Cranes Software International Ltd - Stock Valuation and Financial Performance

Cranes Software International was co-founded by Asif Khader and Mukarram Jan in 1991. The company started as a distributor of anti-virus software in Bangalore and later moved on to become the sole authorised distributor of MATLAB in South Asia in 1993.

The company is engaged in providing Enterprise Statistical Analytics and Engineering Simulation Software Products and Solutions across the globe. The company’s business interests span Products, Productized Solutions, Services and R & D in future technologies.

Cranes Software has its presence in 39 countries across the world and has a 350,000 strong global user base. Cranes Software offers a range of proprietary products - SYSTAT, SigmaPlot, SigmaStat, SigmaScan, TableCurve 2D, TableCurve 3D, PeakFit, NISA, XID, XIP, Survey ASYST, iCapella, InventX and world-renowned products from reputed principals such as Engineering Technology Associates, Livermore Software Technology Corporation, The Mathworks, Texas Instruments and IBM.

As a significant global player in the scientific software domain, the company is now in a position to combine the power of its software product offerings with high-quality, cutting-edge services and solutions to scientific researchers around the world.

Cranes Software has also made investments in emerging technologies such as wireless and MEMS. The company has developed IP cores for wireless communications systems and wireless LAN test solutions for the automated test equipment (ATE) industry. Cranes Software has played a pioneering role in MEMS research by establishing CranesSci MEMS Lab in collaboration with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.

Products

Cranes Software offers a wide range of award winning Statistical, Data visualization and Computer Aided Engineering software products for the scientific and engineering community. The company has leveraged our deep domain knowledge, product development capability and global presence to make our products available to scientists and engineers around the world.

The company’s development teams, located in Bangalore and California, are involved in the development of SYSTAT, SigmaPlot, SigmaScan, SigmaStat, TableCurve 2D, TableCurve 3D, PeakFit and NISA.

Its growing portfolio of products is continually being enhanced and upgraded to increase offerings to our customers. SYSTAT 10.2, SYSTAT 11, SigmaPlot 9.0 and TableCurve 3D'S 4.0 versions were launched after acquiring earlier versions. In language sensitive markets in the Asia Pacific region, localized versions of our software products such as SYSTAT 10.2 and SYSTAT 11 in Japanese have been released.

• SYSTAT

Offers a wide collection of features, from the most elementary descriptive statistics to the most advanced and sophisticated statistical analysis, with excellent graphs, for a smooth passage from data to conclusions. Moreover, the Monte Carlo features help accomplish complex simulation tasks.

• SigmaPlot

SigmaPlot is a scientific data analysis and graphing software package with an intuitive interface and wizard technology that is designed to guide users through their analysis and graphing needs. SigmaPlot's graphing capabilities provide the flexibility to easily customize every graph detail and create publication-quality graphs. SigmaPlot's analytical features include advanced curve fitting capabilities and step-by-step guidance in performing over 50 frequently used statistical tests.

• SigmaScan

Offers fast, accurate, manual and automatic digital image measurements for Scientists and Engineers.

• TableCurve 2D

Offers engineers and researchers the power to find the ideal model for even the most complex data by putting thousands of equations at their fingertips.

• TableCurve 3D

3D is the first and only program that combines a powerful surface fitter with the ability to find the ideal equation to describe three-dimensional empirical data.

• PeakFit

Its advanced non-linear modeling of statistical and chromatographic data remains unmatched, even by the key players in these large domains.

• NISA

NISA family of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) programs is one of the most comprehensive engineering analysis suites available globally to address the Automotive, Aerospace, Energy & Power, Civil, Electronics and Sporting Goods industries. NISA has been an engineer's favorite for more than 30 years.

• eta/VPG

eta/VPG provides an efficient and comprehensive environment for development of finite element models. In addition, VPG delivers a unique set of tools which allow engineers to create and visualize advanced simulations for vehicle crashworthiness and dynamic durability.

• eta/Dynaform

Dynaform is the most accurate die analysis solution available today. Its formability simulation creates a 'virtual tryout', predicting forming problems such as cracking, wrinkling, thinning and springback before any physical tooling is produced. Integrated into Dynaform is the analysis engine, LS-DYNA, which is capable of implicit and explicit solutions for a complete and accurate forming analysis.

• InventX

InventX is a Strategic Project Portfolio Management (SP2M) solution for globally dispersed project teams. It is a comprehensive and cost-effective suite of integrated project management applications. It enables total communication, collaboration, and coordination of an organization's diverse personnel and project resources to maximize the potential for project success.

• iCapella

The iCapella product range is designed and supported by business intelligence experts iCapella. The company's products and services enable organizations to improve decision-making, and reduce the time taken to identify and act upon potential problems, with innovative, cost-effective solutions fully supported by quality advice and value-added services.

