Aussie auto designers plug in to global products

AUSTRALIAN automotive designers and engineers are opening doors into overseas markets such as China, Thailand and India by using design software that allows them to work in parallel with their overseas counterparts in real time over the internet.

Local car-makers Ford and Toyota and 25 major component suppliers are using the French-developed Dassault Systemes Catia design software – essentially the same sophisticated program used to design Airbus planes – to extend their reach into international automotive projects.

The software allows engineers at Australian companies such as automatic transmission-maker DSI, car interiors specialist Futuris and electronics supplier Bosch to work hand-in-hand with car-maker counterparts anywhere in the world, speeding up the car design process, saving millions of dollars and creating more opportunities for Australian intellectual property and design prowess.

Because all components are designed on the same program, they can be assembled ‘virtually’ as the design progresses, with suppliers and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) having access to each other’s latest design data via the web at any time.

The program’s 3D computer-aided design (CAD) process is so sophisticated that it allows the car companies to skip the traditional, time-consuming hand-made clay styling ‘buck’ and go straight from a digital 3D mock-up to metal at the prototype and tooling stages.

From top: Ford Figo, Toyota Fortuner, Ford Falcon FGII interior with Futuris seats.

The various advances have sliced the development time of a typical car from about seven years in the 1980s to about three to four years now.

Ford Australia is one of the biggest automotive users of the Dassault software in Australia, not only turning out local vehicles such as the Falcon and Territory on it, but also employing it on a number of international projects, such as the new-generation Ranger ute and super-successful Indian-made Figo light car.

Designers and engineers at Ford’s Campbellfield technical centre are now using Catia to develop another small car to be built by Ford in Asia, as well as an SUV based on the new Ranger’s T6 platform.

The Dassault software, which is also used to design frigates for the Australian Navy and countless other products around the world, is the global standard for Ford, meaning the company’s engineers and designers anywhere can all work on vehicle projects on a common platform without having to send each other design changes.

Toyota Australia designers in Port Melbourne also use the software on projects such as the Fortuner – a Thai-built SUV based on the HiLux – and a number of other vehicle design jobs for Toyota subsidiaries around Asia.

Dassault Systemes Australia managing director Gilles Cruanes told GoAuto that a car company would typically buy the Catia program with 10 to 20 user licences for major suppliers so their engineers could work in synchronisation with the car company during the development.

He said most current automotive design projects at major companies using the Dassault software were being done on Catia Version 5, but BMW had started using the latest Catia Version 6.

Dassault claims to be the dominant design software supplier to the global automotive industry, with about 70 per cent of manufacturers using it. Among its other customers are Mercedes-Benz, Renault, PSA Puegeot-Citroen, Honda and Chrysler.

GM Holden uses rival software from Siemens for its main design and engineering work, but does use some Dassualt niche products in design and engineering, as well as for factory design.

Catia software is not only used to design cars but also accessories and special vehicles.

For example, Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd uses it to develop aftermarket accessories produced by suppliers, ensuring a perfect fit with the showroom model.

ProDrive Australia also uses it to develop its Ford Performance Vehicles range of modified Falcons in league with Ford Australia, while Holden race team Triple 8 designs its racing Vodofone Commodores for Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes on Dassault software.

The Paris-based company today held a seminar in Melbourne for Australian customers across a range of industries to talk about the future direction of design systems.

Among the speakers was CEO of Dassault’s SolidWorks 3D software division, Bertrand Sicot, whose key message was that that sustainable product design at the digital stage is now an essential consideration for engineers and designers.

“The message is clear – sustainability is the strategy for tomorrow, and the groups who are really looking forward, they have understood that,” he said.

“I guess the world is moving in that direction, and I guess the automotive industry will have to consider that also.”

Mr Sicot said major software breakthroughs such as 3D CAD came in cycles, about every seven to 10 years.

He said the aerospace and automotive industries helped to drive such changes, with Dassault reacting to ideas arising from these innovative areas of design and engineering.