June 8, 2005  |  Imaginestics and American Foundry Society form alliance to distribute integrated i-advisor and Casting Source Directory

Purdue Research Park, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A Imaginestics and the American Foundry Society (AFS) , announced today an alliance to distribute an advisory tool for metal casting to aid design engineers and procurement personnel. Imaginestics is a leading provider of design reuse management solutions for discrete manufacturing, while AFS is a trade association with a mission to provide and promote knowledge and services that strengthen the metalcasting industry for the ultimate benefit of its customers and society. Composed of two parts, this advisory tool incorporates Imaginestics' i-advisor software to provide optimal casting processes and "should cost" estimates of casting designs and the AFS/Engineered Casting Solution's Casting Source Directory, which assists in finding casting suppliers based on casting process capabilities.

Using extensive knowledge of major metalcasting processes and materials, i-advisor helps to identify the optimal casting process for specific casting designs through an intuitive graphical interface and then details "should cost" information specific to the selected process and design. Once the process and material have been selected, i-advisor interacts with the online Casting Source Directory, providing a list of suppliers that have the expertise required for the recommended process and material. The basic version of i-advisor integrated with the Casting Source Directory is available for download at www.Imaginestics.com, and the Casting Source Directory can be accessed at http://www.castsolutions.com. This online directory allows users to search for casting suppliers based on material, metalcasting process, geography, or keyword. The Casting Source Directory is one-of-a-kind, covering all metalcasting processes and materials.

"The i-advisor application helps create a cost-conscious culture in your company by allowing designers and other key decision-makers to understand the impact of design decisions on process costs. It enables dynamic analysis of product designs with the goal of achieving improved product quality, faster time-to-market, and lower product development costs," said Nainesh Rathod, President/CEO of Imaginestics.

"The combination of i-advisor and the online Casting Supplier Directory will head off design issues that previously cost a company days or weeks and tens of thousands of dollars," said Alfred Spada, American Foundry Society Marketing and editor and publisher of Engineered Casting Solutions magazine. He further stated, "Design engineers get process advice early in the design process with the click of the mouse, and purchasing agents can quickly and easily find vendors with the required expertise."

About Imaginestics
Imaginestics is the emerging leader in Design Reuse Management (DRM) systems for the manufacturing and life sciences industry. DRM is the process of applying current and legacy design knowledge at the point of application so it can be processed when it is useful. Imaginestics' product suite includes i-advisor, an engineering advisory system; i-config, an enterprise-wide product configurator; and i-compare, an intelligent design content matching and locator tool.

About American Foundry Society (AFS)
Headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, USA, AFS is a not-for-profit technical and management organization that has existed since 1896 to provide and promote knowledge and services that strengthen the metalcasting industry for the ultimate benefit of its customers and society.