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Automotive and transportation Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Leveraging technology to maintain competitive advantage on the Formula One racetrack Products NX, Teamcenter Use of NX and Teamcenter Business challenges enables fast-paced design Develop upgrades to increase and development at speed and reliability between Aston Martin Red Bull Racing each race Reliability and speed = performance Nonstop development cycle before, during and after the “Reliability is at least as important as racing season speed, and to be the best requires a combination of both.” That’s the verdict High volume of updates to be of Christian Horner, team principal at managed efficiently Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, a team Work within the Formula One which clearly exhibits these attributes, resource restrictions winning both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles in 2010 and 2011, Keys to success and then doing it all again in 2012. More design iterations can be “The frequency of races that started with made in the virtual environ- both cars on the front row of the grid, ment than could ever be and race events with one-two finish achieved physically positions, clearly demonstrates a level of This type of success depends on designing The efficiency of the entire consistency and quality that is achieved and building a competitive car for the first development process with the support of a highly integrated race, and then developing it to perform even better through a series of engineering Secure environment of and efficient PLM (product lifecycle man- upgrades for each race during the season. Teamcenter enables down- agement) solution,” says Alan Peasland, stream disciplines to use head of technical partnerships at design geometry Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. Data managed using Teamcenter flows directly into the ERP system www.siemens.com/plm Results Effective management of design changes, despite significant increases in changes/upgrades Removed nonvalue-added activity, reduced errors and optimized quality Early visibility of changes so that all departments can pre- pare and respond accordingly Aston Martin Red Bull Racing led the sport in 2010, 2011 and 2012 Note: Wet qualifying for the Belgium race has not been included as it is not representative. “ Reliability is at least as Improve performance or get left Integration of all engineering processes important as speed, and to on the grid is crucial, and Siemens PLM Software be the best requires a Once the season is underway, the focus solutions – NX™ software for computer- combination of both.” for everyone is on continual improve- aided design/manufacturing/engineering ment, and the pressure grows as teams (CAD/ CAM/CAE) and Teamcenter® Christian Horner vie for points and position. The team at software for complete PLM – underpin Team Principal Aston Martin Red Bull Racing is clear about the team’s engineering endeavors. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing its self-imposed targets: to maintain reli- Together, they form the digital backbone ability yet increase the car’s speed. In of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. 2011, for example, the team improved the car by over two seconds over the season. Push the limits yet stay within the rules The emphasis on performance enhance- ment generates a high volume of updates, and their implementation requires a disci- plined development process that is both efficient and predictable. All this has to be achieved during the days between races and coordinated on a global scale. The key is to iterate new ideas, select the solutions that promise the most improvement and develop them virtually as far as possible before committing to manufacturing the physical parts. Working within the Formula One® resource restrictions is simply another challenge to be addressed. The regulations limit physical testing at the track, head- count versus external spend, and also the To achieve this, polished performances on total amount of aerodynamics activity, the track and in the pits need to be allowing the teams to decide the split supported by behind-the-scenes team- between computational fluid dynamics work. From concept, through design and (CFD) and wind tunnel testing. This all simulation, to manufacturing and assem- further drives the need for very efficient bly, development never stops. virtual processes once there is correlation “ To develop the complex product that is a Formula One Racing Car in approximately a five-month period requires intense activity and an extremely robust and efficient PLM infrastructure, coupled with and confidence that the virtual processes To maximize the potential performance world-class talent and highly match the physical testing done on rigs, in gain from a design concept, engineers run developed business a wind tunnel and on the track. as many iterations of the design as possi- processes.” ble within the time available. Having Interestingly, even if extensive physical confidence that the virtual environment in Alan Peasland tests were allowed, such methods would which they are developing a component, Head of Technical Partnerships be too slow to cope with the rate of inno- assembly or system accurately reflects the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing vation required to remain competitive. In physical world during testing on a Friday addition, the introduction of garage and Saturday of a race weekend enables curfews reduced the time available to engineers to rely increasingly on virtual assemble, upgrade and repair cars. In the design iterations and validation. This majority of cases, the first time that the allows them to do many more design upgrades come together is at the race- iterations than they could ever achieve track. It is therefore essential that the pit physically, and that freedom means that crew is able to assemble the car easily and they have greater confidence that they efficiently the first time. have arrived at the optimal design. Refining the concept Realizing the design Aerodynamic optimization directly corre- Since the launch of the team in 2005, the lates to performance improvement. New number of design changes each year has parts are created with NX, which is then significantly increased, relative to the num- used to develop the geometry, and then ber of designers. Good management of the tested virtually in the engineering team’s engineering process is essential to ensure CFD solution or test in the wind tunnel that up-to-date information flows from using parts made through the technique of design through simulation, manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing – the process of inspection test, and finally onto the car. quickly making the scale model parts in resin by directly using the 3D geometry. During this process, the full car for an Once the aerodynamics department has event is available for visualization to every- agreed on the external form, then the part one on the team, from the factory to the can be released for detailed design and track. At the track, for example, the visual- validation to verify that it can be manufac- ization capabilities of Teamcenter enable tured and will meet the team’s reliability updates to be readily seen and understood, and performance criteria. can be used as an aid to assembly and problem-solving, and allow workers to sug- This is all done using the Teamcenter gest enhancements back to the factory. In managed environment, which enables addition, all data is tracked via Teamcenter, various downstream disciplines to utilize which is used to share the information with and develop the part definition and the the corporate enterprise resource planning associated details for manufacturing, test, (ERP) system, to ensure that the right mate- inspection and installation. As a result, the rials and tooling are available for the latest ability to refine complex parts, such as the parts. The accuracy of this shared informa- wiring harness, earlier in the design tion and the streamlining of processes have process eliminates the need for physical removed nonvalue-added activity, reduced mockups. errors and optimized quality. Solutions/Services NX www.siemens.com/nx Teamcenter www.siemens.com/teamcenter Consulting and training An early view of the next refinement Manufacturing, for example, automatically Given the increasing number of modifica- provides the whole package of information Customer’s primary business tions and new parts, it is also important to the shop floor, including the machining Aston Martin Red Bull has been that everyone involved in the engineering tool paths, tool setting sheets, feedback involved in Formula One as a and manufacturing processes has early, sheets, tool library information, and vali- team owner since 2005, comprehensive visibility into changes, so dation data for integrated simulation and quickly establishing the team that they can prepare and respond accord- verification with NX. as both creative and innova- ingly. Using Siemens PLM Software’s A calm and calculating approach tive. The racing team won both solutions, everyone is automatically the Drivers’ and Constructors’ designing within the context of the next The efficiency of the entire development world titles in 2010, 2011 and upgrade and doing so within a secure, process is increasing year after year, 2012. confidential environment. enabling more updates to be made to the www.redbullracing.com car in a predictable manner. New designs Frequently, one can find parts already can be reviewed while they are maturing being machined while NX is being used to by managers, inspectors and mechanics Customer location update the machining program with the for planning purposes; by the race team Milton Keynes next refinement of the design. The ability for geometry information debriefs United Kingdom to work collaboratively within the PLM between track and factory; and by suppli- environment also means that CAM ers in preparation for fast and accurate programmers can commence their tasks at turnaround. “ For us, the innovation the same time that designers are develop- process is relentless, ing the models, thus minimizing the lead “To develop the complex product that is a unyielding and publicly time from design to manufacture.

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