In the past, automotive parts suppliers provided their customers with what they requested, and the customer would design their product from there. This process has since evolved.
Automotive design engineers began asking their suppliers for advice on how to optimize the designs of their products according to the assembly’s strengths and weaknesses – and who would understand these qualities better than the people who manufactured the parts?
This shift in design continued to lean more and more on the supplier, and today it seems as if suppliers will be performing all of the simulation and much – if not all – of the testing. This is advantageous for the OEM customers, because they are no longer required to build and test expensive prototypes which would later be scrapped.
Today, automotive technology supplier Exa Corporation announced a partnership with DENSO, continuing this spirit of evolution of prototype design and testing.
Together, the two companies are integrating DENSO’s thermal products into a simulation database for Exa’s PowerFLOW simulation software.
DENSO’s technology can be integrated into authorized automotive and heavy vehicle customer’s simulations early in the design process in an effort to reduce the number of costly late-stage vehicle design changes.
“This expanded ecosystem of validated components and subsystems will greatly change how the global auto industry develops new vehicles – by enabling OEMs and suppliers to collaborate in the earliest stage of design,” said Steve Remondi, president and CEO of Exa. “The insight enabled will significantly reduce the billions of dollars spent annually testing and retro-fixing late-stage design problems. Ultimately, automakers will move into production with greater confidence that their supplier subsystems will perform as expected, achieving cost, time and quality targets.”
Is it safe to assume that more suppliers like DENSO may one day find their way into simulation software like Exa’s PowerFLOW system? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
For more information, visit exa.com.