time managing the conversion of these files, making them more quickly and easily accessible to the entire design chain, ultimately saving time and money. Actify's publishing suite now includes Actify Publisher 2005 for automatic creation of the .3D files, Actify Server for managing and sharing the files, SpinFire Professional to view, measure and markup CAD files and SpinFire Reader for sharing .3D files created with Actify Publisher and SpinFire Professional in a view-only format. www.actify.com.

Upgrades: PTC announced Pro/CONCEPT 3.0, primarily aimed at industrial designers for product ideation. It supports the innovation-intensive "fuzzy front end" of product development. PTC is also offering a special pricing incentive to new and existing customers for the Pro/ENGINEER Interactive Surface Design Extension (ISDX). ISDX allows the user to further refine Pro/CONCEPT product ideas in Pro/ENGINEER. Pro/CONCEPT 3.0, adds new features that now allow industrial designers to crop images, measure, and export curves via IGES. To further enhance the industrial design capabilities in Pro/CONCEPT, new geometric manipulation features were added to this release including: rounded square, curve fillet, curve trim, pattern, and curves combined with cusps. www.ptc.com

Femap Version 9, the latest release of the UGS' Windows desktop software solution for advanced finite element analysis (FEA), includes a flexible, streamlined Windows user interface based on the latest Microsoft technology; increases in finite element modeling performance; continued and strengthened integration with the world's leading structural and thermal solvers; and advances in integration to NX Nastran software. www.ugs.com

MEDUSA NG 2003, Build 300, by CAD Schroer includes significant quality enhancements for most of the major MEDUSA modules, including: the upgrade of MEDPRO, the MEDUSA/Pro/ENGINEER interface, for use with PTC Wildfire 2 on Windows; the upgrade of MEDWindChill for use with WindChill Foundation and PDMLINK 7.0; the addition of STL import and export facilities for 3D Interfaces, plus others. www.cad-schroer.com.

Version 9 PolyWorks, point cloud inspection and reverse engineering software, offers a series of major user interface improvements to increase the productivity of new and occasional users. A new Workspace Manager (WM) manages the PolyWorks process and coordinates the efforts of the various PolyWorks modules. www.innovmetric.com

A new model morphing toolset in VX Version 10 helps designers experiment with new organic shapes. VX's new model morphing toolset offers the capability to bend, twist, stretch, pull and push solid or non-solid geometry to enhance a shape. The tools have a variety of inputs using points and blend-to curves with a sophisticated range of blending/fairing controls. The toolset gives users complete control of the shape change. Key faces that should not be changed may be "locked". Tangency of face edges is held. Exact points on faces can be selected, lending symmetry control. Multiple bodies can be morphed by the same action if desired, maintaining existing relationships. Users may morph by dragging the cursor or inputting precise values, and models may be re-edited at any time via the VX History Manager. www.vx.com

SDH Development's ToolWorks BOM Manager Version 6 for SoildWorks2005 allows users to manage, modify and export XML-based Bill-of-Materials from SolidWorks. The new version introduces a XML-based Property Manager User interface and a new preview function powered by eDrawings technology. ToolWorks BOM Manager captures the bill of material (BOM) contents and allows modifications and management from a single window interface, supporting configuration specific properties within SolidWorks. Prices start at 595 USD for a single license. www.toolworks.info

Marketing: Speaking at the CIO Perspectives on Enterprise Value Conference in early February, UGS Chairman, CEO and President Tony Affuso highlighted the "game-changing" role of PLM as an enterprise strategy and innovation driver. Affuso stated that "UGS PLM systems transform the process of innovation for its customers, and what PLM ultimately does for organizations is drive top-line revenue growth through a repeatable process for product innovation."

What we think>> In the past, PLM providers have sometimes struggled with justification. This creates enormous difficulties and limits the growth of this business segment, particularly since the implementation of PLM can be time consuming and costly. Competing for tight capital budgets requires a crisp return on investment. Inherently we know its value, but oftentimes a clear business case has been difficult to make. We applaud Affuso's comments and look forward to hearing specifics form company case studies about precisely how they drove this top line revenue growth.

