Autodesk Product Data Management Software Helps Improve Operational Efficiencies and Enhance Productivity for Global Industrial Systems Supplier

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), announced that Andritz, a global market leader for the supply of systems and services to the hydropower, pulp, paper and metals sectors, has adopted Autodesk Vault product data management software to more efficiently manage CAD, engineering, materials handling and logistics data.

To strengthen its position in a highly competitive and fast-growing market, Austria-based Andritz sought a solution that would deliver enhanced collaboration between engineering teams at different locations while driving productivity, business agility and faster time to market.

Andritz’s existing product data management solution was proving to be too expensive, complex and unwieldy to meet these needs; therefore, select business units of the company decided to adopt Autodesk Vault software based on its seamless integration between AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD Mechanical. Within a year, Andritz was up and running with the software at 11 locations across Europe and Asia.

According to Ulrich Lanz, head of engineering application services, Andritz, “Our engineering teams were eager to use Vault software from the outset. It is easy to learn, which means we have been able to keep training time to a minimum (around half a day for each employee) and get new users up to speed in a cost-effective manner.”

“The system is fast,” added Lanz. “On certain key tasks, we experienced Autodesk Vault to be 10 times faster than our previous system. Engineers get instant feedback on system performance, which they love. And errors, particularly from overwriting data or from working on the wrong versions of documents, have been minimized.”

The implementation was also rapid compared with similar enterprise deployments at Andritz and was further accelerated by Autodesk Consulting, which helped configure the system and infrastructure. Autodesk Authorized Reseller, Man and Machine in Austria, also assisted in developing the product and associated add-ons.

Andritz has enjoyed such success with Vault software that it is now preparing to upgrade all of its licenses to Autodesk Vault Professional, which offers ERP integration for enhanced enterprise scalability. The migration will also enable Andritz to upgrade its capability to manage item and bill of material (BOM) handling, and to integrate seamlessly with existing enterprise business systems.

The Andritz Group is a global market leader for supply of systems and services to the hydropower, pulp and paper, metals and other specialized industries (solid/liquid separation, feed and biofuel). The group is headquartered in Graz, Austria, and has a staff of approximately 16,700 employees worldwide. Andritz operates over 180 production sites, service and sales companies all around the world.