Company Timeline

Unigraphics Solutions Timeline

1960s

In 1963 a small software company called United Computing was founded above a hairdressing salon in Torrance, CA (about 15 miles south of Los Angeles).
In 1969 United Computing produced its first commercial product, UNIAPT, which was one of the world’s first end-user CAM products

In 1971 United Computing moved to a former U.S. Post Office building in Carson, CA.
In 1973 United Computing agreed to purchase the ADAM software code from MCS, a company run by Pat Hanratty, one of the earliest pioneers of CAD/CAM, and used it as the foundation for a new product called UNI-GRAPHICS.
In 1975 UNI-GRAPHICS became Unigraphics and the first commercial system was sold.
In 1976 McDonnell Douglas Corporation acquired United Computing, along with its Unigraphics CAD/CAM product. United Computing became a subsidiary of the McDonnell Douglas Automation Company (McAuto).
In 1979 the United Computing name was dropped and the subsidiary became the CAD/CAM division of McAuto. The Unigraphics Group was part of the CAD/CAM division and was still run out of Carson, CA.

In 1980 the Unigraphics Group moves to a McAuto facility in Cypress, CA. Unigraphics releases its first true 3D modeling version.
In 1981, St. Louis, MO becomes the new world headquarters for the rapidly growing Unigraphics operation. (St. Louis was already the world headquarters for McDonnell Douglas Corporation and its McAuto company.)
Throughout the next decade, McAuto eventually became known as McDonnell Douglas Systems Integration (MDSI) but continued to developed and marketed Unigraphics as one of its many lines of business.
In 1987 the Unigraphics division began the development of a product data management (PDM) system that would become known as Information Manager or I-Man.
In 1988, MDSI purchased Shape Data Ltd., the company that produced the solid-modeling kernel technology Parasolid, which became the foundation for its Unigraphics product.

In 1991 EDS Corporation acquired MDSI. Some of MDSI’s products and services were absorbed into other areas of EDS and some were sold off. The Unigraphics division was kept intact and operated under the name EDS Unigraphics
First release of the I-Man PDM system is released in 1990.
In approximately 1995, John Mazzola, president of the Unigraphics division of MDSI, made the strategic decision to openly license Parasolid to other OEM software developers. Initially greeted with widespread skepticism, the decision ultimately resulted in Parasolid becoming the industry standard for precise geometric modeling kernels.
In 1997 EDS set up its Unigraphics division as a wholly owned subsidiary called Unigraphics Solutions.
In June 1998, EDS sold a 14% minority stake in Unigraphics Solutions through an IPO. It was traded on the NYSE as under the symbol UGS.
Also in 1998, Unigraphics Solutions acquired the Solid Edge mid-range CAD product from Intergraph Corporation and established Parasolid as the common geometry foundation for both its mid-range and high-end CAD solutions.
In 1999 Unigraphics Solutions continued to fuel its growth and broaden its portfolio with the acquisitions of dCADE and Applicon, Inc. In that same year, Business Week magazine identified Unigraphics Solutions as one of the top 10 software companies in the world.

John Mazzola retired in 2000 and was succeeded by Tony Affuso who had been vice president of products and operations.
Unigraphics Solutions acquired Ames, Iowa-based Engineering Animation, Inc. (EAI) in October of 2000, adding a powerful suite of visualization and collaboration tools to its growing portfolio.
In February 2001 Unigraphics Solutions changed its name to UGS to reflect the broad set “collaborative product commerce” solutions that the company now offered beyond its strong CAD/CAM/CAE applications.

SDRC Timeline

SDRC was formed in 1967 by researchers from the University of Cincinnati. Their initial focus was on dynamic prediction analysis for Cincinnati Milacron, a Cincinnati-based machine tools manufacturer. The resulting software was voted Best Software for MCAE in 1968.
In 1969 U.S. Steel became the major shareholder and investor in SDRC.

In 1971 the company formed Noise, Test, Analysis, Design and Technical development units.
Superb finite element software, introduced in 1972, was the leading Finite Element Solver until 1985, when it was replaced by Model Solution, developed with assistance from NASA.
In 1975 SDRC introduced Modal Plus, the first modal testing and analysis program. Work also began on Supertab, an interactive finite element modeling system to work with Superb.

In 1982 SDRC released I-DEAS, its flagship CAD/CAM/CAE software, which included the first automatic mesh generation system, Triaquamesh, based on the first NURBS based modeler.
Ronald Friedsam joined SDRC as chairman in 1986,
SDRC went public in September 1987
Forbes Magazine in 1989 named SDRC as one of the 200 best U.S. companies for the first time.

In 1992, SDRC and Control Data Systems formed a joint venture called Metaphase Technologies to develop and market Product Data Management software.
In 1993, SDRC released I-DEAS Master Series, including the Dynamic Navigator, an intuitive application to facilitate design functionality. The capability is now the industry standard method of working with CAD/CAM/CAE systems. Ford Motor Company selected I-DEAS as their corporate standard in 1995.
In 1998, Nissan signed a multi-year agreement covering more than $100 million in SDRC products and services.

In 2000 CIMdata, a leading industry analyst firm, recognized SDRC for largest market presence, based on revenues, in what it termed as collaborative Product Definition management (cPDm), To further strengthen its position in product data management, the company acquired Sherpa, expanding its PDM user base to over 340,000 users.
Going into 2001, the year in which it was acquired by EDS, SDRC, on the strength of its Metaphase and Sherpa products, was the cPDm market share leader. To further strengthen its collaboration initiatives, it acquired Inovie, a company offering Web-based, peer-to-peer collaboration project management software.

UGS Timeline

In September 2001, EDS repurchased its 14% stake in UGS, acquired 100% of SDRC and merged UGS and SDRC together to form its PLM Solutions line of business, which the company launched on October 1, 2001 as EDS PLM Solutions.
In June 2003, EDS announced it was categorizing PLM Solutions as a complementary subsidiary business rather than a line of business.
In November 2003, EDS PLM Solutions changed its name to UGS PLM Solutions.
In May 2004, UGS PLM Solutions was acquired by the private equity group of Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners and Warburg Pincus and changed its name to UGS.
In August 2004, UGS relocated its corporate headquarters from the EDS campus to a new site in Plano, Texas. UGS’ corporate headquarters is now located at Granite Park, 5800 Granite Parkway, Plano, TX, 75024. UGS corporate headquarters can be reached by telephone at 972-987-3000.

Related Information: