INDUSTRY

UGS, a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, announced that Lockheed Martin's Engineering Process Improvement (EPI) Center has selected NX Nastran as its preferred solution for finite-element analysis software. The agreement will enable numerous Lockheed Martin sites to leverage common terms and conditions for using NX Nastran and thus reduce internal costs associated with its acquisition and deployment. Lockheed Martin relies on NX Nastran for accurate evaluations of the structural performance of a wide range of its products, from launch vehicles to satellites. The scalability, openness and high-performance capabilities of NX Nastran allow Lockheed Martin engineers to perform standard product evaluations as well as challenging complex simulations of large systems with efficiency and confidence. "We carried out an extensive evaluation of NX Nastran prior to this agreement," said Steve Butt, director, Lockheed Martin EPI Center. "In addition, we reviewed UGS' long-term commitment to research and development as well as the company's Nastran technical support infrastructure. We are committed to NX Nastran as our high-performance CAE solver and are recommending it for deployment throughout Lockheed Martin." "UGS is committed to making NX Nastran a global standard for enterprise- wide CAE," said Jim Rusk, vice president, NX Digital Simulation, UGS. "This agreement validates our efforts to be named the approved standard after a very rigorous technical and business evaluation. Lockheed Martin EPI's responsibility for improving processes and choosing the best tools only adds to our sense of accomplishment." UGS launched NX Nastran in September 2003. Nastran, the world's most widely used finite-element analysis (FEA) software, was previously primarily available only from MSC.Software Corporation as MSC.Nastran. NX Nastran enables companies to accurately predict functional performance and evaluate multiple product design alternatives more efficiently. In the process, companies can gain quicker design insights and make smarter engineering decisions earlier in the design process -- leading to the creation of high performance, high quality and more innovative products while reducing total product costs.