Zuken partners with Tropical Design Services to increase CADSTAR technical support coverage by 85%

August 3rd, 2004– Westford, MA, USA - Zuken, a leading provider of EDA solutions, today announces a partnership agreement with Tropical PCB Design Services. This agreement extends the longstanding relationship with Tropical to include customer support services, adding value to customers’ investment in Zuken’s CADSTAR solution.

Working with Tropical’s team of experts, Zuken is able to extend customer support coverage from 8 to 14 hours per day on weekdays, and offer an additional 4 hours of coverage on Saturdays. Customers working across multiple time zones, investing longer hours on critical projects, or those with flexible shift structures will benefit from the extended support hours without additional cost in their annual maintenance contracts. The 85% increase in coverage hours expands the overall value of the investment in the tool suite. 

The partnership developed from Tropical’s years of experience as a VAR for the CADSTAR solution, and as a service bureau for Zuken’s CADSTAR, VISULA, and CR-5000 suites of tools. "Our long, productive relationship with Zuken enables Tropical PCB Design Services to offer increased value to CADSTAR customers through extended hours and increased support availability.  Our extremely talented team represents over 300 years of direct Zuken product experience. We look forward to continuing and improving upon the excellent service currently enjoyed by CADSTAR customers," commented Sam Burton , President, Tropical PCB Design Services.

Zuken’s CADSTAR customers will be able to take advantage of the new hours starting August 1, 2004.

About Zuken:
Established in 1976, Zuken has evolved into a provider of solutions that maximize the efficiency of the design and manufacturing processes of electronics companies around the world. Zuken holds a leading global share of the PCB/MCM/HIC software market in the field of electronic design automation (EDA). In addition to its longstanding experience as a provider of innovative solutions for PCB design, Zuken's expanded portfolio encompasses proven solutions for the development of information technology (IT) infrastructures. Listed on Level 1 of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the company is headquartered in Japan and has development, sales and support centers in 10 countries including the US, Germany, UK and France. Zuken's customers include the world's top 30 electronics manufacturers from automotive to aerospace, communications to consumer electronics, and medical to military.