Opal-RT Technologies Finalizes Strategic Partnership with A&D Company of Japan

Opal-RT Technologies Inc., (www.opal-rt.com), the world leader in distributed simulation on PC-based platforms, today announced plans to join forces with A&D Company, Limited in a strategic partnership designed to establish the standard simulation tool-set for next-generation product design in the automotive industry.

Opal-RT enjoys an enviable reputation in the field of real-time simulation technology over distributed computation hardware, and supplies software, hardware, simulation, modeling, consulting, etc. to industries such as automotive, aerospace, mechatronics, robotics, and energy.

The cooperation of the two companies is expected to bring great synergies through.

• Technological collaboration: the development of next-generation simulation tools as the standard for the auto industry through the hardware mass-production technology of A&D and the simulation technologies of Opal-RT. 
• International Market Development: In Japan, A&D will increase market awareness of how Opal-RT's RT-LAB simulation technologies operate on A&D hardware through A&D's extensive sales network, leading to sales promotion of a joint-company product. In North America, cooperative marketing activity starts in 2004 and a joint sales company will be established in 2005.

Background to this Partnership 

Due to intense competition in the global auto industry, significant challenges, such as compliance with state & federal regulations, the speed and cost of new vehicle design and development, and exhaust gas emission, must be overcome simultaneously. In particular, during the research-and-development stages of a new vehicle design, the testing procedure is complicated and verification of the test data took a great deal of time due to the increasing complexity of the designs. Moreover, the overall performance of the car design is conducted through extensive fine-tuning of the control system of a car. However, since the development tools needed for each stage carry out development differently, there is a need for a system that can combine both.

"There is strong demand for the establishment of an integrated simulation and testing environment for automotive engineers using dynamic design software tools, such as MATLAB," said Jean Belanger, President & CEO of Opal-RT Technologies. "Opal-RT's partnership with A&D blazes the trail for the development of solutions that can meet this demand while overcoming the challenges of meeting government regulations for automotive design, and speeding the pace and lowering the cost of the overall vehicle design process."

Expected Outcomes from this Partnership 

Powerful simulation software products from Opal-RT, including the company's flagship RT-LAB engineering simulator products, will operate on A&D's DSP series of products. The two companies will collaborate on co-marketing activities, to raise awareness of jointly developed solutions. The focus of the partnership will be on the Japanese and North American markets, with the aim of developing auto industry standard tools, while creating opportunities for standardization within the European auto market.