HOW DO F1 TEAMS USE CAD/CAM TO GET THEIR PRODUCTS 'TO MARKET'?: Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technology is no longer the treasured ground of engineers, nor is it isolated from the rest of the business. It's now viewed as an important competitive weapon: "The argument for design and manufacturing firms to adopt CAD/CAM technology has been won. New entrants into traditional mechanical industries find it hard to match competitors if they have not invested in a CAD/CAM solution," says Andy Smith, Frost & Sullivan analyst, and author of the industry watcher's report on the subject ("European Markets for CAD/CAM and Related Software").
Designing and manufacturing parts using CAD/CAM software ensures the whole design and manufacturing team has access to the same model of data, the common use of which reduces errors and duplication. The design and development stages of a project occur in parallel and data can be shared with "downstream" applications, such as product analysis and manufacture, a process which cuts down lead time - the period it takes for a part or product to reach the market from the drawing board stage.
For European companies, this is the prime reason why they adopt the technology: "Using CAD/CAM software, lead times can be reduced by up to 50 per cent," claims Smith.
Strategy consultant Clive Longbottom agrees: "Time to market is now more important than ever," he says.
The most glamorous example of getting product to market is in the highly competitive and fast-moving world of Formula One motor racing where the use of CAD/CAM in the design and manufacturing process is now standard.
The Jaguar Racing car has been designed completely by computer since 1998 (as Stewart Ford), as have cars from a number of the other teams.
McLaren launched its first 100 per cent, CAD/CAM-produced racing car, the (then) Marlboro McLaren Mercedes MP4/10, in 1995. At the time, it represented a significant technical milestone for the company which designed and manufactured its new machine in just three months.
During each race and test session, Sun computer systems continually monitor and measure all aspects of the car's performance. The data is then fed back to McLaren HQ in Woking, where the design and development team can access it on the company's network to continually enhance the car's design and assess the performance of a component under racing conditions. The team has been able to build a completely new chassis in just 33 days, a task which would traditionally have taken three months.
It's the same tale at Jordan and Williams. Ultra-powerful workstations in the teams' design offices operate what is known as CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Aerodynamic design in Formula One has, in the past, posed headaches for designers especially amongst the smaller teams, as testing parts along the way of constructing a new chassis is not only expensive but also very time consuming. With CFD, parts can be put through their paces without actually being physically made.
After a number of successful seasons, Williams' 1998 season started badly. However, a major redesign of the car in June marked a turning point in the company's racing fortunes: "Technology played an enormous role in getting us back up to the front end of the grid," says Williams' Head of Marketing, Jim Wright. "When we changed the parameters of the car, we put these changes through a model of how the car would behave in a race, long before we ever got to the track. Such IT resources helped us understand our problems."