eDrive - Summer 2016 - (Page 24)

Industry News Altair Acquires CEDRAT S.A. Expanding Electromagnetics Software Portfolio Altair has completed the acquisition of CEDRAT S.A. and its New York-based wholly-owned subsidiary, Magsoft Corp., expanding the electromagnetic and thermal simulation capabilities of its HyperWorks CAE portfolio. With more than 35 years of experience in electrical engineering, CEDRAT is a provider in the field of simulating low frequency electromagnetics for electric motor design. Based in Grenoble, France, they are a top tier technology company in the electromagnetics software space, developing and applying simulation software used by manufacturers to accelerate the development of reliable and optimized solutions for electric and electromagnetic devices such as motors, transformers, actuators, sensors, heat treatment processes, transmission lines, EMC, arc chambers and superconductivity applications. "Complementing the Altair HyperWorks simulation software suite with our solutions dedicated to electromagnetism, we are joining forces with a leader and now have access to new technologies and resources to help us offer more to users in this ever-accelerating world. By joining the Altair team, we will bring the electromagnetic expertise that has made our reputation over time, and allow us to meet new challenges and explore new, and so far inaccessible, horizons," said Vincent Leconte, Technical Director, CEDRAT. The addition of Flux, a software for electromagnetic and thermal simulation, enhances Altair's electromagnetic simulation offering by addressing lower frequency simulation requirements. As more customers are embracing the synergy between mechanical, thermal, fluid dynamics and electromagnetic simulations in their design process, it will provide complex solutions for finite element software applications used for electromagnetic and thermal physics simulations while creating an opportunity for new product development as well as integration for key industry verticals. The acquisition of CEDRAT and its Flux technology adds to Altair's broad software coverage and domain expertise to support Internet of Things (IoT) and the rapidly growing EM market. CEDRAT follows Altair's prior acquisitions of FEKO high-frequency electromagnetics technology in 2014, and most recently WinProp wave propagation and radio network planning software. These strategic acquisitions in combination with their technology development have placed Altair on an accelerated growth path in the EM space. Global Motion Control Market Gradually Returns to Growth in 2016, After Experiencing Perfect Storm Last Year Following a sound 8.4 percent revenue growth in 2014, the global market for motion control hardware suffered strong headwinds and declined by 10.6 percent in 2015, with estimated $10.4 billion revenues, according to the latest research from the IHS Motion Controls Intelligence Service. The motion controls market includes the following products: general motion control (GMC) and computer numerical control (CNC) servo motors, servo drives and position control hardware. European and Japanese suppliers dominated the global motion control market, holding nine out of the top 11 market shares. They were profoundly affected by currency depreciation against the US dollar in 2015. Though weak currency favored exports, by improving pricing competitiveness to some extent, euro and Japanese yen devalued significantly against the US dollar. This devaluation led to considerable revenue loss in the motion-control markets in Europe and Japan, which respectively fell 13.7 percent and 10.8 percent in 2015. The market for, and investment in, motion controls in 2016 is expected to be continuously constrained by various economic, geopolitical and political concerns, including the unfavorable economic climate in emerging economies. Other concerns include China's ongoing economic slowdown, stagnant commodity prices, the migration crisis in Europe and the US presidential election. The European market is forecast to lead market growth in 2016, as the region's economic climate improves; however, Asian and American markets are expected to overtake the growth momentum from the European market by 2020. Overall, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is projected to remain the largest regional market for motion controls, with nearly $4.8 billion in revenue, including software and services in 2020. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is forecast to grow fastest, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7 percent from 2015 to 2020. 24 Summer 2016 www.e-DriveOnline.com http://www.e-DriveOnline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of eDrive - Summer 2016

Editors Choice
Electric Motor Testing: An Emerging and Powerful Technology
Inverter Drives: Yesterday’s Technology or Tomorrow’s Unsung Hero?
Motors & Drives
Encoders
ICs & Semiconductors
Components
Industry Events

eDrive - Summer 2016