Autodesk Ships Significantly Enhanced Mechanical Library; Now Includes 32 Leading U.S. Manufacturers and 300,000 Parts.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 1995--After only six months on the market, momentum continues to grow for the Autodesk Mechanical Library, a CD-ROM based multi-title library of mechanical design and engineering related data.

Having received three Product of the Month awards from influential technical journals for Volume 1.0, Autodesk's Data Publishing Group today announced the shipment of the Fall 1995, Volume 1.1 release of the Autodesk Mechanical Library to subscribers. The significantly enhanced Volume 1.1 provides subscribers 50% more data and improved performance. Network support for multiple users will be available in December.

Blair LaCorte, general manager of Autodesk Data Publishing, said Autodesk was the first major software company to publish intelligent digital content for technical professionals when it introduced the first Mechanical Library titles from its Data Publishing group last spring. According to LaCorte, "Volume 1.0 of the Mechanical Library has increased productivity for designers and drafters by up to 20%."

The Autodesk Mechanical Library is published bi-annually and sold on a subscription basis. It is comprised of two titles: PartSpec and MaterialSpec. PartSpec, is an interactive, easy-to-use, single source for ready-made parts from leading U.S. manufacturers. MaterialSpec is a comprehensive, full text database of materials from worldwide materials manufacturers.

For Volume 1.1, Autodesk increased the number of ready-made parts in PartSpec by 50% to over 300,000 parts. Autodesk now has 32 manufacturers supplying standard parts in .DWG format, including: Boston Gear, Jergens, Inc., Parker Hannifin, Square D, Timken, Smalley Steel Rings, Igus and Torrington. With PartSpec, engineers and designers, via a common interface, can search for, query, view and insert parts directly into any AutoCAD R12, R13 or AutoCAD LT drawing.

MaterialSpec, which allows engineers to easily access over 25,000 materials from 300 manufacturers and print out or copy them into other Windows products, including AutoCAD software, now contains 66% more data than the original volume. Volume 1.1 now contains more than 3,000 new materials -- in plastics, metals, ceramics and composites -- as well as provides more FEA (finite element analysis) property data.

Frank Miller, manager of engineering services for Boston Gear, a leading supplier of motion control products, said, "The Autodesk Mechanical Library not only enhances a designer's ability to quickly select products and incorporate them into their designs, but it allows suppliers to have their products specified more often by reaching a larger customer base."

Pricing & Availability

The suggested retail price (SRP) in the United States of the single user version of Volume 1.1 of the Autodesk Mechanical Library is $495 or $295 per title. A special promotional offer of $349 for the Autodesk Mechanical Library or $199 per title will be valid through May 31, 1996. The network version will be available in December with pricing still to be determined.

Autodesk Data Publishing is part of the Company's Data Management Market Group which develops and markets products that allow customers to access, organize, share and revise design-related information. The Group's products include Autodesk WorkCenter, the company's design team solution for technical document and workflow management; AutoCAD Data Extension, which provides decision support capabilities by allowing users to manipulate data within drawings; and Autodesk View, a powerful tool which allows non-CAD users to view and redline drawing and business application files.

For more information on Autodesk, please call 415/507-5000, type GO ADESK on CompuServe, or log-in with a World Wide Web browser at http://www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk is the world's leading supplier of PC and UNIX-based design software and PC multimedia tools. The company's 2D and 3D products and data management tools are used in many industries for architectural design, mechanical design, film-making, videography and geographic information systems. The fourth largest PC software company in the world, Autodesk has three million customers in 118 countries. Autodesk products are sold through Autodesk Systems Centers, Dealers and Distributors worldwide. -0-

Note to Edtiors: Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, AutoCAD Data Extension and AutoCAD are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. The Autodesk WorkCenter, PartSpec and MaterialSpec are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. CompuServe is a registered trademark of H & R Block. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. All prices are suggested retail prices.

CONTACT: Autodesk, Inc.

Marty Tacktill, 415/507-6484

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