History

History

Before the company's establishment

1983 Released if800/UC-1, a system for civil architecture design

1984 Released if800/UC-1 model 50 system
1985 Developed civil engineering programs such as retaining wall
1986 System customization of RC section calculation limited statement design program

1987

FORUM 8 was established (President Tadaharu Wada, with 16 employees).
Establishment celebration at Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku

1988

Relocated Tokyo Head Office to Kagurazaka, Shinjuku. Established the Civil Forum

1989

Company trip to Guam. Established the Miyazaki branch and Osaka business office
Announced UC-CAD at the Civil Forum Fair in Osaka

1990

Established the Fukuoka business office. The number of registered users exceeded 2,000 companies.

1991

The first issue of the company jounal Up&Coming was published.

1992

Civil Forum Fair in Fukuoka (4th-5th March)
Held 5th anniversary event and campaign
Many users visited the private seminar of UC-1/UC-CAD at 16 cities.

1993

The number of registered users exceeded 4,000 companies.
Change in the in-house personnel evaluation, applied assessment of performance and annual salary.

1995

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred.
Commemorative project for the 8th anniversary of the establishment of the firm (with 100 employees).

1996

Osaka Business Office became Branch Office / The number of registered users exceeded 6,000 companies.
Established a subsidiary "FORUM8(NEWZEALAND)LIMITED" in New Zealand
Opened the FORUM8 website.

1997

Innovation of in-house operating system. Transferred to the Windows version business processing system

1998

The number of registered users exceeded 7,000 companies.
Released UC-win/RC, the first product that utilized 3D technology.

1999

Opened the Internet Version Upgrade Center
Published the 1st Products Guide
Held "FORUM8 Exhibition '99"

2000

Released UC-win/Road and VR software package
Released UC-1 calculation-CAD integrated series
The 1st UC-win/Road Conference

2001

Started UC-win/Road support service (current VR support service)
Started paid seminars
Acquired ISO9001-2000 realizing paper-less conditions in all 7 offices in Japan

2002

Relocated Tokyo Head Office to 15F Nakameguro GT Tower.
Delivered UC-win/Road to MAG Road Center and first time to Korea.
UC-win/Road was chosen for the Software Product of the Year 2002 award in the "Social Life and Public category".
Hosted the 1st 3D VR Simulation Contest.
Released UC-win/FRAME(3D), the 3-dimensional FEM analysis software.

2003

Commemoration project for the 2nd 8th anniversary of the establishment of the firm
President Tadaharu Wada stepped aside. President and CEO Yuji Ito took office.
The number of registered users exceeded 10,000 companies.

2004

Started UC-win/FRAME (3D) analysis support service

2005

Restructured the whole company and NZ office.
Opened Nagoya office. Held the 3rd UC-win/FRAME(3D) Conference.

2006

Operating income recovered thanks to the sales growth in three consecutive years.
Exhibited at ITS London to propose UC-win/Road to automobile field.
Published a UC-win/Road introduction book.
Entered into an exclusive distributor agreement in Japan and China with Professor Galea, FSEG, Greenwich University

2007

Enhanced employee welfare benefits: defined contribution pension system, company trip subsidies, qualification/commutation/business trip allowance
Began to publish Up&Coming every other month. The 69th issue was published.
Established a joint venture "FORUM8 Technology Development (Shanghai) Co., Ltd." in China.
Acquired businesses of Multiframe, Maxsurf, and xpswmm from Decision Japan.
Introduced video conference system / Started Web seminars
The 1st International VR Symposium was held. 9 people from 8 universities around the world and an official of Transport Research Laboratory delivered lectures.
The 6th 3D VR Contest was held in Tokyo Conference Center. Judge's prize was awarded for the first time.

2008

FORUM8 certified "VR Engineer Test" started.
Internal audit (short review) by audit corporation
VR summer workshop at Arizona State University
Recorded 124,000,000 yen for profit due to the sales growth in 5 consecutive years
Published a book related to VR
The 2nd International VR Symposium. Harvard University and Osaka University received Academy Encouragement Award

2009

"Toyota Motor Corporation" was introduced on the user introduction corner in the 77th Up&Coming.
3D Dynamic FEM software Engineer's Studio® Ver.1.00 has been released
UC-win/FRAME(3D) support team won the Fiber category of Pre-experiment analysis contest.

2010

FORUM8's VR cloud development was certified to specified research development plan of Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The 88th Up&Coming with the special topic of users in China
FORUM8 Design Festival 2010-3Days was held as the business of 3rd 8th anniversary of the company establishment.
Recorded the 7 consecutive years sales increase, doubled from the 17th term (increase by 102%)

2011

Open Tokyo suboffice, Super computer cloud Kobe Laboratry and Sendai office.
Selected as "Certified company for IT management" by Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Calculation method of evacuation time via a evacuation analysis software EXODUS approved by Tokyo Fire Department
Engineer's Studio® won the excellent award for "The 23rd Awards of excellent new technology and products for small and medium enterprise".
FORUM8 won an award for "Information processing systems for their contribution to today's information-rich society" in 2011.
FORUM8 Design Festival 2011-3Days was held.
Won "International tunnel award" with Virtual Reality Tunner Operator System which was co-developed by BMIA.