Intergraph Corporation leads the global plant creation and shipbuilding software markets with a 30 percent revenue-based market share for 2004, according to Daratech at the recent daratechPLANT 2005 conference in Houston, Texas. For the 12th consecutive year Intergraph also led the worldwide overall plant creation market with a revenue-based market share of 31 percent. Intergraph's sustained leadership position is based in part on revenue growth for new software licenses in key market areas - plant creation and shipbuilding, overall plant creation, physical plant creation and conceptual plant creation.

SolidWorks tightly embedded engineering search tools into its software, providing access to GlobalSpec's Engineering Search Engine directly inside its design environment. GlobalSpec provides SolidWorks software users with three critical search services: SpecSearch, which lets engineers discover and compare products and services by their specifications; The Engineering Web, more than 200 million tech-centric Web pages filtered from the World Wide Web for their engineering relevance; and The Hidden Web, which provides access to proprietary technical content not found on general search engines, including fully indexed content such as application notes, material properties, standards, patent information, and general engineering research. SolidWorks users access GlobalSpec through a search field in the SolidWorks 2005 Task Pane, which appears on the SolidWorks desktop whenever the application is open. The new capability will be available at no cost to subscription users in March by downloading SolidWorks 2005 Service Pack 3. www.globalspec.com or wwwsolidworks.com.

SolidWorks joined forces with Microfabrica and MOSIS, leaders in microdevice fabrication low-cost integrated circuit prototyping, to offer a new service, called EFAB Access, to quickly and economically design and prototype 3D MEMS and microdevices. Based on Microfabrica's EFAB Access for manufacturing complex 3D microdevices by depositing many metal layers with micron precision, the service for the first time allows using 3D mechanical design software to design and manufacture MEMS and microdevices as part of a single solution. MEMS are devices having features in the range of several microns that combine electrical and mechanical functions. www.microfabrica.com or www.mosis.org.

TransMagic and TransMagic CATIA V5 CAD file translation products were certified by Autodesk's Inventor team. The TransMagic products were certified following the development of an Inventor plug-in to translate 3D files directly into Inventor 9 and the soon to be released Inventor 10. The TransMagic products work standalone or as plug-ins to Inventor to provide direct access to an expanded list of CAD formats and model repair functionality. For a free evaluation www.transmagic.com.

Conceptual Product Development, Inc. released Doctor Walt's KEYCREATOR 4 Workbook. Author of the well-known series of Doctor Walt's books on CAD, rapid prototyping, and desktop publishing, Walt Silva once again uses his proven approach to CAD instruction to introduce both veteran CADKEY users and novices to the newest KEYCREATOR release. Hundreds of illustrations, combined with an easy-reading text style, greatly simplify the learning task. The books sells for $69.95. www.docwalt.com

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Raindrop Geomagic an SBIR Phase II grant to extend the company's research into advanced techniques for directly creating surface models from point clouds. Under this research grant, surfaces created from scan data is expected to result in trimmed analytic and NURBS surfaces that retain design intent. Trimming lines will be generated automatically along connecting features, such as fillets or swept surfaces. Optimized patch layout will ensure a higher degree of smoothness, and surface fitting will be controlled automatically by tolerances. www.geomagic.com

The Partcard Technical Reference Center puts reference material used by a design professional at their fingertips. It also eliminates the need for hard-to-read quick reference cards. Current customers of Partcard save an average 30-60 minutes per day per design person by using this tool. The tool comes complete with pre-loaded data sets and requires minutes to install and use. www.partcard.com

Competitive wins: Isuzu Motors Limited selected UGS' NX Nastran software for advanced finite element analysis (FEA) as its core system for performing structural and vibration analysis throughout Isuzu operations, starting with its Fujisawa and Hokkaido plants in Japan. Isuzu selected NX Nastran based a digital simulation strategy and on its large-scale analysis capabilities, advanced analysis technology and high product performance, as well as UGS' renowned technical support and product roadmap.

