SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report:
February 17, 2003
Avatech Solutions, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
Delaware
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)
001-31265 84-1035353
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(Commission File Number) IRS Employer Identification No.
1403 Cronhill Drive, Suite A, Owings Mills, Maryland 21117
(Address of Principal Executive Offices (Zip Code)
(410) 902-6900
(Registrant's telephone number)
Item 5. Other Events.
Registrant issued a press release on February 17, 2003 reporting that it
had entered into a memorandum of understanding with Unigraphic Solutions, Inc.,
a subsidiary of Electronic Data Systems Corporation ("EDS") pursuant to which,
among other things, Registrant will become a certified reseller of EDS' product
lifecycle management software upon the execution of a definitive agreement. The
press release, filed as an exhibit hereto, is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 7. Financial Statements, Pro Forma Financial Information and Exhibits
(c) Exhibits: The following exhibits are filed as part of this Current Report:
99.3 Press Release dated February 17, 2003.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Date: February 17, 2003 Avatech Solutions, Inc.
By: /s/ A. Gary Rever
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A. Gary Rever
Chief Financial Officer and Principal
Accounting Officer
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CONTACT:
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Jim Phelan - EDS PLM Solutions Melody Craigmyle - Avatech Solutions
314-264-8216 410- 581-8080 ext. 311
jim.phelan@eds.com mcraigmyle@avatechsolutions.com
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For Release 8:00 a.M.cst, monday, february 17, 2003
EDS and Avatech Solutions to Expand Reach of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
Solutions to Small and Medium Sized Manufacturers
Avatech, one of the largest integrators of Autodesk software worldwide, expected
to become a certified reseller of EDS PLM products
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DARATECH SUMMIT 2003, NEW YORK - EDS, the world's leading supplier of product
lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, and Avatech Solutions, one of
the largest integrators of Autodesk software worldwide, today announced an
agreement designed to enable Avatech to become a certified reseller of EDS
software and thus expand its reach with small and medium-sized manufacturers.
EDS made the announcement in conjunction with the Daratech Summit 2003
conference, which opened today in New York. Tony Affuso, president of EDS PLM
Solutions, is scheduled to address the conference on Tuesday.
EDS and Avatech intend to formalize the memorandum of understanding currently in
place through an official reseller contract.
"This agreement is designed to enhance the distribution and support of EDS'
world-class PLM solutions into the important market segment of small and
medium-sized manufacturers while significantly improving their ability to
intelligently and affordably leverage the same PLM technology used by many of
the world's largest companies," said Stephen Brown, president of Indirect
Channels in the Americas for EDS PLM Solutions.
"We are committed to protecting our clients' investments just as we are
committed to enhancing our ability to reach and support important market
segments through high quality resellers like Avatech. EDS is the PLM leader
because we are the only vendor offering a seamless set of solutions supporting
clients regardless of their size or existing product development environment,"
he said. "With EDS' scalable, `multi-CAD' approach to PLM, mid-market
manufacturers can begin to realize the business benefits of PLM while leveraging
their existing product data -- data created in wide variety of CAD
(computer-aided design) formats."
Key Growth Segment for PLM
PLM spending by companies with revenues between $30 million and $249 million
increased by 85 percent from 2000 to 2001, according to the recent Product
Lifecycle Management Applications Report, 2001-2006 from AMR Research. EDS
expects PLM spending by small and medium-sized manufacturers to continue to
increase significantly as distributed design and engineering teams expand, and
collaboration between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers
continues to deliver cost savings and improvements in time to market.
Further supporting this growth potential is the lack of current PLM penetration
into the mid-market manufacturing sector. As AMR stated in its report, "Although
large discrete manufacturers have in many cases installed some sort of packaged
PDM system (a subset of PLM), these are a very small minority of the overall
addressable manufacturing base."
"This agreement is consistent with Avatech's strategy to expand its market focus
and build upon its Autodesk offerings by broadening the diversified portfolio of
collaboration, visualization and design solutions we deploy for our
manufacturing customer base," said Donald R. "Scotty" Walsh, CEO, Avatech
Solutions. "Furthermore, EDS' open and flexible approach to PLM ideally aligns
with the needs of our current Autodesk customers and prospects.
"By leveraging Avatech's local expertise and support, our clients can
intelligently implement the world's leading PLM solutions while protecting their
current investments in software, training, process development and, most
importantly, the highly valuable digital data they create."
About EDS
EDS, the leading global services company, provides strategy, implementation,
business transformation and operational solutions for clients managing the
business and technology complexities of the digital economy. EDS brings together
the world's best technologies to address critical client business imperatives.
It helps clients eliminate boundaries, collaborate in new ways, establish their
customers' trust and continuously seek improvement. EDS, with its management
consulting subsidiary, A.T. Kearney, serves the world's leading companies and
governments in 60 countries. EDS reported revenues of $21.5 billion in 2002. The
company's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EDS) and the
London Stock Exchange. Learn more at www.eds.com.
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About Avatech Solutions
Avatech Solutions, Inc. (OTCBB: AVSO.OB) is a leading provider of design
automation and quality assurance solutions for the manufacturing, building
design, civil engineering and GIS markets. Headquartered in Owings Mills,
Maryland, the company specializes in software development, technical support,
training and consulting aimed at improving design and documentation efficiencies
and the seamless integration of workflow processes.
Avatech is one the largest integrators of Autodesk software worldwide and a
leading provider of engineering document management solutions. The company is
the developer of the award-winning PrescientQA(TM) quality assurance software
and cycle time reduction products for the manufacturing supply chain.
Avatech serves 20,000 clients worldwide including the industry leaders from
Fortune 1000 and Engineering News Record's Top 500 companies. Visit
www.avatechsolutions.com for more information.
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This press release contains forward-looking statements about the expectations,
beliefs, plans, intentions and strategies of Avatech Solutions, Inc. There are a
number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those anticipated by any forward-looking information. A description of
risks and uncertainties attendant to Avatech and its industry, and other factors
that could affect Avatech's financial results, are included in the Securities
and Exchange Commission filings of PlanetCAD, Inc., which merged with Avatech on
November 19, 2002 including, but not limited to, PlanetCAD's annual report on
Form 10KSB for the year ended December 31, 2001, its quarterly reports on form
10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended March 31, June 30, and September 30, 2002,
and the proxy statement/prospectus relating to the merger of Avatech and
PlanetCAD. Interested parties may obtain a free copy of these documents at the
SEC's web site at www.sec.gov, or by contacting Gary Rever at Tel: (410)
902-6900 or email mcraigmyle@avatechsolutions.com.
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Note: Unigraphics, I-deas, Solid Edge and Teamcenter are registered trademarks
of EDS or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All
other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their
respective holders.