ESI Group and Fujitsu make SynfiniWay partnership

ESI Group and Fujitsu Systems Europe have announced a partnership to extend the validation of ESI Group's world-leading applied-mechanics technology with the SynfiniWay service-oriented platform.

ESI Group and Fujitsu Systems Europe have announced a partnership to extend the validation of ESI Group's world-leading applied-mechanics technology with the SynfiniWay service-oriented platform for collaborative computing from Fujitsu.

The first validation of SynfiniWay with ESI Group products was made using the PAM-CRASH application for crash simulation, through the joint pay-per-use Application Service Provider (ASP) business with Fujitsu Systems Europe.

End-users connect to the ASP site using a SynfiniWay client interface, which ensures complete run-time security of the compute servers and manages the automatic transfer and encryption of data between the server and desktop machine.

Initial clients for this PAM-CRASH ASP include automotive manufacturers and sub-contractors wishing to benefit from access to peak-load capacity or scalable systems to solve larger problems.

An ASP model is only one implementation of SynfiniWay, where the client connects to an external managed facility.

SynfiniWay can go much further and be deployed within an organisation to connect machines at the same site or in separate locations or, alternatively, can be used to form a collaboration platform between companies.

Among present customers, examples of use include resource pooling across a physically dispersed organisation to increase aggregate utilisation, standardisation of the end-user interface for local heterogeneous systems, and meta-scheduling of workflows for optimised process turnaround.

These adaptable solutions can be installed easily and quickly without disrupting the existing infrastructure.

SynfiniWay is founded on a service-oriented architecture programming model, and provides the global task-management layer between the end-user and dispersed computing resources.

SynfiniWay services virtualise a networked computing infrastructure, allowing the tasks to execute anywhere, from desktops to remote servers, with the same robust end-user view.

Services are then linked in workflows to encode and create innovative engineering business processes through versatile logical and data dependencies - a potent mechanism for automated connectivity along the application value chain.

Vincent Chaillou, President and Chief Operating Officer, Product Operations (ESI Group), explains that, "ESI Group is engaging into a new phase of its long-term partnership with Fujitsu that started with the validation of ESI Group solutions on Fujitsu high-performance computers".

"Today, the same quest to deliver high-value products and services to our customers leads us to validate the SynfiniWay middleware that will enable flexible access to PAM-CRASH and the Virtual Try-Out Space.

This software layer is an essential element to increase customers' confidence in the ASP model and ensure the growth of this new delivery mode.

Process innovation is a key benefit from SynfiniWay," adds Naoya Tamura, CEO of Fujitsu Systems Europe.

"Through the workflow control of virtualised services, new engineering business processes can be created that are independent of the underlying compute and network layer.

The validation partnership for ESI Group products will ensure that SynfiniWay services comply with the application interface and method.

Our mutual customers can then be assured of a reliable and robust combined solution for industrial production." SynfiniWay can be purchased directly from Fujitsu Systems Europe and was demonstrated during the EuroPAM 2005 conference on digital simulation for virtual engineering, which was held from 5 to 7 October in Potsdam (Germany).

Support for SynfiniWay is provided by Fujitsu Systems Europe and by Fujitsu.

* About Fujitsu Systems Europe - Fujitsu Systems Europe provides an integrated suite of products and services for users of distributed and clustered computing infrastructures.

Technical computing solutions include Linux clusters, large-scale SMP servers and workstations, complemented by a managed facility for peak and scalable utility computing.

Fujitsu Systems Europe also develops and markets worldwide the SynfiniWay software platform for collaborative computing.

The company's services, founded on dedicated expertise in technical and engineering simulation, include the audit, design and deployment of SynfiniWay-based solutions for process optimisation and innovation.

Clients include leading companies in the energy, meteorology, automotive and aerospace industries, as well as universities and research institutions.

Fujitsu Systems Europe is part of the Fujitsu Group.

* About Fujitsu - Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace.

Pace-setting device technologies, highly reliable computing and communications products, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts, all uniquely position Fujitsu to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for its customers' success.

Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702), which is headquartered in Tokyo, reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$44.5 billion) for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2005.

* About ESI Group - ESI Group is a pioneer and world-leading supplier of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes that take into account the physics of materials.

ESI Group has developed an entire suite of coherent, industry-oriented applications to simulate a product's behaviour realistically during testing, to fine-tune the manufacturing processes in accordance with the desired product performance, and to evaluate the environment's impact on product usage.

ESI Group's products, which have a proven track record in manufacturing and have been combined in multi-trade value chains, represent a unique collaborative, virtual engineering solution, known as the Virtual Try-Out Space (VTOS), enabling virtual prototypes to be improved in a continuous manner.

By drastically reducing costs and development lead times, VTOS solutions offer major competitive advantages and make it possible to eliminate gradually the need for physical prototypes.

This integrated protocol allows all the company's solutions to work with each other and with applications developed by independent software vendors.

By significantly reducing costs and development lead times and enabling product/process synergies, VTOS solutions progressively eliminate the need for physical prototypes during product development, thus offering major competitive advantages.

ESI Group is listed on the Eurolist compartment C of Euronext Paris, and generated sales of EUR 60 million in 2004.

The company employs almost 500 high-level specialists worldwide, and covers more than 30 countries.

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