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Mazda Selects MTS for Major Design Improvement Project

16 October 2000

Mazda Selects MTS for Major Design Improvement Project

    EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Oct. 16 MTS Systems Corporation announced today that it was awarded
contracts totaling over $20 million for physical testing systems, modeling
software, virtual testing tools, and consulting services by Mazda Motor
Company, Hiroshima, Japan.  Together, these support Phase 3 of the Mazda
Digital Innovation program, announced by Mazda in September 2000.  As the lead
partner for the integration of physical and virtual testing of this project,
MTS anticipates total revenues of approximately $40 million over the life of
Phase 3.
    This program is a continuation of a multi-phase partnering agreement
between the two companies that began in 1996. It is aimed at increasing the
quality and efficiency of vehicle development and reducing costs and
time-to-market through a complete restructuring of all vehicle development
processes, from concept to manufacturing, using integrated computer-aided
design, engineering, and manufacturing tools.
    Strategic partners to MTS on this project include
Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. , Ann Arbor, Mich., and nCode
International Ltd., Sheffield, England.  Under the contract, Mechanical
Dynamics will provide functional virtual prototype software and nCode will
provide software and systems for streamlining the durability process.
    "Mazda's selection of MTS as their partner in accelerating the product
development process is a strong endorsement of our vision of integrated
simulation -- analytical, physical and virtual," said Sidney W. Emery, Jr.,
MTS chairman and CEO.  "To meet the demand for time and cost reductions in the
product development cycle, we believe that customers must tightly integrate
all the available tools -- from CAD to CAE to physical testing.  MTS's
strength in physical testing, our knowledge of product development, and our
growing capabilities in coupling software modeling with physical validation
techniques provide us the skills to meet Mazda's needs.  Combining this with
our established linkages to Mechanical Dynamics and nCode was key to Mazda's
decision.
    "The new physical testing systems, modeling software, and virtual testing
tools will be used by Mazda for more intensive laboratory testing and to
streamline critical processes of vehicle development," Emery said.  "This
latest agreement calls for MTS to deliver 11 separate physical testing systems
over the next three years including an advanced crash simulation test system,
a Flat-Trac(R) dynamic tire test system, a dynamic suspension test system, and
various component and accessory test capabilities.  Additionally, we will be
delivering our newest software products, Virtual Test Lab and Empirical
Dynamics(TM) Models (EDM(TM)) developed jointly with Mechanical Dynamics."
    Robert R. Ryan, president and COO of Mechanical Dynamics, said, "Mazda's
selection of Mechanical Dynamics as a key partner in their Digital Innovation
program is highly gratifying.  We believe that functional virtual prototyping
is an essential and critical component for optimizing and speeding up the
product development process.  By using the same user interfaces and signal
processing techniques employed on MTS's physical testing equipment, evaluation
of issues such as durability and fatigue, vehicle dynamics, handling, ride and
comfort, and noise and vibration can be performed in predictive mode much
earlier in the design process."
    "Mazda has seen proven performance from MTS during the execution of the
initial phases of the Mazda Digital Innovation program," said Akito Nishiyama,
director of testing at Mazda.  "The selection of MTS and their partners to
develop a virtual testing environment will allow us to complete the final
phase of the program and achieve our goal to be an industry leader in virtual
testing."