Press Release
Vulcanite Grows Business Opportunities by Successfully Adopting MSC.Marc for Virtual Product Development
SANTA ANA, CA - March 23, 2004 - MSC.Software Corp. (NYSE: MNS), the leading global provider of virtual product development (VPD) products including simulation software and services today announced that Sydney, Australia-based Vulcanite has successfully integrated MSC.Marc and MSC.Marc Mentat into their product development processes. As a leading supplier of composite and vulcanized products for the rail and transportation industries, Vulcanite relies upon the specialized capabilities of MSC.Marc and MSC.Marc Mentat to simulate the performance of high-fatigue, life-resilient composite designs relying greatly on the dynamic properties of natural rubber.
"The name of the game for suppliers and small and medium-sized manufacturers is to better integrate their product development tools, techniques and processes with those used by their OEM customers," said Frank Perna, chairman and CEO of MSC.Software. "MSC.Software has a very broad and scaleable portfolio of products and services for manufacturing companies of all sizes. Our work with Vulcanite is a perfect example of the ways in which we are generating revenue by penetrating the supply chains of our strategic customers, in this case, in the rail and transportation industries."
"The fundamental objective of the company is to continuously improve and provide world class products and services to meet customer and industry changing needs. Implicit in this objective is a competitive strategy for continuing improvement in quality, safety and efficiency directed at customer satisfaction," said Matthew Park, Managing Director at Vulcanite. "Typically, we set a target of between 8 to 12 weeks to produce a prototype, depending on the design. Before we purchased MSC.Marc, product development meant the manufacture of numerous prototypes and the need for tooling modifications, which often delayed production by several weeks. Since the implementation of MSC.Marc, we can finalize the tool design with only minor modifications required to dial in the tooling for production, thereby eliminating delays associated with re-tooling. So not only do we deliver on time but we also save up to 20% on our tooling costs."
"We approached MSC.Software on a specific project because our customer had mandated FEA design work as part of their tender process. Initially, we used MSC.Software's consulting services team to enhance the design and performance of our prototype design for a new Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) spring. The outcome was a major success; we were awarded the refurbishment contract for the replacement of the LRV spring worth up to AUD$300,000 and immediately issued with other opportunities within the bogie design, further increasing our order book," continued Matthew Park. "Consequently, we decided to purchase MSC.Marc and MSC.Marc Mentat along with tailored on-site training services from the local MSC.Software office to enhance our future designs using the VPD philosophy. Our investment with MSC.Software amounted to about AUD$60,000. Since then we've had a number of wins using MSC.Marc to design superior products for a wide range of applications, helping us to grow the business organically by competing successfully for new business, enhancing customer satisfaction through the reliable delivery of superior quality products, generating new orders and, importantly, increasing our profitability."
Some of Vulcanite's OEM customers already using MSC.Software's products include Bombardier Transportation, United Goninan, EDI Rail, QR (Queensland Rail), plus others. "In the future, we hope to increase our collaboration with rail OEM's using the VPD philosophy, which will optimize our input into their applications and further enhance our designs," added Matthew Park.
About MSC.Marc and MSC.Marc Mentat
MSC.Marc is a world-class simulation software product that allows users to perform a wide variety of structural, fluid, and coupled analyses using the finite element method. These procedures provide solutions for simple to complex linear and nonlinear engineering problems including the analysis of composite and other deformable materials. Analysts can graphically access all features via the MSC.Marc Mentat or MSC.Patran interfaces.
For more information on MSC.Marc, MSC.Marc Mentat and other MSC.Software products, please visit http://www.mscsoftware.com/products/.
About Vulcanite Pty Ltd
Vulcanite draws upon the skills of its people to partner their clients in providing flexible engineered solutions. A majority of the engineering solutions are achieved by the use of rubber and steel composites which are manufactured in the company's facility in Sydney, Australia.
For more information on Vulcanite, please visit http://www.vulcanite.com.au/.
About MSC.Software Corporation
MSC.Software (NYSE: MNS) is the leading global provider of simulation software and services, that helps companies make money, save time and reduce costs associated with designing and testing manufactured products. MSC.Software works with thousands of companies in hundreds of industries to develop better products faster by utilizing information technology, software, services and systems. MSC.Software employs more than 1400 people in 23 countries. For additional information about MSC.Software's products and services, please visit www.mscsoftware.com.
| Contact: Joanne Keates Vice President, Investor Relations MSC.Software 714.444.8551 joanne.keates@mscsoftware.com |
Contact: Catherine Meek Media Relations MSC.Software 714.445.5647 catherine.meek@mscsoftware.com |