The Permasteelisa Group purchased 1,200 licenses of SolidWorks to more quickly and efficiently execute its world-class building projects. Permasteelisa's exteriors grace such architectural treasures as the Sydney Opera House, the Hong Kong International Airport, the MOMA in New York, and the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and is the worldwide leader in the design, fabrication, and installation of facades for landmark buildings.

UGS announced a series of wins, including the following: Volvo Group selected UGS as a strategic partner for virtual manufacturing tools for deployment at the company's manufacturing divisions worldwide; international furniture manufacturer, Vitra, selected UGS' NX and Teamcenter software and services to simplify its data exchange and optimize the use of all product-related information and expects to save US$3.6 million within the next 5 years and significantly simplify the design process for the company; AMF, a leading supplier of integrated, automated solutions for the baking industry, is standardizing on UGS' Solid Edge, displacing UGS' competition; American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. deployed the second phase of UGS' E-factory digital manufacturing data management and process planning system; and, Lockheed Martin's Engineering Process Improvement (EPI) Center selected NX Nastran as its preferred solution for finite-element analysis software.

Toyota Motorsport GmbH will develop racecar cockpits that optimize driver comfort, safety, and ergonomics with CATIA V5. The CATIA V5 Human Modeling Solutions will enable Toyota Motorsport GmbH designers to minimize the physiological demands placed on its drivers from heat, noise, vibration and the car's safety restraints. Using cutting-edge CATIA V5 Human Modeling ergonomics tools, Toyota Motorsport GmbH engineers will simulate driver behavior and measure key criteria such as reach, visibility, comfort, posture, biomechanics, strength and anthropometrics. This analysis will enable the team to make driver-oriented decisions about cockpit design, while respecting the overall aerodynamics of the racecar body.

Joy Mining Machinery adopted Elysium's CADfeature technology to translate 3D feature-based design data from Pro/ENGINEER into Autodesk Inventor. CADfeature provides the ability to translate a CAD model's design intent, features and parameters from one CAD system to another. Elysium's feature-based translation technology enables engineers to translate both geometric model data, and the valuable individual feature information as well as design intent. The company needed to translate more than 10,000 Pro/ENGINEER 3D design models.

Aviation Enterprises upgraded from CADKEY to Kubotek KeyCreator. Said Angus Fleming, managing director and chief designer of Aviation Enterprises. "KeyCreator provides all the freedom of a pencil and sketchpad with the power of computing to transform designs into real products. This software helps to make the design process enjoyable and creative and also making products that are manufacturable." KeyCreator combines geometry-based design and modeling technology, and a legacy of success in helping customers in the design of tooling, complex machinery, fixtures, molds, dies in a multitude of product development industries.

Financials:UGS exceeds US 1 billion in revenues for 2004, becoming the first company in the PLM industry to report breaking the $1 billion mark. Year end results included revenue growth of 14% for the year as compared to the previous year. Software revenue grew 10%, with cPDM revenue growing 25%, all while producing EBITDA of US$257.8 million, or a 16 percent increase over the same period a year earlier. The company closed sixty-four enterprise contracts, each with a total contract value of more than US$1 million each. Tony Affuso, chairman, CEO and president of UGS, pointed to UGS' leadership in the cPDm segment of the PLM market (Teamcenter), as driving their ability to pursue enterprise-level engagements. UGS and Capgemini U.S. LLC announced an alliance to jointly offer enterprise level industry-leading PLM solutions designed to transform the process of innovation and thus improve efficiency and top line growth.

At the other end of the scale, IMSI, publisher of TurboCAD, for the three months ended December 31, 2004, IMSI reported net revenues of $6.0 million and net income of $129,000. Net revenues from continuing operations increased 155% from $2.4 million as compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year reflecting the strength of its business segments and the continued expansion of its Houseplans network of websites. Revenues for the six months ended December 31, 2004 were $11.7 million, an increase of 195% from $4.0 million as compared to the same period in the prior fiscal year. IMSI maintains two business divisions - the Precision Design division, anchored by TurboCAD and the DesignCAD line, along with other visual content and design software such as FloorPlan 3D and TurboCADCAM. The Consumer and Business Software Solutions division, which is anchored by Allume Systems, Inc. (formerly Aladdin Systems, Inc.), provides software solutions through its popular products such as StuffIt. www.imsisoft.com