• Survey ASYST

The Survey ASYST Software Suite is a complete, zero-programming solution for design and management of research surveys, using mobile handheld computers for field data capture.

• Cubeware

Cubeware offers a single solution for analytic, planning and reporting needs of integrating planning, budgeting, forecasting and predictive & what if analysis. A suite of 5 product components for on line data capture, analysis, publishing, & dashboard reporting & can be integrated with SAP business warehouse.

Solutions

• Cranes Engineering Services
• Cranes Business Analytics Services
• Microfinance & BFSI

Milestones

1991

• Cranes Software International Limited (Cranes Software) founded by two young, entrepreneurs

1992

• Initial focus on engineering software.

1993

• Acquired Indian subcontinent distribution rights for MATLAB.  

1995

• Strategic alliance with dSPACE adds DSP development tools to portfolio. 

1998

• Alliance with Mentor Graphics' Nucleus Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) for embedded solutions.
• Cranes Varsity established for providing training services in DSP, RTOS, embedded systems and mathematical modeling and simulation (MMS). 

1999

• Cranes Varsity initiates corporate training and engages leading industry players.
• Cranes Varsity acquires training authorization for Texas Instruments' DSP University programme; initiates mathematical modeling and simulation training using MATLAB; and real time operating systems using Nucleus. 

2000

• Launch of Cranes' consulting division: initial engagements with GE, TI, the MathWorks and SPSS Inc.
• Acquisition of AISN Software along with its market leading software products TableCurve 2D, TableCurve 3D and PeakFit.

2001

• Domestic mandates for marketing globally established products in telecom and networking, 3G and tool chains for principals Texas Instruments, the MathWorks, Radioscape, AdventNet and Metaware.
• Cranes Varsity becomes Global Connection Partner for the MathWorks, Inc.
• Acquisition of SYSTAT from SPSS Inc.
• Fully-owned U.S. subsidiary incorporated in Richmond, California.

2002

• R&D center established in Bangalore to develop product upgrades, and conduct research in new technologies.
• Fully-owned U.K. subsidiary incorporated in London.
• CranesSci MEMS Lab established for MEMS research initiative in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
• ISO 9001-2000 certification acquired.
• Global marketing and distribution alliance with AISN Software for the AutoSignal product.
• Varsity alliance for introducing Rational Seed Programme at universities in South India.
• Release of all-new, internally-developed TableCurve 3D Version 4.0 and SYSTAT Version 10.2.

2003

• Distribution rights for Texas Instruments' digital signal processing (DSP) tools in the ASEAN region.
• Incorporated fully-owned subsidiaries in Singapore and Germany.
• Launched SYSTAT Version 10.2 in Japanese to address latent local demand.
• Invested in IISc faculty venture, ESQUBE, focused on communication technology research.
• Rated as Technology Leaders for two consecutive years by Scientific Computing & Instrumentation, USA.
• SYSTAT rated the top five product of the year under 'Data Visualization' category by Scientific Computing and Instrumentation.

2004

• Acquisition of the presentation and analysis Sigma product line from SPSS Inc. for US $ 13 million.
• Listing of GDRs in Luxemburg Stock Exchange.
• Wireless technology alliance with leading global instrumentation player National Instruments.
• Assessed at SEI CMM Level 5 covering software product development and services across the Group operations.
• Appointment of noted biologist Dr. Manju Bansal, one of India's foremost computational biologists and a Professor at Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore on Cranes' Board.
• Cranes Software's shares are listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
• Cranes enters JV with the Dubai-based Kanoo Group to set-up operations in the Middle East.
• Cranes Software is ranked the leading Indian publicly listed technology company by the 2004 edition of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu's Asia Pacific Technology Fast 500 survey.
• The Scientific Computing & Instrumentation (SCI) Journal, picks SYSTAT 11.0 for the top products award in the statistical data analysis segment for the year 2004.

2005

• Acquired Engineering Mechanics Research Corporation (EMRC), the developer of the NISA family of FEA programs and a pioneer in the field of Computer Aided Engineering Software.
• Dr. Peter Ryser, a Swiss citizen, and a professor of microtechnology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is appointed on Cranes' Board of Directors.
• Launched SYSTAT 11 in Japanese to further address the Japanese market.
• Cranes Software Licenses Equbits' Predictive Modeling Framework to develop an integrated module for the data mining community.
• Cranes Software decides to invest in InventXâ„¢ePM Project Portfolio Management Solution, product development and life-cycle management.
• Cranes ranked Asia's fastest growing technology company by the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2005.
• Awarded distinguished application product company at the NASSCOM product summit 2005
• SYSTAT awarded Statistics 2005 products of the year by Scientific Computing & Instrumentation Journal.