2012

All CAD products support 2012 specifications for Highway Bridges. New product seminars were held.
Obtained the "Privacy Mark" Certification. (Privacy Policy adopted since 2005)
Obtained Registered Surveyor License from Kanto-Region Maintenance Office, Ministry of Transportation.
Hosted FORUM8 Design Festival 2012-3Days / The 2nd Virtual Design World Cup
Obtained BCMS ISO22301 Certification

2013

Relocated Tokyo Head Office to Shinagawa Intercity. Launched Sapporo and Kanazawa offices.
Released UC-1 Engineer's Suite.
"The 1st Students Cloud Programming World Cup" started.
Engineer's Studio® received "Crisis Management Design Award" by the Public Network Foundation
Obtained 3 patents related to VR-Cloud® (Driving simulation, data streaming system, cloud management system)

2014

Open Qingdao FORUM8 Software Technology Co., Ltd.
Acquisition of Hoct System. FEMLEEG was added to the FEM analysis series.
Obtained access rights to Supercomputer K for commercial uses.
Patent approved for virtual space information processing systems
Chosen as the Next-Generation Infrastructure Inspection Robot Systems by MLIT
International VR Symposium and the 5th Summer Workshop were held in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The 1st "Junior Software Seminar" for elementally and junior high school students was held.
Launched Taiwan FORUM8 Software Technology Co., Ltd. (FORUM8 TAIPEI).
Released UC-1 Engineer's Suite Addition.

2015

Nagoya Showroom opened and Nagoya office was relocated to 36F JR Central Towers.
Released 3DCAD Studio®
Opening of Online Simple Self-Assessment Support commissioned by Workshop for Sustainable Community
Press release at Taiwan for the 5th VDWC, with Special Guest Mayor of Keelung and Taiwan CISA Director.
Simulation software programs that allow driving simulation through mobile devices.
Acquired all of CRAVA Inc. stocks, a 3D contents production studio.
Formed business alliance with Hokuto Bank, FIDEA Information Systems, and Nihon Technos
UC-win/Road was reported in some media.
Received Top 100 Aggressive IT SME of Japan Award.

2016

Became a member of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Industrial Liason Program (MIT ILP).
BBC reported the World's First 4K Five-Screen 3D Stereoscopic Driving Simulator (in NIC of Nagoya Univ.).
Started to provide "Green coverage calculation service" in the self-assessment support website.
Achieved the goal of "Improvement project of correspondance to infection"
Notice of Transition to FORUM8 Subscription Service. New Software Licencing Policy started on April 1, 2016.
Business partnership with Arcbazar. "Project VR", the fusion of Online Simple Self-Assesment Service and VR-Cloud®
The 10th FORUM8 Design Festival2016-3Days+Eve. Officials from 3 ministries delivered lectures at "Autonomous Driving Conference"
Acquired First System business, embedded system development. Boost software development in the IoT era.

2017

Showcased Road and DS at "CeBIT2017" (Hannover, Germany), the world biggest IT trade show
The 30th anniversary of establishment special lecture and celebration
Showcased at Japan Pavilion of "INNOPROM2017", the largest trade show in Russia
Established a new company "FORUM8 Okinawa Co., Ltd."
Being certified as a "Grade 2 Eruboshi" company based on the Act of Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace.
Products corresponding to the new Specifications for Highway Bridges
The 11th FORUM8 Design Festival2017-3Days

2018

Certified as "Health & Productivity Management Company White 500 (big company)"
Released Construction Accounting Software Suite
TV program "Innovative Tomorrow" started on BS Nippon
Earthquake Simulator won Good Prize of "Excellent New Technology and Products for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise / Software Section".
FORUM8 acquired all stocks of Shade3D to progress the 3DVR business development

2019

FORUM8 exhibits at the world biggest technology trade show CES (Las Vegas) for the first time
We cleared STEP1 of "Healthy Company Declaration" by JAPAN HEALTH INSURANCE ASSOCIATION and acquired "Healthy Company (Silver)"
Selected as the education training program development project by the MHLW
Acquired copyright of "Chidori", a made-in-Japan cross-platform game engine
Released Suite series products (accounting, data elaser)

2020

Awarded The 8th Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Awards METI Minister's Award
Released "Suite Chidori Engine", a made-in-Japan cross-platform 3D game engine
UC-win/Road Safe Driving Simulator has been certified by the Japan's NPA
Awarded the "2020 CRM Best Practice Award Continuation Award" again with "Future regional creation model drawn by VR"
Developed "Vehicle Operation Simulator" for Snowplow Operator Training together with NEXCO Central Group

Series

■Simulation

■CG/VR

■FEM Analysis

■UC-1 Series

■Support/Service

■All products

Products <