Armstrong Standardizes on Autodesk Products; AutoCAD R13 Used To Design Future Manufacturing Plants.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 29, 1996--Autodesk, Inc. announced that it was selected from a wide field of competitors as the design software vendor of choice by Armstrong World Industries, a leader in floor and tile manufacturing worldwide, headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Armstrong's Corporate Engineering division will use several Autodesk products to design equipment and manufacturing process systems for manufacturing plants in North America.

Providing a complete design solution was a major component in Armstrong's decision to select over a hundred copies of Autodesk products. "Autodesk's AutoCAD R13 software gives us the capability to handle all of our design disciplines in one economical and compatible software solution," said Clyde Wissler, supervisor of the Armstrong Engineering Group. "Using third-party software we can customize AutoCAD R13 to meet our multiple design needs, and we'll be able to convert our existing CADAM database into AutoCAD R13. And Autodesk's strong dealer support helped us finalize our decision to go with a complete Autodesk solution. We couldn't find any other software supplier that could provide all of these capabilities."

Armstrong's Decision Process

Armstrong reviewed products from five CAD software companies, including Autodesk, CADRA, SDRC, Intergraph, and MicroCADAM before deciding to standardize on Autodesk software products.

Armstrong World Industries decided that by the end of 1996 it would shut down its mainframe systems and move to personal computers (PC). In addition to providing industry-specific solutions in the mechanical, electrical, and structural disciplines, Autodesk was able to help Armstrong move its design operations from the mainframes to PCs.

Autodesk won this account because of its strong product offerings and its success in helping Armstrong understand how the Autodesk "virtual corporation" could benefit Armstrong. Autodesk's virtual corporation is made up of more than 3,500 dealers, 2,000 developers, 3,500 add-on developer applications, and 1,000 Autodesk training centers. This worldwide support network provides customers with complete industry-specific solutions.

The Selection Process

Armstrong's Engineering Selection Process Improvement Team chose AutoCAD R13 software over its competitors based on several criteria specific to Armstrong. The team selected the Autodesk family of products because: -0-

The AutoCAD DWG file format is the most universally used CAD file format by Armstrong plant customers and suppliers worldwide;

It is the only design software that could efficiently handle Armstrong's electrical design;

It provides the greatest opportunity to continuously improve Armstrong's design process by using specialized third-party design software supplements, providing more opportunities for long term continuous productivity improvement;

It is the only design product that provides a vendor parts library, the Autodesk Mechanical Library, which contains the products of many of Armstrong's suppliers;

It has the strongest dealer network and shows potential for the greatest long term support and improvements in Armstrong's many engineering design disciplines;

It provides the best avenue for plant-wide CAD integration and sharing of engineering drawing information with Armstrong's manufacturing plants;

It provides the best economics of operation.

Gaining Armstrong's Confidence

A local Autodesk reseller and Autodesk Systems Center (ASC), Synergis Technologies, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, and Autodesk third-party developers were key in helping gain Armstrong's confidence in purchasing Autodesk products. Armstrong realized it could increase AutoCAD software's productivity by using products such as the Part Spec (of the Mechanical Library), a CD-ROM of pre-formatted mechanical parts and materials, WorkCenter, a technical document and work flow management product for the entire design team, and the Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, a tightly integrated software application that unites advanced 2D and 3D mechanical design and drafting functions on desktop systems.

As a result, Armstrong ordered 54 copies of AutoCAD Release 13 software, 54 copies of Autodesk WorkCenter, two copies of Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, and two network versions of Part Spec. The third-party developer products chosen to complement AutoCAD R13 software are Via Development 4.0 , an electrical design application from Via, located in Marion, Indiana; Toolbox Professional and Power Transmission, a mechanical design application from Cimlogic, located in Nashua, New Hampshire; and Rebis Multi-Steel, Rebis PRO-TYPE and Rebis T&ID, structural software products from Rebis, located in Walnut Creek, California.

This summer Synergis Technologies will be working with Armstrong to train its personnel and integrate and implement the Autodesk design solution. ASC Dealers, such as Synergis Technologies, become accredited with "medallions" in specific industry areas and provide superior industry-specific training to customers. Synergis Technologies has two ASC medallions, data management and mechanical design. Because of its ability to provide a high-level of expertise, training and support, Synergis Technologies was able to provide additional reasons for Armstrong to purchase Autodesk products.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.

These include the timely development and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and the other risks detailed from time to time in Autodesk's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K filed in June 1996.

Autodesk is the world's leading supplier of PC and UNIX-based software and multimedia tools. The company's 2D and 3D products and data management tools are used in many industries for architectural design, mechanical design, mapping, film and video production, video game development and Web content development. Its Kinetix division is the leader in PC-based 3D modeling and animation software, providing a full range of products for digital media and design professionals. The fourth largest PC software company in the world, Autodesk has three million customers in nearly 130 countries. Autodesk products are sold through Autodesk Systems Centers, dealers and distributors worldwide. For more information on Autodesk, please call 415/507-5000, type GO ADESK on CompuServe, or visit its World Wide Web site at http://www.autodesk.com. Kinetix can be reached by calling 800/879-4233 or through its World Wide Web site at http://www.ktx.com. Autodesk shares are traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ADSK. -0-

Note to Editors: Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, WorkCenter, and AutoCAD are registered trademarks and Autodesk Mechanical Desktop and Partspec are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. CompuServe is a registered trademark of H & R Block. All other brand names, products names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

CONTACT: Autodesk, Inc.

Jennifer Reidy, 415/507-6536

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Francesca Sterling, 415/771-5775

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