Bangalore: Research and development (R&D) activities in India are perking up in India. Facilitating its growth, Lanner, a simulation solutions leader, is foraying into India by inking a strategic alliance with Bangalore-based Cranes Software, a scientific and engineering solutions company. According to David Jones, marketing and development director at Lanner, simulation is a first-step approach towards expanding the company's R&D activities.

"The potential for simulation as a planning tool has now entered new strategic domains including supply chain, customer relationship management and risk management," he added.

To market Lanner's solutions, Cranes has set up a dedicated team, besides developing competencies in the simulation arena. "Simulation tools are becoming popular in India for data mining, forecasting and analysis activities," Pradeep Kumar, Senior V-P of Cranes Software explained.

Lanner's strategy of transitioning to a service-led business has been in response to the market trends and the potential growth in the usage of simulation technology. "The strategy is to develop the business beyond the traditional product-related simulation market, into the business process change market for service and products, which is over $20 billion in size with a 21 per cent annual growth rate."

In this space, Lanner faces competition from a number of players including Rock well Automation, Quest Sciences, Technomatix and In-control.