Blueridge Announces the First Document Imaging System for Aircraft Maintenance Records

FLINT HILL, Va. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - July 15, 1996 - Blueridge Technologies, "The Internet Document Management Company (TM)," announced the OPTIX AIR® (Aircraft Information Retrieval) System. OPTIX AIR is the first industrial-strength document imaging and document management system designed to allow for efficient archival and retrieval of aircraft maintenance records.

As airplanes become more complex, and safety inspections more frequent, airlines have faced the task of managing an increasing amount of aircraft maintenance paperwork. To keep their planes in shape, and in the air, airlines need to satisfy both stringent FAA reporting regulations, and the need to access archived information at a moment's notice.

OPTIX AIR enables airlines to scan and electronically archive all their paper documents. The documents can then be retrieved in seconds from both local and wide area networks - from room to room, building to building, or airport to airport. OPTIX AIR accommodates everything from paper documents, to microfilm, to engineering drawings, and everything in between. OPTIX AIR even works with documents that are already on computer, including word-processing files, spreadsheets, and CAD drawings.

OPTIX AIR satisfies the three primary requirements of aircraft maintenance record systems:
speed, reliability, and data integrity:

SPEED - OPTIX AIR is a client/server system that includes a high-performance UNIX server for maximum performance. Federal Express uses OPTIX to manage aircraft maintenance records for their fleet of over 500 aircraft. According to Roger Hutchinson, Manager of Aircraft Records at Federal Express, "The single biggest advantage of OPTIX to our department is 'speed.' We can do in 5 minutes what might have taken us up to an hour to do before."

RELIABILITY - OPTIX AIR uses industry standard off-the-shelf components designed for maximum reliability and easy maintenance.

DATA INTEGRITY - OPTIX AIR uses the latest encryption technology to protect your data, and the latest storage technology (including RAID and optical disk) to preserve your data.

According to Dr. John Jamieson, General Manager of Blueridge Technologies, "The OPTIX AIR system makes it easier for airlines to maintain their airplanes, while making it possible to provide federal inspectors with instant access to the latest maintenance information for every aircraft, and every aircraft component, in an entire fleet."

Asked to comment on the significance of OPTIX AIR, Nathaniel Palmer, Senior Market Analyst for Delphi Consulting Group concluded, "As workflow and document management technology evolve into commodity items, with products becoming virtually identical and equally available, vendors are struggling to find new ways to differentiate themselves. The vendors who will remain successful in the future and avoid being swallowed by the inevitable market shakeout, will be those who develop core competency solutions. These are turnkey applications which transcend traditional vertical market-orientation and provide 'best practices' qualities embedded within the code. One of the better, early examples of this is Blueridge's OPTIX AIR."

Founded in 1988, Blueridge Technologies is one of the industry's oldest and most respected providers of electronic document management systems (EDMS). Long the leading industrial-strength document imaging and workflow system for Apple Macintosh computers, in 1994 OPTIX became the first electronic document management system to offer workflow, document imaging, document control, COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk), and natural language text retrieval for both Windows and Macintosh workstations. Via the new OPTIX WEB interface, OPTIX also supports popular Web browsers, including Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer from Microsoft, Mosaic, and all the client platforms these products support, including Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX workstations. An online demo of OPTIX WEB is available at http://www.optixweb.com. Blueridge Technologies is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Metters Industries.

OPTIX systems begin in the range of $40,000 and include server software, client software for both Macintosh and Windows, installation, training, and support.