MSC.Software Corp., the leading global provider of virtual product development (VPD) products including simulation software and services, today announced that the leading global manufacturer and marketer of quality power tools and accessories, hardware and home improvement products, and technology-based fastening systems, Black & Decker UK and its subsidiary DeWalt, have invested in SimDesigner from MSC.Software. The SimDesigner software will be primarily used for the development of jigsaw mechanisms, random orbit sanders, and drills, and will give the development departments of Black & Decker and DeWalt the ability to understand dynamic performance in their product designs and help them accurately predict component stresses brought about by real world operation. "Every manufacturing organization in the world is looking for ways to improve their product development processes, especially early in the design cycle where changes can be more easily and inexpensively made," says Frank Perna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MSC.Software. "The SimDesigner product line gives design engineers the ability to quickly and easily perform simulation and ensure that their designs meet critical performance requirements. This can all be accomplished while staying in the V5 CAD environment resulting in significant improvements in design efficiencies. Having this ability save time throughout the work flow process. We look forward to continuing our work with Black & Decker's product development staff around the world and being a part of a strong tradition of world-class products." "Our choice fell on the SimDesigner products because they offer a broad suite of analysis products all integrated in the CATIA V5 environment and they fit into our corporate way of working," said Brian Kennedy, Engineering Support manager at Black & Decker and DeWalt UK. "The MSC.Software products will enable us to optimise the engineering of our designs, and further improve the reliability and quality of our products as well as our time to market. Since we are now able to test more variants of the same design virtually, we expect to be able to address 90% of possible design changes and improvements before a first prototype needs to be built. By choosing SimDesigner, we made a significant step in the right direction, with our ultimate goal to be able to run virtual tests throughout a full modal analysis." The SimDesigner product line allows components and mechanisms to be tested before they are built, saving manufacturers time and money during the design and testing process. The SimDesigner for CATIA V5 product family currently includes Generative products, which embed simulation directly into the CATIA V5 CAD environment and Gateway products, which provide smooth, direct access to corporate simulation resources. Currently, MSC offers the following Generative products: SimDesigner Linear (SDL), SimDesigner Thermal (SDT), SimDesigner Nonlinear (SDN), SimDesigner Advanced Structure Professional (ASP), and SimDesigner Motion (SMO), and Gateways for MSC.Nastran, MSC.Marc, ANSYS, and ABAQUS, as well as in-house proprietary systems using the STEP AP209 standard. For more information on SimDesigner for CATIA V5 and other MSC.Software products, please visit http://www.mscsoftware.com/products/products_detail.cfm?PI=495.