Dassault Systemes Snatches Up FE-Design, Gets into the Optimization Craze
FE-DESIGN GmbH, a German company with a product line named after a famous Italian opera, is going to become part of Dassault Systemes (DS), a French 3D software giant.
Today, in a transaction of undisclosed amount, DS acquired the Germany software maker known for its optimization packages: TOSCA Fluid and TOSCA Structure. DS already has a robust collection of simulation products, marketed under the SIMULIA brand. By acquiring FE-DESIGN, DS is boosting its current simulation offerings with the optimization technology in FE-DESIGN’s TOSCA products. Continue reading
ANSYS Buys Composite Analysis Software Developer EVEN
Recent mergers and acquisitions in the simulation market reveal a growing appetite for composite expertise. The explanation is simple (and it’s going to sound like a pitch from a diet program): by gobbling up composite content, you can master the art of weight loss.
In aerospace and automotive, manufacturers aggressively pursue weight reduction because lighter products provide better fuel economy. The most recent discovery is that composite materials offer a serious advantage in weight reduction. Explaining its innovative approach to aircraft design, Airbus notes, “Composite materials maximize weight reduction — as they typically are 20% lighter than aluminum –- and are known to be more reliable than other traditional metallic materials, leading to reduced aircraft maintenance costs, and a lower number of inspections during service.”
Everyone in simulation wants a piece of the composite action. This has led to Autodesk’s acquisition of Firehole Technologies, Siemens PLM Software’s acquisition of Vistagy, MSC Software’s acquisition of E-Xtream, and more. This week, ANSYS joined the gold rush by gobbling up EVEN, based in Zurich, Switzerland. Continue reading
Autodesk Acquisition Brings Composite Simulation Into the Fold
Take a gander at the bill of materials of many cars, planes, even sporting goods equipment and it’s no surprise that any company aiming to be a serious player in simulation needs to add a composite tool to their CAE mix.
Dassault Systems offers composite simulation as part of its CATIA 3D Experience platform, and Siemens PLM Software made an aggressive play to address simulation of composite materials with its 2011 acquisition of Vistagy, which has a huge following in the aerospace sector.
Now jumping into the fray is Autodesk, which has already built out a pretty robust simulation software portfolio via its acquisitions of Algor (for FEA capabilities), Blue Ridge Numerics (for CFD functionality), and MoldFlow (for injection-molding analysis). Its latest target is Firehole Technologies, a privately-held firm specializing in design and analysis software for composite materials. Continue reading
1 Comment
Dell Gets Ready to Go Private: What Does it Mean for Professional Workstation Users?
The PC market is dominated by just a handful of major players. It’s literally a single hand, as five brands — Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS — account for 58.9% market share (“Gartner and IDC: PC shipments tumbled…,” October 10, 2012, engadget). The rest is made up by specialty brands. Naturally, in such a tight market, a major strategy shift by one of the Big Five is bound to produce ripple effects.
Last week, publicly traded Dell began taking steps to go private — an option the company’s founder, chairman, and CEO Michael Dell described as “an exciting new chapter for Dell” in a press release. According to the company, Dell has “signed a definitive merger agreement under which Michael Dell, … in partnership with global technology investment firm Silver Lake, will acquire Dell” in a $24.4 billion transaction. Continue reading
Leave a comment
Siemens Acquiring LMS: What Does It Mean?
Editor’s Note: This is a guest commentary by MCAE industry veteran Dennis Nagy.
On Thursday (Nov. 8, 2012) Siemens announced its intention to acquire LMS International of Leuven, Belgium for EUR 640M (~$865M), topping previous acquisitions of Ansoft ($824M) and Fluent ($589M) by ANSYS in 2008 and 2006, respectively. Kenneth Wong has already written about the details of the announcement, so I will not repeat those here. As a 40-year MCAE industry veteran who has worked in the past for or with both Siemens and LMS in the specific area of MCAE, I am particularly familiar with both parties to this acquisition and I have clear views on what I think it will mean for the engineering simulation software industry going forward.
