DETC Pit Stop: Increasing efficiency in automotive product development

With new models released and customer expectations rising, managing complexities in the automotive manufacturing process is becoming of critical importance.

To find innovative ways to answer those challenges, the Digital Engineering and Test Centre (DETC) is running a Pit Stop and is looking for startups to bring innovative ideas to the table that will help decrease manufacturing cost and complexity yet increase value.

Why you should attend

DETC is interested in identifying collaboration partners to:

• Develop solutions, as well as learn about plug and play technologies.
• Jointly apply for government funded collaborative research and development projects.
• Meet senior representatives from the automotive sector with the potential to develop further collaborations.
• Unearth opportunities to foster relationships with Artificial Intelligence, Modelling and Simulation and other technology companies, as well as explore how emerging technologies can be effectively future tested.

Who should attend

Digital Catapult and the DETC are looking for organisations of different sizes and industries, with technology expertise in areas that could include, but are not limited to:

• Modelling and simulation in manufacturing:
  • Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation (HIL)
  • Digital Twins
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning – with a particular focus on product development including data validation, product testing and predictive maintenance.
• Test Automation on both a functional and non-functional level:
  • Multi-User Systems Design / Testing
  • Multi-Platform Design / Testing
• Immersive Technologies (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality) – with a particular focus on product development.

What we’re after

DETC is interested in identifying collaboration partners to:

• Develop solutions, as well as learn about plug and play technologies.
• Jointly apply for government funded collaborative research and development projects.
• Meet senior representatives from the automotive sector with the potential to develop further collaborations.
• Unearth opportunities to foster relationships with Artificial Intelligence, Modelling and Simulation and other technology companies, as well as explore how emerging technologies can be effectively future tested.

Why Digital Catapult and DETC is running the Pit Stop

Over the last 20 years in the automotive industry, customer expectations, regulations and manufacturing requirements have increased significantly. Because of this, product complexity is greater and automakers are struggling to recoup new costs. To improve capital efficiency, vehicle manufacturers have identified the need to optimise product development cycles.

The Digital Engineering and Test Centre (DETC) is one of the organisations set up to solve some of the challenges faced by the automotive industry in the UK. To help overcome these challenges, the DETC is looking to companies both from inside and outside the automotive industry to collaborate with them.

Finding those solutions is critical, as the DETC is looking to reduce product development time by 50%, yet, still double its value. It wants to identify technologies that replace physical processes in virtual environments and evaluate potential interventions that could have the greatest impact in reducing product development time and cost, including designing and testing.

What the Pit Stop is looking to achieve

To help the DETC succeed, the upcoming Pit Stop will look to:

• Find ways to reduce time and/or cost of automotive product development processes.
• Explore how new tools and techniques can move the testing of components from the physical world into a virtual environment.
• Improve product development productivity (i.e. design, test) through more collaboration across individual organisations, supply chain relationships, and across the sector.