Auto-trol's CENTRA 2000 and Tech Illustrator Selected by Australia's Systems House to Manage Army's Repair and Maintenance Information.

Business Editors

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 27, 2000

CENTRA 2000(R) EDM/PDM and Industry-leading Tech Illustrator(TM) Join

Forces to Provide a Total Solution for Materiel Management 

Auto-trol Technology today announced the Australian Army's successful implementation of a project featuring CENTRA 2000 and Tech Illustrator (TI(TM)).

Systems House, a leading Australian information technology integrator, selected CENTRA 2000 as its solution for the Army's product data management (PDM) and electronic document management (EDM) requirements. Tech Illustrator, a Windows NT(R)-based technical illustration product that tightly integrates with CENTRA 2000, was added to handle conversion of large volumes of existing design and legacy data. The TI product line features standard data exchange converters including PostScript(R), TIFF, G4, IGES, DXF, and CGM. CENTRA 2000 is a modular EDM and PDM product that also offers CENTRAWeb(TM), Workflow, and CENTRA 2000 Data Exchange for ERP systems integration.

Prior to implementing Auto-trol's CENTRA 2000 EDM and PDM system, the Army had no enterprise-wide EDM/PDM solution. Project Nebula, the Army's plan to place all of their repair and maintenance information online, was, in essence, the pilot project for the implementation. All of that information is now on the Army's intranet, DefWeb. Subsequently, all the repair and maintenance documentation for the light armored vehicle project, ASLAV, was produced using this CENTRA 2000/Tech Illustrator system. And, the Army recently added its Mack truck fleet documentation to the system.

"We are proud of our association with Systems House and the work we have done for the Australian Army," said Steve Hopkins, Branch Manager for Auto-trol Technology in Australia. "In this era of software and IT giants, it is very satisfying to know that together we have proven that innovative thinking and talented professionals still have what it takes to find solutions for some of the largest and most diverse organizations."

Systems House considered many factors during the selection process and decided on CENTRA 2000 because it offered a full set of features at a very competitive price. The implementation of an EDM/PDM system presented many challenges for the Army, not the least of which was the amount of information from multiple sources and no single, standard library. In confronting the challenge, Carlyle Nagel, Systems House Managing Director says, "CENTRA 2000 was a `purpose built' tool for where we are going. It's a very deep product when you're using it fully, but from a user perspective it was very efficient and user-friendly."

Access to the application programming interfaces (APIs) in the toolbox and access to the "factory" behind the APIs also proved decisive in the selection, as it enabled the IT integrator to learn and use the tool to the fullest extent. Nagel continues, "It was a pleasant surprise to find that the learning curve was so low; if you put the data in right, then the customer gets the benefit. Also, in an IT sense, CENTRA 2000 was a better performer than we had expected. It has reduced our IT overhead in terms of the systems required to run it because the product is very efficient." However, it is the flexibility and integration of CENTRA 2000 and Tech Illustrator, says Nagel, "that have allowed us to streamline our production process and achieve efficiencies and productivity gains that we couldn't get out of competitive products."

Auto-trol Technology Corporation is a major global developer and integrator of documentation, information, and process management systems for discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, and other contemporary businesses worldwide. Based in Denver, Colorado, Auto-trol has offices throughout the world and has installed systems for thousands of customers in both U.S. and international markets. Auto-trol is a full service provider, supplying software, integration and consulting services, training, and software support.

Information about Auto-trol Technology and its products and services can be found on the Internet at http://www.auto-trol.com. Information about the CENTRA 2000 product line can be found at www.centra2000.com, and information about Tech Illustrator can be found at www.tech-illustrator.com.

CENTRA 2000 is a registered trademark and CENTRAWeb is a trademark of Centra 2000, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Auto-trol Technology Corporation. Tech Illustrator is a trademark of Auto-trol Technology Corporation. Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.