MSC.Software, suffering through a long period of SEC problems with its financial reporting, announced that an independent review found evidence that information was withheld from, and inaccurate or misleading information was provided to, the Company's independent public auditors in connection with the accounting treatment of stock options of a departing employee of a foreign subsidiary and revenue recognition with respect to software contracts in Korea. The company will restate its financial statements for all periods after December 31, 2000. MSC.Software's new CEO, William Weyand, noted that the company is upgrading the Company's financial controls and reporting processes to ensure compliance with accounting standards. www.mscsoftware.com

think3 announced 33 percent revenue growth for its fiscal year 2004, ended December 31, 2004, when compared with fiscal 2003, reporting $40 million in total revenue. think3's fourth quarter 2004 concluded with 68 percent growth in revenues from consulting services compared to the same period last year. Its Q4 2004 billings in the United States also increased at roughly 12 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. The company's Q4 growth was in part propelled by new or extended customer contracts with global leaders, including BMW Aerodynamics, Wilisch & Sohn, Armes, Komatsu, Trek, Antonio Merloni, AGP and Mazda. www.think3.com

What we think>> At first I was confused about the financials, since in the think3 financial results dated 14 Feb 2005 think3 showed a 33% revenue increase over 2003. But the numbers don't add up. On 2/14/04 think3 reported revenue of $35.2. On 2/14/05 think3 reported revenue of $40. That amounts to a 14% increment of 2004 vs 2003. Not a 33% increase. After contacting think3, the company explained that they changed their revenue accounting in 2004 without issuing (at least to us) revised numbers for 2003. We are awaiting a detailed explanation from think3.

Agile Software's results for the third quarter of fiscal 2005, which ended January 31, 2005, set a new record at $30.3 million, compared to $26.2 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2004. License revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2005 were $12.5 million, a 31% increase from the $9.5 million achieved in the third quarter of fiscal 2004. "We are seeing a marked increase in the number of multi-million dollar, multi-phase PLM projects, driven by an executive focus on growing the top-line, while keeping costs in check," said Bryan D. Stolle, Agile CEO and Chairman. "With the Cimmetry acquisition, we now offer our 10,000 plus customers an even broader set of PLM solutions to drive collaboration from product inception through end-of-life." During the quarter, the Company added 19 new customers. Organizations that purchased new or additional licenses of Agile's PLM solutions include: Adaptix, Ball Aerospace, Braun, Clearcube, Dell, Drager Medical, Epicor, Ferag AG, Finisar, Funai, General Dynamics, Heidenhain, Intuitive Surgical, Juniper, LipoSonix, Logitech, LSI, Marconi, Medtronic, NAACO, Netgear, Network Equipment, Philips, Playtex, Quanta Computer, QR Sciences, Rheinmetall, Sharp, SonoSite, Starsys, Thyssen Krupp, TRW, Twin Star Systems and Welch Allyn. www.agile.com

Autodesk fiscal 2005 revenues rose 30%, while its fourth fiscal quarter ended January 31, 2005, rose 21% with net revenues of $356 million, a 21 percent increase over the $295 million reported in the fourth quarter of the prior year. Carol Bartz, Autodesk chairman and CEO noted that "Autodesk's performance was driven by strong growth in revenues from new seats and subscriptions, increasing penetration of its 3D products, and continued improvement in productivity and efficiency." Fourth quarter revenues from new commercial seats increased an astounding 46% over the prior year. Revenues from new commercial seats of AutoCAD increased 56 percent over the prior year. Subscription revenues are substantially fueling the growth, increasing 54% over last year. The company's 3D products continue to increase their market share. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, revenues from Autodesk Inventor Series, Autodesk Inventor Professional, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk AutoCAD Revit Series, Autodesk Map 3D and Autodesk Civil 3D, increased 49 percent over the prior year. For the fourth consecutive year, the Inventor product line was the world's best selling mechanical design software. www.autodesk.com

