KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany/FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — March 2, 2021 — The Humanetics Group, the global leader in safety testing and developer of biofidelic crash test dummies, software modeling and custom sensor solutions, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Human Solutions GmbH and Avalution GmbH, leaders in virtual ergonomic design software. Through the acquisition, Humanetics adds critical tools used by vehicle designers around the globe to develop interior environments for occupants that are safe, comfortable and ergonomically pleasing. Human Solutions and Avalution will continue to be led by the current management team from their headquarters in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and satellite offices in Munich and Cary, N.C.
For nearly 20 years, Human Solutions has led the mobility sector as the market standard for virtual ergonomics design through its RAMSIS software. Avalution is a specialist in 3D body scanning and has the largest international database of human body dimensions and shapes. The combined tools are used by most major vehicle manufacturers, aerospace companies and defense groups. By leveraging its proprietary Avalution database containing over 100,000 custom body scans from around the globe, the RAMSIS software allows users to create virtual vehicle interiors and custom 3D CAD avatars that realistically simulate vehicle occupants to evaluate ergonomic and comfort parameters during the early stage of prototype development. Both are also used in the fashion industry, sports equipment and helmet design, and uniform and industrial clothing designers to ensure sizing is adapted for a broad range of body types and humans of all sizes.
Chris O’Connor, President and CEO of Humanetics Group, said “We are thrilled to welcome Human-Solutions and Avalution to the Humanetics Group. There is a very natural complimentary synergy in our solutions, customers, and capabilities. Both companies share a unique purpose that puts humans at the center of design and innovation. Both companies create highly sophisticated models of human bodies that enable engineers to design vehicles that keep humans safe, in proper position and in full control of the vehicle at critical moments in the driving experience.”
What will the future bring?
“Bringing safety and ergonomics design and testing validation together is revolutionary. In the next 10 years our customers have a huge challenge to launch more electric vehicles with more advanced levels of semi-autonomous driving. We will help them accelerate their speed to market with our simulation models and validate their vehicles with physical testing and integration of safety and ergonomics together in a turn-key offering. With the largest global database of scanned bodies, we can help improve the equitable safety and comfort for all occupants. And with the Humanetics Group global footprint we can offer local support to RAMSIS in every market around the world,” added O’Connor.
The founder of Human Solutions and Avalution, Dr. Andreas Seidl, will continue to lead both companies as Managing Director. “For us, the integration into the Humanetics family of companies is the logical result of our ongoing corporate strategy”, noted Dr Andreas Seidl. “We have successfully completed several joint projects in the past together, so we are confident in the synergies of our expertise and cultures. By joining forces, we can maximize the value of our data and ergonomic expertise and make it available for other areas of vehicle development in the future, such as autonomous driving, which entails entirely different occupant requirements for a vehicle.”
Jeff Lewis, Chief Commercial Officer of Humanetics Group commented, “By adding these critical ergonomics design tools, we will be better able to address the increased risk of injury of many occupant groups of different gender, height, weight and age. This is not simply a marginal improvement – that is a paradigm shift in safety design. It will enable OEMs to maximize comfort, ergonomics and safety for a broader range of occupants. Further, with these developments we will bring the power of machine learning and simulation to the heart of equitable safety in transport. This will enable our customers to develop vehicles that further reduce injuries especially among more vulnerable occupants.”
The acquisition does not include the sister companies of Human Solutions and Avalution – Assyst GmbH, AVM GmbH and Sistemi Assyst (Lainate/Italy) – which will remain independent. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
March 2, 2021
Source: Humanetics Group
