All-New Alibre Design 4.0 Makes 3D Solid Modeling, Real-Time Team Design and Data Sharing Affordable; Next Generation CAD Tool Boasts New Interface, Powerful Features, Plus Boosted Performance

Business Wire, April 29, 2002

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

RICHARDSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 2002

A sharp new interface and sharp new price mark today's launch of Alibre Design 4.0, a 3D mechanical design, real-time collaboration and peer-to-peer data sharing application. "V4" sports a new multi-window user interface and numerous other new features, and is now available for a limited time at $495 per seat, discounted from the standard annual subscription price of $1,000.

A subscription to Alibre Design includes upgrades like V4, available approximately every six months. Through Web-based deployment, upgrades are downloaded automatically whenever the application is launched.

Alibre Design 4.0 includes the following new features and functions:

-- 20X improvement in graphics performance, plus additional performance
improvements in drawings, file loading and saving.

-- Improved part and assembly modeling: automated capture and definition of
sketch constraints; plus when parts are edited within assemblies, for clarity,
the rest of the assembly displays transparently.

-- The new multi-window user interface allows multiple windows to be open
simultaneously; the "Home" window enables users to manage their contacts and
see who is online and available for collaboration.

-- Alerts pop up whenever a user's contacts sign in, as well as when instant
messages or invitations to Team Design sessions are received.

-- "How Do I?" tutorials, located on the Home window, outline common tasks,
letting new users quickly get started without training.

-- "Invite wizard" lets users invite an unlimited number of colleagues to use
Alibre Design free for 30 days.

-- "Alibre Assistant," an Alibre support representative listed in users'
contacts, is available for expert real-time technical guidance. Users may send
a message to the Alibre Assistant or invite him or her to their team sessions,
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Central time.

-- Ability to schedule team sessions and cache data in advance.

-- Improved support of non-native files, such as Word and Excel documents, even
other CAD files -- opening or double-clicking an item in the Repository
launches its originating application (when present on the user's system),
saving it returns it to the Repository with version tracking.

-- Improved interoperability through support of the STEP standard for surfaces
and "multi-body" solids. Alibre customers are already excited about the
possibilities of V4. Marchon Eyewear is a supplier to

Fendi, Donna Karan, Nike, Disney and Calvin Klein, with offices in Manhattan, Long Island, California and Italy. "After we use Alibre Design to meet with our business partners and other offices, we have a documented record of our design changes and decisions," said Stephanie Griffin, director, global design systems. "Alibre Design will help us cut time to market -- very critical in this trendy industry. We'll communicate clearer and faster, and avoid spending time and money on international travel."

Allan Kidd, director, Pele-Sol Engineered Solutions of Dresser Rand, has implemented Alibre Design in a pilot project between offices in New York and Houston, and will launch V4 in a French operation to accommodate the diverse CAD applications used by its supplier network there, and to collaborate with its customers to gather requirements. "Our team has been encouraged by the capabilities of Alibre Design," Kidd said. "We intend to use Alibre to view, discuss and edit a design collaboratively with different 2D and 3D applications within our supply chain where suppliers and design teams use different CAD products. And, we like the benefit of the Alibre Assistant, a feature that allows an Alibre engineer to join a session to work through problems in real time."

"Alibre recognizes the economic reality that customers face today and is determined to shake up the CAD world," said J. Paul Grayson, president and CEO of Alibre. "This is the first time that so much functionality -- sophisticated solid modeling, Internet collaboration and data management -- have been available in one application for such a compelling price. We know that customers want a fast return on technology investments, and now with Alibre Design at $495 a seat, they get the return without the sticker shock associated with other design software."

Alibre Design is the only low-cost, easy-to-deploy application for mechanical design, collaboration and data sharing. Built for the Internet with a peer-to-peer architecture, Alibre Design lets designers, engineers and their associates create 3D models and 2D associative drawings, share and edit product designs from different CAD applications, and spontaneously collaborate online in real time using precise design data. The application's support for open data standards such as STEP provides a CAD-neutral environment. Through Alibre Design, companies can slash costs, boost productivity, improve quality and shorten manufacturing cycles. Customers include GE Power Systems, Marchon Eyewear, Universal Avionics and Dresser Rand. Founded in 1997, Alibre Inc. is privately funded and based in Richardson, Texas. For more information, visit www.alibre.com or call 972/671-8492.