International Network Services Ltd, INS, is to expand its electronic data interchange services into the transfer of technical design information by distributing General Electric Information Systems Co’s Design*Express in the UK. Design*Express was developed for the electronic exchange of design data, such as engineering drawings, computer models, computer-aided design-computer-aided manufacture files and numerical control files. INS claims the service’s data compression and algorithms enable it to handle complex and high volume data files for engineering design, with access speeds in excess of 9.6Kbps; it will target textiles, aerospace, automotive and construction markets for the product. Design*Express will be available in the UK in the early part of the fourth quarter, and INS wants the product to be available in major European countries by the end of 1989. Geisco developed Design*Express and launched it in the US in February. INS is a joint venture company formed in February, 1987 by the General Electric’s Geisco and ICL Ltd.
