25 November 2004

We are pleased to endorse the CAPE-OPEN standards and the CAPE-OPEN-Laboratories Network (CO-LaN) organization that supports them as significant contributions to accelerating the increase in power and scope of process simulation.

In our area of activity, we welcome the opportunities afforded by these standards, now that they have been adopted commercially by the main process simulation software suppliers. In particular, we anticipate being able to create better process models more quickly and more cheaply, as the pool of CAPE-OPEN-compliant components grows.

Given the increasing reliance on process simulation throughout the Process Industries, this is of general relevance and benefit. As such, we also recognize the need to maintain and extend these standards to ensure that they reflect the changing needs of the CAPE community and to consolidate the progress made to date. To achieve this, we recommend that our members support the CO-LaN in its mission to provide effective stewardship of these standards into the future.

Yours sincerely,

Rafiqul Gani

Chairman, EFCE CAPE-WP