Autodesk will acquire the assets of COMPASS systems GmbH, a European-based developer of the COMPASS family of data management solutions, for 13 million Euros. COMPASS is a leader in the European data management market, and COMPASS customers include more than 20,000 users in 1,800 manufacturing companies. Autodesk plans to continue offering the COMPASS solution in key European markets and supporting COMPASS customers, while leveraging COMPASS systems' experience in its continuing development of Autodesk's data management solution, featuring Autodesk Productstream. The acquisition, which is expected to close in March of 2005, will allow Autodesk to more quickly expand its data management solution for small- and medium-size manufacturers. The Autodesk data management solution includes Autodesk Vault, Autodesk Productstream, Autodesk Streamline, and the Autodesk DWF file format. www.autodesk.com

Rand Worldwide plans to acquire Sage CAD, an AEC, Civil Engineering, and MDA reseller with six offices located in the North Eastern United States with unaudited fiscal 2004 revenues of approximately US$10 million. "This acquisition is an important milestone for RAND Worldwide as it will be the first acquisition that the Company has completed since 2001 and signals a first step in our return to growth and profitability," said Frank Baldesarra, President and CEO of RAND Worldwide. www.rand.com

UGS engaged with its banks to amend and restate the company's existing US$625 million Revolving and Term Loan Facilities to provide for an additional US$225 million Loan. Proceeds from the Term Loan along with cash on hand will be used to purchase all outstanding shares of Tecnomatix. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the first quarter 2005.

Upon completion of the Tecnomatix acquisition, UGS' e-Factory product will be re-named Tecnomatix. Tecnomatix fourth quarter numbers, revenues were $27.1 million, compared to $25.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. For the full year 2004, revenues were $100.6 million, compared to revenues of $86.3 million for the full year 2003.

MatrixOne, for its second quarter ended January 1, 2005, achieved 64% year-over-year growth in software license revenues and a record number of software transactions. For this period, software license revenues increased 64% to $15.4 million from $9.4 million over the same period last year, and total revenues increased 31% to $35.1 million from $26.9 million in the same period last year. For the six months ended January 1, 2005, software license revenues increased 73% to $26.8 million from $15.5 million in the same period last year, and total revenues increased 29% to $64.7 million. During the last quarter, the company recognized revenue from a number of the world's most innovative companies, including BAE Systems North America, LSI Logic, Linde, PMC-Sierra, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, and Vicor Corporation. MatrixOne announced the release of Synchronicity Developer Suite V4.1, the latest advance in its semiconductor design data management solutions. www.matrixone.com

Moldflow's second quarter revenue grew 53% year over year to $16.3 million, while quarterly earnings per share more than doubled from the previous year. Roland Thomas, Moldflow's president and CEO said, "Our operating performance was driven by increased sales to the automotive and electronics industries in Europe and Asia and the consumer goods and packaging industries in the Americas." In the Design Analysis business, Moldflow released version 7.1 of Moldflow Plastics Advisers product, announced an agreement with Elysium Company, extended the global distribution network with Yudo Company, Ltd., one of Asia's largest suppliers of hot runner systems. www.moldflow.com

On the move: People: Dave Shirk, to UGS executive vice president, Global Marketing, formerly senior vice president, Products, Strategy & Worldwide Marketing, Vignette Corp.

Frank Perna, retires as Chairman and CEO of MSC.Software Corporation

William J. Weyand, to MSC.Software Corp. Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors, formerly a director of MSC.Software and before that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SDRC.

Tilman Schad, joined the KollabNet board of directors. He currently manages his own technology and business strategy consultancy, and was formerly president and CEO of CoCreate Software.

Rick Smith, to RuleStream vice president, professional services, formerly Rulestream director, customer support and services.

Bernard Pezzimenti, to RuleStream vice president, research and development, formerly involved with ERP systems at Management Science Associates

Cary Love, to Vice President Global 3-D Printing of 3D Systems Corporation, formerly National Manager, Channel Operations, Xerox's large-format printers, scanners and document software management systems.

