NGRAIN Maintenance Training Solution Version 3.0 Enables Defense Industry to Train Faster, More Efficiently
Enhanced interactive 3D solution significantly extends defense industry's ability to meet increasing need for better, more time efficient training at reduced costs
VANCOUVER, BC — April 14, 2005 — NGRAIN® today introduced version 3.0 of its award-winning maintenance training solution that uses NGRAIN's unique interactive 3D technology to accelerate training on complex equipment, and enable personnel to complete maintenance and repair procedures correctly the first time around.
Comprised of NGRAIN's innovative off-the-shelf software, and customer-oriented support services, the NGRAIN solution enables everyday computer users of all skill levels to produce and deploy interactive 3D maintenance training aids to personnel everywhere, on common desktop, laptop or tablet PCs. This unique capability enables faster and more efficient training anytime, anywhere.
"Our customers in the defense industry are increasingly faced with the need to train personnel faster in a cost-wise manner, without impacting the quality of training," said Paul Lindahl, president and CEO of NGRAIN. "This latest release of our maintenance training solution will allow our customers to further accelerate training procedures and get personnel to the required proficiency levels faster, helping to optimize operational readiness at lower cost."
The hands-on, deployable nature of the NGRAIN solution also provides personnel with access to maintenance and equipment-related information and instructional reference materials whenever and wherever they need it, on laptops and tablet PCs. This helps to ensure that the job is performed correctly, and dramatically reduces or eliminates time consuming and costly mistakes.
"We were thrilled to be part of the beta program for the NGRAIN Solution," said Alan MacAulay, Vice President, Client Services at Provinent Corporation. "Not only is the NGRAIN software incredibly easy to learn and quick to use, but it delivers an unsurpassed level of interactivity with complex 3D equipment, which allows us to provide our customers with virtual hands-on training. This gives students significantly more opportunity to practice, which is otherwise often limited due to lack of access to live equipment for training."
Provinent -- one of Canada's largest e-learning companies dedicated to providing custom consulting and e-learning development services - has delivered over 500 e-learning solutions to corporations, government and continuing education providers in a wide range of industries across North America and the United Kingdom.
Return on Investment
Independent assessment conducted by leading industry analyst and consultant Clark Aldrich concluded that organizations can expect between 49 and 212 per cent return on investment, by incorporating the NGRAIN maintenance training solution into their training programs. This quantifiable return comes from i) eliminating time spent recreating training content and dealing with inaccuracies, ii) more easily capturing and disseminating expert knowledge about the equipment in question, iii) reducing trainer and trainee travel requirements, iv) reducing the cost shipping of complex equipment and associated errors and, v) reducing or eliminating equipment wear and tear caused by extensive training on actual equipment.
About Version 3.0
NGRAIN Version 3.0 for maintenance training features upgrades to three software applications:
NGRAIN Producer 3.0, formerly called Knowledge Module, forms the solution's core. The application allows users, without any programming or scripting, to add expert knowledge to 3D models and transform them into interactive 3D Knowledge Objects. Using Producer 3.0, users can easily create animations demonstrating maintenance procedures, specify the assembly and disassembly sequence of a piece of equipment, and assign information, including links to reference materials, other models or information on a network.
Producer 3.0 represents a leap forward in product capabilities, including a significantly extended animation-creation capability, parts hierarchy support, expedited creation of assembly and disassembly tasks, call-out creation, and the ability to show parts within the context of a transparent model.
Published 3D Knowledge Objects can be easily inserted into a variety of training materials, including HTML Web pages, Microsoft® Word documents and Microsoft PowerPoint® slides.
NGRAIN Mobilizer 3.0 is a free Viewer used to access the interactive Knowledge Objects on common computers like desktops, laptops or tablet PCs. Mobilizer 3.0, which can be deployed either as a stand-alone application or embedded into a Web page, Word document or PowerPoint slide, allows users to rotate, move, zoom, assemble and disassemble and manipulate the 3D models created with Producer.
Mobilizer 3.0 enhancements include a dramatically extended Application Programming Interface, enhanced integration with Microsoft® Word and PowerPoint®, and advanced interactions with 3D Knowledge Objects.
NGRAIN Transformer 3.0 enables the conversion of existing 3D content, such as 3D computer-aided design (CAD) or Digital Content Creation data, into the NGRAIN secure, compressed format for distribution over common computers. Once converted to NGRAIN, complex 3D models are highly interactive, yet cannot be reverse-engineered.
Transformer 3.0 includes an enhanced graphical user interface and a new command-line interface option, as well as conversion support for the CATIA Version 4 and CATIA Version 5 formats.
NGRAIN will be showcasing its maintenance training solution version 3.0 at CANSEC 2005, Canada's National Security Technology event taking place at the Ottawa Congress Centre between April 14 and 15, as well as at a number of upcoming events later this month and in May. Visit the NGRAIN website at www.ngrain.com to learn more about upcoming events.
About NGRAIN
NGRAIN delivers interactive 3D training solutions to the defense industry. The company's solutions accelerate maintenance training on complex equipment and enable first-time-right repairs, resulting in greater operational readiness at lower cost.
By delivering an unsurpassed level of 3D interactivity on common PCs, and empowering everyday computer users to rapidly produce information-rich virtual equipment to enhance existing electronic training materials, NGRAIN is unique in its ability to transform training and optimize operations at a significantly lower cost.
NGRAIN customers include the United States Army, the United States Air Force, the Canadian Department of National Defence, and Lockheed Martin.
NGRAIN also licenses its breakthrough graphics technology to leading organizations across multiple industries and application areas. More information can be obtained at www.ngrain.com.
For additional information, please contact:
Lawrence Cummer, Environics Communications for NGRAIN
416-969-2747, lcummer@environicspr.com
Dan Ginsburg, Environics Communications for NGRAIN
203-325-8772 ext. 11, dginsburg@environics-usa.com