ACADEMIA

UGS Corp., a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, and Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced a technology partnership to enable manufacturing organizations worldwide to tap into the industry's vast reservoir of 3D digital product models -- stored in the widely adopted JT data format -- and publish them as Adobe PDF files. This relationship between Adobe and UGS builds on existing support for Universal 3D (U3D) in Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional and PDF, and extends the reach of 3D JT data to users of free Adobe Reader 7.0 software. Adobe has distributed over half-a-billion copies of Adobe Reader since 1993. "Today's announcement will contribute to the enhancement of collaboration and communication that takes place among our global locations and outside suppliers throughout our product lifecycle process," said Alfred Katzenbach, director of Information Technology and IT-Processes at DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes Car Group. "JT is our industry's most widely adopted lightweight 3D format for representing digital product models, and Adobe PDF is the de facto standard document format throughout the world. By making millions of 3D product models easy to import into Adobe PDF documents and accessible to anyone with free Adobe Reader software, UGS and Adobe are establishing an open standard for PLM document creation and sharing." Two leaders; one powerful open solution Adobe PDF is an open, published specification created and updated by Adobe and used by organizations worldwide today for more secure, reliable distribution and exchange of electronic documents with embedded 3D objects. Adobe PDF documents represent 3D data such as JT-based digital product models in the U3D format. JT is the PLM industry's most widely adopted open 3D data format for enabling product visualization, data sharing and collaboration. Virtually all major computer-aided design (CAD) applications used by manufacturers throughout the world can export JT files. "JT is the PLM industry's most robust format for 3D collaboration," said Chuck Grindstaff, executive vice president PLM Products, UGS. "Its flexibility together with JT's widespread adoption throughout the global manufacturing industry and the ubiquity of Adobe PDF will enhance the value of all documents used throughout the PLM process such as manufacturing instructions, requests for quotation (RFQs), marketing brochures and much more." The Adobe-UGS relationship enables an open technology exchange between the two companies involving Adobe PDF and JT. Now, through access to the Adobe PDF Library, UGS will have the ability to enable its customers to directly export content-rich PDF files through its entire suite of PLM software solutions. Similarly, using the JT software development toolkit (SDK), Adobe will allow users of future versions of Adobe Acrobat software to import JT-based interactive 3D product models into Adobe PDF documents. "JT and Adobe PDF are already well established and highly regarded by manufacturing organizations around the world," said Eugene Lee, vice president of product marketing, Intelligent Documents Business Unit, Adobe. "JT is an invaluable 3D data format for visualizing accurate, detailed product models, and much more. The manufacturing industry already relies on Adobe PDF for many of its traditional strengths, as well as new U3D support in Acrobat 7.0 Professional and Adobe Reader. With UGS, Adobe will enable customers to dramatically expand the utility of both JT and Adobe PDF, helping drive more efficient communication and greater productivity throughout the product lifecycle."