Summary: RLM satisfied Zentech International’s need for an affordable licensing solution because both setup and administration were familiar to their customers.

The Token-Based license facility was particularly useful, enabling simple control of program features, eg. version, allowed FE code interfaces, etc.. Zentech found that RLM was most helpful in supporting a trial-to-enable testing on Windows & Linux. Reprise Software’s pricing was reasonable and any technical problems were resolved quickly and effectively.

About Zentech International:

Delivering high powered analysis tools the engineering community
Zentech provides engineering software and consultancy services – in particular to the aerospace, nuclear and manufacturing industries.

Its main product – Zencrack – enables engineers to model and analyze 3-dimensional cracks, using finite element (FE) analysis to allow calculation of parameters such as energy release rate and stress intensity factors. These capabilities can be applied to a wide range of problems. Surface cracks and embedded defects can be analyzed. Existing defects in components can be modeled and their remaining life calculated. Forensic analysis of failed components can be carried out to determine the failure mechanism and much more.

Zencrack interfaces with leading FE programs, such as Abaqus, Ansys, Finas and MSC.Marc – on Windows 32 & 64 bit, Linux and other proprietary platforms.  It is available in either Standard or Professional versions.

Having used different licensing methods, including ‘dongles’, and the company’s own node-locked mechanism, all of which satisfied requirements in the past, an increasing need to provide greater flexibility for users to access the software was recognized.  It was important also that the license manager could be downloaded easily from Zentech’s web-site, as Zencrack is distributed solely via the site (most customers are outside the UK where Zentech is based). Finally, the license management had to be implemented with minimum time and effort and at a reasonable cost.

Initially, to make it simpler for clients, the license manager used by the FE code suppliers was investigated but the entry-level pricing was far too high. Other vendors’ products either could not support the range of platforms, or did not appear to provide the features needed.

RLM, however, provided all of these. The Token-Based license facility was particularly useful, enabling simple control of program features, eg. Version, allowed FE code interfaces, etc.. Zentech found that RLM was most helpful in supporting a trial-to-enable testing on Windows & Linux. Reprise Software’s pricing was reasonable and any technical problems were resolved quickly and effectively.

Roger Hewitt, Zentech’s Technical Director, says, “The SDK is straightforward and well-documented, and Reprise’s support is excellent. The end-user footprint is small and we implemented the RLM into our latest version without difficulty and with no user problems reported so far. I am confident we made the right decision.”