WALTHAM, Mass., October 23, 2000 - PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), a leading provider of mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD) solutions, has worked closely with Versatile Mold and Design, a provider of thermoset and thermoplastic molds, to reduce product lead times by as much as 40 percent, reduce customers costs and improve overall product quality. By implementing PTC's solutions, Versatile Mold and Design achieved what had been an impossible task – it completed a 20-week project in just 12 weeks.
As technology has become more prominent in the design and building of molds, Versatile Mold has begun to rely more on communicating with 3D electronic designs rather than sending its toolmakers two-dimensional drawings. By receiving Pro/ENGINEER data from its customers, the need to interpret and recreate 2D drawings is virtually eliminated, but more importantly the design-intent is shared across the team. As a result, product design time is significantly shortened and often data can be sent directly to machining and production without any further manipulation.
“By combining our expertise in plastics engineering with PTC's comprehensive Pro/ENGINEER solutions, we are able to transfer more of the workload to the CNC machines faster,” said Bob Heusser, Jr., business development manager at Versatile Mold and Design. “Because we directly use data supplied by our customers, rather than manually translating it, our products no longer get bogged down in the design process. This leads to several benefits for our customers. First, they receive products from us much faster. Second, we have seen our project quotes drop by 10-20 percent. Last, Pro/ENGINEER creates a cleaner surface transition between CAM packages, which means we spend our time ensuring product quality instead of fixing surface errors.”
The key to the significant benefits realized is the compatibility of Pro/ENGINEER with Versatile Mold customers' design systems. Versatile Mold worked with Eaton Cutler Hammer Pittsburgh Technology and Quality Center to achieve a significant breakthrough in mold design and production. By combining the latest machining technology and PTC's software solution, workflow was streamlined, design time was shortened and the integrity of the data was easily maintained. As a result, Cutler Hammer received its molds in 12 weeks -- 40 percent faster than was previously possible.
“Advances in technology are driving demand for speed and innovation in every industry. We are helping our customers harness product design technology to push the envelope of speed and innovation using our collaborative product commerce solutions,” said Barry Cohen, executive vice president of marketing, PTC. “In the plastics industry it means allowing manufacturers to deliver products faster to their customers, and produce higher quality products for less money. With PTC's solutions, plastics manufacturers can adapt quickly to increasing customer demands and remain highly competitive.”
About PTC's Flexible Engineering Solutions
The PTC i-Series of flexible engineering solutions, based on PTC's award winning Pro/ENGINEER software and the practices of PTC Global Services, is a group of design and engineering solutions focused at addressing collaborative product commerce engineering initiatives. These solutions, including specific capabilities for the plastics molding industry, are relied on daily by more than 250,000 users to drive their worldwide product development and engineering functions. The solutions use unique approaches with many patent-pending and award-winning technologies such as Pro/ENGINEER behavioral modeling that captures engineering knowledge and allows designers to innovate new products more rapidly and effectively. The PTC i-Series of flexible engineering solutions, underpinned by PTC's Windchill software, also features Pro/MECHANICA, DIVISION, Pro/DESKTOP, ICEM, CDRS, InPart, CADDS 5i, and MEDUSA.
About PTC
PTC, founded in 1985 and headquartered in Waltham, Mass., USA (Parametric Technology Corporation), develops, markets, and supports collaborative product commerce (CPC) solutions that help manufacturing companies shape innovation and achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the Internet age. These B2B e-commerce solutions employ powerful Web-based collaboration and flexible engineering technologies to streamline product development and delivery processes. PTC's software solutions are complemented by the strength and experience of PTC Global Services, which provides training, consulting, support, and e-commerce services to customers worldwide. With PTC's CPC solutions, manufacturers can take advantage of the Internet to improve product quality, reduce costs, and shorten time-to-market cycles. PTC can be reached at 781-398-5000, or via the Web at http://www.ptc.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, matters discussed in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include PTC's ability to anticipate and adequately respond to evolving customer requirements and to deliver products and services that meet those requirements together with such other risks and uncertainties as are detailed from time to time in reports filed by PTC with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including PTC's most recent reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q.
PTC, Pro/ENGINEER, Windchill, Pro/MECHANICA, DIVISION, Pro/DESKTOP, ICEM, CDRS, InPart, CADDS, MEDUSA, and all PTC product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. Names of products from other vendors mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.