Paris, June 17, 2005 -  ESI Group (ISIN FR0004110310) strengthens its position as a leading supplier of foundry simulation solutions on the Italian market. Following the success of the METEF exhibition held in April 2004 in Brescia, Italy, and with the efficient collaboration of ESI Group’s Italian agent Ecotre sas di Valente dr. Tiziano & C., ESI Group’s casting solutions gained new ground in Italy. Over the past year, 15 new customers have decided to adopt the ProCAST solution to optimize their process and to improve their casting quality.

ProCAST casting process simulation software, enables foundrymen to rapidly evaluate the effects of mold design and allow early decisions in the manufacturing process. Based on proven Finite Element technology, ProCAST can simulate a wide range of processes, from high and low-pressure die casting, gravity and sand casting to lost foam and investment casting. Compared to a traditional trial-and-error approach, ProCAST is a key solution to reduce manufacturing costs, shorten lead times for mold development and improve the casting quality.

“To accomplish this sales performance in Italy, we joined forces with Ecotre to align customer requirements with product quality. This achievement more than doubles our customer installed base and highlights the renewed optimism of the Italian foundry market as well as the competitiveness of our ProCAST solution,” says Marco Aloe, in charge of Business Development for Italy.  “The Italian market, ranked 4th in the world after USA, China and Japan, has a very high concentration of small to mid-size foundry companies supplying the industry worldwide. Over the past twelve months only, 15 new companies have adopted our casting solution recognizing ProCAST as the best simulation tool on the market” says Lorenzo Valente, Casting Simulation Manager of Ecotre.

ProCAST allows for the simulation of mold filling, solidification including porosity predictions and microstructure. To optimize their runner system and eliminate possible shrinkage areas, Fonderia Casati, Industrie Metallurgiche Spoleto, Inossman and Modelleria ed Administeria Franciacorta, all selected ProCAST to answer their industrial needs.

ProCAST also has dedicated features to address the specific needs of investment casting foundries. Automatic generation of shell layers, radiation with view factors and shadowing effects are some of the features which motivated the choice of Europea Microfusioni Aerospaziali and Microcast.

The specific requirements of Alupress, Metalpres, FOMT, Bieffe, Flow Service, Costamp, SCS and TOORA for high and low pressure die casting as well as gravity die casting were also satisfied by the ProCAST solution and simulation is now being used to optimize piston velocities, gating designs and overflow positioning and reduce lead time for mold development.

ESI Group’s Casting Solutions
Casting process simulation is now widely accepted as an important tool in product design and process development to improve yield and casting quality. ESI Group’s casting portfolio includes ProCAST, CALCOSOFT, for fast and efficient modeling of continuous casting processes and PAM-QUIKCAST, the finite difference solution for casting process evaluation.
 
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 realistically simulate a product’s behavior 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 by progressively eliminating the need for physical prototypes. ESI Group is listed on the Nouveau Marché of Euronext Paris, and generated sales of €60m in 2004. The company employs almost 500 high-level specialists worldwide, and covers more than 30 countries. For further information, visit www.esi-group.com.

Virtual Try-Out Space ® and VTOS ® are registered trademarks of ESI Group. All other products, names and companies referenced are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

ESI Group – Press Relations
Nathalie David-Franc
Nathalie.david-franc@esi-group.com
Phone : +33 (0) 1 41 73 58 35