F2010H036
Trains, Planes, and Automobiles in the 21st Century - How Digital Prototyping Enables Design at the 'Speed of Thought'
Continued success in the transportation equipment market is the responsibility of individual corporate industrial designers and engineers who must continually understand trends and issues in the vastly multi-faceted industry, and rapidly create high quality, safe products to meet customer demands. A multitude of economic and competitive pressures face the industry today, and to surmount these pressures designers and engineers need the right tools to develop innovative designs productively and cost effectively. Increasingly, they are finding that digital prototyping tools provide an answer to these needs.
In this presentation, Ed Martin, Senior Manager for Autodesk's Automotive and Transportation business, will examine design and engineering trends this field and cite case study examples of why the rapid design and production process afforded by digital prototyping now enables transportation companies to design and manufacture at "the speed of thought." He will illustrate how digital prototyping can help in the creation of a single digital model that can be used in every stage of development, bridging the gaps that usually exist between conceptual design, engineering, mechanical design, electrical controls design, and manufacturing teams. Among the case studies that he will cite: oHow Bosch China's Automotive Technology division has used digital prototyping to allow team members to collaborate more effectively across the extended enterprise and shorten its design cycles by 31 percent. oHow Technicon Design has used digital prototyping in its global design and engineering services to incorporate engineering and manufacturing considerations early in the development of Class A surfaces for clients, assessing feasibility issues much earlier than with a physical models. oHow ADEPT Airmotive used digital prototyping to develop a 320 horsepower general aviation engine that weighs approximately 28 percent less than a traditional piston engine of comparable horsepower and provides a fuel savings of approximately 30 percent.
Mr. Martin will also discuss trends that are shaping the way that transportation equipment is designed, manufactured, and marketed in today's global economy, with special focus on: oGoing global - established global companies are increasing the amount of design and development work that is performed outside of their traditional bases oLooking good - to remain relevant in an increasingly crowded marketplace, companies need to produce products that appeal to the end customer oLean gets leaner - increasingly, successful companies are adopting strategies to simultaneously improve flexibility, reduce errors, and speed time to market in manufacturing
This abstract is supplemented by a PDF, which can be viewed here.
Session: Efficient Production and Operation of Vehicles and Components