2006

• Cranes acquired the business of Karna Softek India to gain a strong presence in the banking and financial services vertical.
• Cranes raised € 42 million through FCCB to high profile global investors and thereafter re-aligned the overall debt structure.
• Cranes acquired EMRC US operations and marked the entry into the US$ 1 billion Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software market, a key constituent of the larger market for engineering software globally.
• Cranes acquired InventX ePM a web-based project portfolio management software company.
• Launched NISA Version 14.0, the latest version of this Finite Element Analysis suite which includes 30 new features that have significantly improved performance and usability
• Launched Sigma Plot 10 the latest version of scientific graphing and data analysis software package.
• Cranes acquired Capella an automated report writing, scheduling and distribution tool.
• Cranes acquired AnalytiX Systems which has capabilities in the embedded analytics space, including mobile solutions, data analysis and data mining, which allows Cranes to take forward the business support solutions initiative
• Achieved India's first ISO 27001:2005 accreditation by DNV under Norwegian accreditation, the ultimate benchmark for information security.
• Launched NISA V14.0 for Linux Operating System to enable enterprise users to handle large engineering simulations with ease and in a more cost effective way.
• Received UKTI award for the New Market Entrant of the year which felicitate Business Excellence by the Indian corporate community and recognize their contribution towards furthering the Indo UK Trade Exchanges.
• Launched InventX SP2 M 4, which supports end-to-end business planning from strategic to operational with multi-site project management and product development support environment
• NISA Civil received the ACCE-CDC award 2006 for best software package in civil engineering.

2007

• NISA Version 15.0 launched. This release has substantial enhancements addressing the seismic analysis requirements of power industry, and the improvements made to address the interoperability of NISA with other CAD/CAE tools. Concluded an agreement along with Engineering Technology Associates (ETA) of USA, to distribute and support LSTC's LS-DYNAâ„¢ and ETA's eta/VPGâ„¢ & eta/DYNAFORMâ„¢ products across India.
• Launched Systat 12, providing users with a comprehensive statistical analysis software package. This version also makes major strides in ease of use and contains major new statistical features which include Mixed Model Analysis, more Robust Regression procedures, Partial Least Squares Regression, Response Surface Optimization, and many new probability distributions.
• Launched NISA/CIVIL Version 15. The new version of NISA/CIVIL has been developed with a strong emphasis on the requirements of structural engineers focusing on the British and American steel and concrete building construction industry.
• Launched NISA Version 15.0 for LINUX. It will allow the LINUX community to avail all the benefits which are enjoyed by our Windows users. A key improvement is the availability of the software as RPM package which greatly simplifies the installation process.
• Cranes acquired Dunn Solutions Group (DSG), a US-based technology consultancy with proven expertise in Intelletual Properties (IPs) / products in Enterprise Analytics, focussing on business intelligence (BI), and enterprise level knowledge management.
• NISA Civil received the ACCE-CDC award 2006 for best software package in civil engineering.
• Cranes acquired Tilak AutoTech (TAT), a Pune-based focused on automotive embedded products and solutions around this for development of embedded engine control modules Launches NISA DesignStudio, bringing the design and analysis capability of the award-winning NISA/CIVIL sotware to the desk of individual structural design consultants.
• Cranes Software and Fractal Analytics forms alliance, co-develops Predicta, a sophisticated model and scorecard development application with domain specific knowledge and analytical prowess embedded in it.
• Launches 64 bit NISA Version 15.5 on Microsoft® Windows targeted at the enterprise customers enabling them to solve large size problems. This version also introduces the multicore/multi processor computing capability to NISA.

2008

• Cranes acquired Engineering Technology Associates (ETA), a US based specialized auto consulting and product development firm. ETA is a tier 1 vendor to the top three US car manufacturers and their expertise lies in developing Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) centric products for auto safety, vibration, and noise testing under simulated conditions.
• Cranes released NISA Version 15.5 - targeted towards enterprise customers enabling them to solve large size complex structural and fluid problems significantly faster using multi-core/multi-processor machines.
• Cranes released  NISA Version 15.0 - latest version of NISA for the Linux community with substantial enhancements addressing seismic analysis requirements of power industry
• Cranes released  NISA DesignStudio - a civil engineering software for individual structural design consultants.
• Cranes released  MYSTAT 12 - a freely downloadable statistical analysis software package designed specifically for the use of students and teaching community Sigmaplot 11 wins Scientific Computing Magazine's Reader's Choice Award 2008 in the 'Graphing' and 'Statistical Analysis' categories.
• Cranes Software International Limited acquires Cubeware, a business intelligence product company headquartered in Rosenheim, close to Munich.
• Cranes released NISA/CIVIL Version 16 - the latest version of its industry leading FEA package 'NISA/CIVIL'. NISA/CIVIL addresses a range of issues of vital significance to architects and civil engineers working with RCC and Steel structures.