Partnering: UGS and Capgemini U.S. LLC, a provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, announced an alliance to jointly offer enterprise level PLM solutions, marking one of the first major agreements with systems integrators announced by UGS since the company launched independent operations in May 2004. Capgemini and UGS will work collaboratively on joint marketing, business development, sales engagements, solution delivery and operations to help maximize the impact of PLM based solutions. The Capgemini-UGS alliance will leverage UGS' PLM solutions and Capgemini's Collaborative Business Experience to deliver customer specific enterprise wide integration to help customers enhance collaboration and obtain quick return on investment.

UGS and HP announced a strategic alliance intended to provide customers a one-stop shop of enterprise level PLM solutions designed to offer quicker time to value. UGS and HP will provide total PLM solutions to more efficiently enable companies to integrate individual components, such as hardware, software, services, integration and support. The alliance marks one of the first major agreements with systems integrators and UGS since the company launched independent operations in May 2004. In this five-year commitment, HP and UGS will invest in joint sales, product development, marketing, and services delivery. As part of HP Services, the HP Consulting and Integration team will be available to provide customers with the IT consulting, systems integration and the rapid technology implementation needed to develop and deploy reliable solutions.

Siemens AG becomes the latest corporate member of JT Open. Siemens will help guide the direction of the open 3D JT data format and will set up a worldwide JT-based "Common Engineering Collaboration Platform," available to all of the company's interested business units, in order to accelerate its own speed of innovation. JT provides a lightweight data format for sharing product information - including detailed 3D product geometry. The ongoing direction, development and promotion of the 3D JT format is supported and influenced through the JT Open Program. A Siemens pilot test demonstrated that JT's lightweight characteristics allowed Siemens to easily share 3D product data outside of engineering. www.jtopen.com.

IRISCO's Elmo Search 2005 Enterprise Search Engine Software for CAD/PLM and other documents passed Autodesk Certification for Autodesk Inventor R10. Autodesk certified that the Elmo Search 2005 Enterprise Search Engine Software for CAD/PLM and other documents demonstrated the highest level of interoperability with Autodesk Inventor 10. The Elmo Search 2005 Enterprise Search Engine Software for CAD/PLM and other documents enables searching within AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Word, Excel, PDF files, emails, and other document types. Elmo Search also constantly monitors document changes in a document collection, automatically indexing new and updated documents. www.irisco.com

Mentor Graphics and UGS plan to deliver tight interoperability between their products, which provide solutions to meet the emerging needs of complex electromechanical platforms such as automobiles, airplanes and trains. Both companies are investing resources to develop this integration and plan to deliver the first stage of integrated products in the second half of 2005. UGS will enhance Teamcenter and NX, whereby Teamcenter will provide the integrated design of an electro-mechanical product, with electrical architecture and mechatronics sub-systems definition tied together with the overall system design. NX provides an environment to do associative electrical routing through an integrated design environment.

Unlimited Innovative Technology (UIT) will provide Systems Integration and Reselling services for RealityWave in Korea. UIT will be reselling and implementing three RealityWave solutions; ConceptStation, an all-in-one collaboration product for 3D/2D viewing and mark-up; VizStream Platform, the easy to implement base technology for accessing and viewing all plant industrial data; and VizStream Access, the company's solution for 2D visualization. www.realitywave.com

SolidWorks software Parts Design Only (PDO) is now available at no additional cost to all eligible SURFCAM users. Surfware recently entered into an OEM licensing agreement with SolidWorks that bundles SolidWorks PDO with SURFCAM. This is the full working product as sold by SolidWorks, excluding the assembly and drafting functionality.

SpatiaX Infosystems embedded Cimmetry's AutoVue visualization and collaboration technology into its sxMARKUP-Web application. The SpatiaX product suite delivers native document management integrations to AutoCAD and MicroStation applications as well as document viewing and markup solutions for the engineering process workflow environment. The agreement adds the ability to view, print, markup and collaborate in real-time on more than 450 formats directly from within their ECM systems.

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