Comatrol launches EasyValve™ 2.0, its hydraulic manifold design software, and a new valve catalogue for Automation Studio™, both developed by Famic Technologies Inc. (Montreal, Quebec) March 22nd, 2011 Comatrol of Easley, South Carolina, a member of the Sauer-Danfoss Group that engineers, manufactures and supplies screw-in cartridge valves and Hydraulic Integrated Circuits (HICs), announced today that it has collaborated with Famic Technologies to make two main products available: (1) the second version of its hydraulic manifold circuit design software, EasyValveTM, and (2) a first version of its valve catalogue for Automation StudioTM, an innovative design and simulation software developed by Famic Technologies Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. Built upon the Automation StudioTM Live technology, EasyValveTM 2.0 is Comatrol's flagship software that takes custom HIC solutions to the next level by providing a streamlined development process from the customer to the Comatrol engineer. EasyValve captures technical, commercial and application requirements to accurately document and communicate the custom HIC needs allowing customers to get exactly what they want from the first drawing, reducing the prototype cycle time by as much as half. Comatrol has elected to work with Famic Technologies for developing EasyValve because of its expertise and its highly reputed Automation StudioTM software. EasyValve's intuitive user interface allows a customer to proficiently create a hydraulic circuit schematic by simply dragging and dropping from Comatrol's complete digital library of cartridge valves, Cetop valves and accessories. EasyValveTM 2.0 has several important improved features that are efficient and easy to use, including: Quickly select and configure the products, ports and machining options needed Easily configure all of your selected items by using drop-down component selection functionality Assist users in making optimal technical vs. Pricing decisions, with readily available information in the Component Specifications page of each item, including the valve catalog pages Capture customer, technical, and HIC material information in the Project Information View Capture customer-critical layout information in the Manifold Layout view Outputs include a project file that stores all your work into one document [.HICS], a Project Summary, a schematic in DXF format and Automation StudioTM output [.HIX] to support customer simulation needs. Releasing Comatrol's valve catalogue for Automation StudioTM was the next step to make hydraulic system design even easier for Comatrol's customers. They will be able to design hydraulic circuits faster and better by allowing them to create and validate, by functional simulation using Automation StudioTM, product performance and compatibility with other system components prior to block machining. More than 500 Comatrol components are included in this catalogue. According to Darren Magner, Marketing Manager at Comatrol, "Comatrol is the most responsive partner for control solutions and we are constantly working to improve the way we do business. By improving the communication and speeding up quotation time with EasyValveTM 2.0, we can move from Idea → To Concept → To Prototype →To Production, thus helping customers get to market faster. We also want to help customers reduce the development time of the machine's hydraulic system significantly by integrating our valve library into an Automation StudioTM catalogue. Comatrol is a leading company in the fluid controls industry and we intend to keep our leadership in the market. EasyValveTM 2.0 is part of our strategy. " Charbel Nasr, President of Famic Technologies, said: "Automation StudioTM is already the reference tool for designing, simulating and training people in hydraulics, pneumatics, electrical, and automation. Our contribution to EasyValveTM 2.0 and to Comatrol's catalogue for Automation StudioTM allows Comatrol's customers to reduce the time required to design and price a custom manifold or to create circuits, thereby greatly reducing development costs. Business is more and more challenging and customers look for the best tools to optimize their productivity. Automation StudioTM is the solution". Fig. 1 - Hydraulic Manifold Design and component configuration using EasyValveTM Fig. 2 - Automation StudioTM Simulation and System Validation from an EasyValveTM Manifold circuit About Comatrol Comatrol designs, manufactures, and sells screw-in Cartridge Valves and Hydraulic Integrated Circuits to market-leading quality levels. It works closely with its customers around the world to deliver optimal machine control solutions based on their specific needs. Comatrol is owned by Sauer-Danfoss Inc. www.comatrol.com About Sauer-Danfoss Sauer-Danfoss Inc. is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of engineered hydraulic, electric, and electronic systems and components for use primarily in mobile applications. Sauer-Danfoss has sales, manufacturing, and engineering capabilities in Europe, the Americas, and in Asia-Pacific. www.sauer-danfoss.com About Famic Technologies Inc. Famic Technologies, a Montreal-based company, creates, markets, and supports CAD and simulation software solutions for hydraulics, pneumatics, electrical, automation and controls. Founded in 1986, Famic Technologies provides innovative software solutions to help engineers, maintenance personnel and trainers substantially increase their efficiency in systems design, maintenance and training. About Automation StudioTM Automation StudioTM is a leading software solution developed by Famic Technologies that helps reducing machine timeto-market and optimizing the entire workflow of a project or product lifecycle. It seamlessly integrates system design engineering, simulation, prototyping, testing, troubleshooting, diagnostics, maintenance, service, training, and documentation. Automation StudioTM is offered in 11 languages and sold in more than 75 countries.