| Spring 2002 |
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Board of Directors Meets With PTC Executives
(continued from page 1) Recent PTC Initiatives New pricing and packaging of the PTC product suite were announced last October. The new Pro/ENGINEER Foundation package, list priced at $4,995, offers functionality such as ModelCHECK™, MDX (Mechanism Design), and basic surfacing functions. Pro/DESKTOP® Express 2001 is free and available for download at the PTC website. The new Pro/COLLABORATE™ portal at www.ptc.com is a free collaboration workspace available to all PTC customers with an active support contract. Customer satisfaction is another major challenge that PTC is addressing. Although PTC has only conducted customer surveys since the second quarter of 2001, feedback is already shaping product plans. For example, inclusion of intelligent help within Pro/ENGINEER is a direct response to customer feedback. Mark Hodges, Senior Vice President of North American Regional Marketing and Liaison to the PTC/USER Board, is leading the customer satisfaction program. Periodic updates and a company “scorecard” can be viewed online by visiting the Company section of www.ptc.com. PTC is also working to improve customer satisfaction in the areas of license management and maintenance contracts. The Customer Care call center has achieved an 85% “live call” rate (calls answered with no wait). Working with Research and Development, the Finance Department has also created a simplified licensing system that was rolled out in December. Finally, PTC is now partnering with Oracle Corporation to streamline the entire order handling and administration process. PTC Goes to School PTC is expanding its presence within the education community. In the United Kingdom, over a million secondary school students now use Pro/DESKTOP to design everything from mobile phones to mountain bikes. Several hundred engineering programs throughout the United States—including the nation’s top 25 schools—are now teaching Pro/ENGINEER. Through the University Plus program, companies may sponsor colleges wanting to introduce design and technology courses. For an annual donation of $2,500, PTC provides the necessary software to the institution to enable student exploration of the worlds of design, engineering and technology. PTC is sponsoring a growing number of student design clubs and contests as well. Without improvements in technology education, students won’t graduate with the skills required to tackle 21st century problems. That’s why programs like those offered by PTC are so important. Of course, having Pro/ENGINEER skills on their resumes clearly benefits college students entering the workforce. More important, introducing design technology early in a child’s education develops skills in many related disciplines such as math and science. It also encourages the development of communication skills and logical thinking—essential for any career path. The Outlook PTC is making advances on many fronts simultaneously. Although some significant challenges still remain, the future looks very bright for Pro/ENGINEER and Windchill. The planned integration of Internet technologies into the product suite could open the door to a host of innovations not yet imagined. If PTC executes its plans well, we can look forward to its software remaining the premier tool for product development. |
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