Will Leverage Avexus' Software Development Infrastructure and Expertise to Introduce Repair And Overhaul Support for P&WC Engines

Avexus Inc. and Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (P&WC), have announced an innovative collaboration for a new inspection and overhaul workbench application. Avexus will be responsible for the development, marketing, sale and support of the workbench, which is based upon a similar application that was initially conceived and developed by P&WC for its own in-house use.

Avexus will develop a publicly available software solution, which will streamline gas turbine engine overhaul operations at repair facilities worldwide. Avexus' software solution will provide repair facilities with a proven process for effectively and profitably repairing P&WC's broad range of gas turbine engines. The application will also display aggregated engine configuration and service bulletin information that will be regularly updated by P&WC. These combined functions will enable repair facilities to improve customer service by reducing turn times and ensuring the quality of their repair and overhaul services.

"Once we had developed our in-house workbench solution, we recognized an opportunity to identify a collaborator with the industry expertise and software development infrastructure to successfully bring such an application to market -- and Avexus quickly became the obvious choice," said Gilbert Gaudette, Vice President - Service Centres for P&WC. "No stranger to the industry, Avexus has a long history of helping aviation MRO service providers streamline their operations. The excellent reputation Avexus has earned in this market will certainly help drive momentum for our joint development of a solution for the MRO market."

Scheduled for general availability in Q3 2004, the workbench application will be owned and licensed by Avexus as a module within the Avexus Impresa MRO solution or as a standalone product. Impresa is the industry's leading MRO software suite, enabling comprehensive planning, scheduling and financial management for aircraft maintenance and modification tasks.

"We are certainly honored that Pratt & Whitney Canada approached us about developing and supporting this solution, as we see it being a boon for any overhaul and repair facility that services P&WC engines," said Andrew Dumke, Avexus chairman and CEO. "This collaboration is a perfect fit, especially when you consider that this new workbench application will mirror the core objective of our Impresa solution -- getting the right data into the right hands at the right time."

In essence, the workbench application will provide ready access to P&WC's complete engine configuration graphs, instructions and service bulletins. Moreover, the application will aggregate all applicable information for the specific engine being serviced. This functionality will help reduce the potential for errors and save time by giving the repair technician access to the most relevant, up-to-date information, while eliminating the conventional, tedious and error-prone process of cross-referencing numerous sources. Using this dynamic software solution, repair facilities can be confident that they are servicing P&WC engines to FAA and JAA requirements.

Avexus' Impresa(TM) software solution consists of a suite of integrated functional components that aid in all product lifecycle phases, including product design, sourcing, sales, manufacturing, maintenance, and repair and overhaul. The result is improved process management, decision-making and profitability throughout the lifecycle of complex assets.

FMI: www.avexus.com, www.pwc.ca