News in Brief

The following announcements were made at the National Manufacturing Week show, held last month in Chicago, Ill.:

Parametric Technology Corp.(Waltham, Mass.), a developer of mechanical design automation software, has formed a strategic relationship with Intergraph Computer Systems (Huntsville, Ala.), a supplier of computer systems for the technical desktop. Parametric's Pro/Engineer product will now run on Intergraph's TD personal workstation running under Windows NT. ... Parametric also announced it has agreed to acquire the industrial design and visualization software products of Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. (Salt Lake City, Utah) for $34.5 million in cash. The products include E&S;'s Conceptual Design and Rendering System (CDRS) and 3-D Paint, software tools used to develop, view and evaluate freeform surface models for automobiles, appliances, sporting goods, etc. The E&S; employees involved with those products will join Parametric. ... Intellution (Norwood, Mass.), a manufacturer of industrial automation software, has been awarded a U.S. Patent for its Display Object technology. This technology instantly detects updates needed for screen display and immediately redraws that portion of the display to reflect real-time changes in monitored data sources. ... Kronos Inc. (Waltham, Mass.), a vendor of time accounting and data collection systems, has acquired ShopTrac Data Collection Systems Inc. (Calabasas, Calif.), a manufacturing software company. The merger will enable Kronos to combine the ShopTrac suite of manufacturing management applications with its data collection products for a comprehensive shop floor manufacturing system. ... The Manufacturing Execution Systems Association (MESA) (Pittsburgh, Pa.) has added Epitome Technology Corp. (Burlington, Mass.) as a new associate member and IBM Corp. (Charlotte, N.C.) has gone from associate to regular member. MESA represents major suppliers of integrated manufacturing execution systems (MES) software, and companies who provide point solutions, computer hardware, databases, systems integration, and other products and services that contribute to manufacturing productivity and quality improvement. ... Gensym Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.), a developer of intelligent software for manufacturing applications, has joined the World Batch Forum as a founding sponsor. The forum was established in 1994 for the exchange of information related to the management, operation and automation of batch process manufacturing facilities. Batch processing is a common manufacturing method in the chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, and food and beverage industries. ... The Open DeviceNet Vendors Association (Coral Springs, Fla.), an independent supplier organization, has been formed to take ownership of the DeviceNet specification and support worldwide growth. DeviceNet is an open communications network designed to connect factory floor devices, such as sensors, push buttons, motor starters and drives, to control systems. It is based on commercially available controller area network technology and can be used by any company to develop interoperable products. ... Effective Management Systems Inc. (Milwaukee, Wis.), a vendor of manufacturing management software, has formed a Worldwide Consulting Services Group, which will be responsible for managing international accounts and educating EMS's overseas resellers as EMS expands into Asia and other areas. ... Xerox Engineering Systems (Rochester, N.Y.) has introduced the Engineering Document System, an industry initiative designed to accelerate the movement of mission-critical documents throughout engineering and manufacturing enterprises. The initiative is based on advanced digital document-processing technologies and a modular architecture that will enable users to create solutions based on their current and future needs.

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