UGS’ Tecnomatix Improves Accuracy of Factory Designs and Optimizes Material Flow with New Versions of 3D Digital Plant Design Offerings

FOR RELEASE, Tuesday, June 20, 2006

NEW YORK – UGS Corp., a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, today announced Version 11.0 of both FactoryCAD® and FactoryFLOW®, two software offerings from the company’s Tecnomatix™ suite of digital manufacturing solutions that together help manufacturers design more accurate digital representations of their plants, capture the layouts for future re-use, and optimize the flow of material within them.

UGS made the announcement today in conjunction with its annual industry analyst conference in New York. 

“Using the latest versions of FactoryCAD and FactoryFLOW, companies can create virtual plants that are not only accurate in physical design, but also contain intelligence and a strong rules-based modeling approach via the use of ‘smart objects’ that represent plant resources,” said Al Hufstetler, vice president, Tecnomatix Marketing, UGS. “Factory designers can then optimize plant layouts based on material flow distances, frequency and costs. The resulting state-of-the-art digital factory represents a competitive advantage for progressive manufacturers.”

FactoryCAD® – Improving the accuracy and intelligence of digital factory design
FactoryCAD works in conjunction with AutoCAD® to help manufacturers create detailed 3D models of their plants. The software accelerates the process of plant layout by enabling users to design with “smart objects” that represent virtually all the resources used in a plant, from conveyors, mezzanines, cable trays, fencing and cranes to material handling containers and operators.

FactoryCAD Version 11.0 offers a variety of new features that give manufacturers the power to design more accurate plant layouts with impressive visual realism. Several enhancements to the XML Object & System Builder enable users to design customized factory equipment to precisely match actual dimensions of real plant resources, and include physical parameters and intelligent rules that greatly simplify the task of modifying equipment in future designs.

In addition, FactoryCAD Version 11.0 creates value for manufacturers by further improving the flexibility of digital factory design and its integration with a company’s comprehensive PLM framework through multiple new features and enhancements.

• The new FactoryCAD XML Object API (application program interface) enables companies to build applications on top of FactoryCAD, providing several commands to control the position, appearance and parameters of the smart factory objects in the FactoryCAD layout.
  
• Sophisticated new functions in the XML System Builder accelerate plant design through knowledge capture and re-use. This tool enables manufacturers to group a set of custom or standard objects together into a single system that can be parametrically defined. Enhancements to FactoryCAD’s Library Manager enable users to quickly and easily access these template-like system objects for re-use in other layouts.
  
• Tighter integration with the Tecnomatix Plant Simulation application through the use of its Simulation Data Exchange (SDX) utility enables FactoryCAD users to harness the power of discrete event simulation by easily launching simulations of their plant designs from within FactoryCAD.
  
• Several new features further enhance FactoryCAD’s superior performance on large datasets, providing significant benefits to those customers creating increasingly detailed and sophisticated 3D factory designs.
  
• FactoryCAD’s enhanced XML Report Toolkit enables users to create custom Bill-of-Materials (BOM) reports of their 3D factory designs, creating the mechanism for tighter integration with UGS’ Teamcenter digital lifecycle management system.

FactoryFLOW® – Accelerating the optimization of material handling
FactoryFLOW is an indirect labor analysis tool that enables engineers to optimize AutoCAD or FactoryCAD plant layouts based on material flow distances, frequency and costs. Factory layouts are analyzed by using part routing information, material storage needs, material handling equipment specifications and part packaging information.

FactoryFLOW is the tool of choice for companies engaged in lean manufacturing, six-sigma, or other continuous improvement initiatives. With the release of FactoryFLOW Version 11.0, UGS is adding a variety of enhancements and new functionality to help manufacturers more quickly obtain detailed answers to their material flow questions, thus accelerating the optimization of material handling in their plants.

• Enhancements to the indirect labor analysis capabilities enable users to compute and predict with significant accuracy the amount of time spent on material handling while identifying non-value added work that can be eliminated. An ‘intelligent’ spreadsheet import function allows for different and varied analyses to be performed as users go through the ‘what-if’ process of analysis while continually updating data to keep it current.
  
• FactoryFLOW Version 11.0 includes enhancements in its container packing routines that greatly simplify the process of quickly and efficiently packing containers into storage areas and trucks. The solution goes beyond abstract analyses in spreadsheets and takes into account the complications associated with packing trucks based on different transportation patterns.
  
• Multiple new capabilities improve the way users work with tuggers—transport vehicles that pull one or more compartments of containers behind in a train. A new route optimization solver in FactoryFLOW helps companies design optimal tugger routes based the number of tuggers, their capacity constraints, route times, timing windows for delivery and delivery precedence. Tugger utilization analysis has also been greatly improved with several graphing enhancements.
  
• A new operator walk-path utility helps manufacturers design work cells to minimize operator walking time and distance. Enhancements allow the user to model multiple operators working simultaneously or in sequence in a work-cell or on a moving line where the part might be moving on a conveyor. Sophisticated reports and animations add even greater value to these analyses.

About UGS
UGS is a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services with nearly 4 million licensed seats and 46,000 customers worldwide.  Headquartered in Plano, Texas, UGS’ vision is to enable a world where organizations and their partners collaborate through global innovation networks to deliver world-class products and services while leveraging UGS’ open enterprise solutions, fulfilling the mission of enabling them to transform their process of innovation. 

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Note:  UGS, Transforming the process of innovation and Tecnomatix are trademarks or registered trademarks of UGS Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries.  AUTOCAD is a trademark or registered mark of Autodesk, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries.  All other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.

The statements in this news release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding expected benefits of the product, adoption by customers, continued innovation and other statements identified by forward looking terms such as "may," "will," "expect," "plan," "anticipate" or "project," are forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements, including, among others, risks relating to developments in the PLM industry, competition, failure to innovate and intellectual property. UGS has included a discussion of these and other pertinent risk factors in its annual report on Form 10-K most recently filed with the SEC.  UGS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.