Streamlining an Electro-mechanical Powertrain Development Process
Melanie Fitton-Hayward,
The demands on transmissions are changing. To amplify the challenge, the stakes are high. Ours is a market where one can easily get left behind. Pressures mount on all sides: from the imposition of new and strict government targets (with non-conformers punished by hefty fines) to the demands of customers, who constantly seek the best performance at the lowest cost, and as quickly as possible. If suppliers cannot meet these requirements, their place in the future of the industry is uncertain. If you’re not keeping up, you’re being left behind. The best place to be is at the helm, leading the industry’s pursuit of innovation.
The electric vehicle market is moving very quickly. Even a two month delay, we are told, can be the difference between success or failure of a vehicle. But, whilst they are a very large factor, it is not just the dawn of electric vehicles that is changing the face of the industry: other emerging trends also pose challenges, such as autonomous vehicles. Whilst these won’t necessitate new layouts, designs or architectures, they will be accompanied by a huge focus on safety and on control, ensuring that vehicles are driven more efficiently than with a human behind the wheel. Thus we will see a move away from the world of mechanical, and even electrical, engineering into electronics. Subsequently, the need for integration and increased collaboration is only going to rise. Experience isn’t all it takes any more; the only option is to innovate, and, to do that, to simulate.
In order to make sure the end powertrain is the result of a thorough exploration of all possible options, and is innovative not for its own sake, but rather in order to achieve the perfect design for the job, many different people will be involved in the development process. Together with the pace required to keep on top of this fast-moving market, this requires a great degree of collaboration. The ability to work together with partners, suppliers, and other colleagues working on a different aspect of the same powertrain is of immense importance. There is no benefit to hoarding knowledge or to taking pride in home-grown designs. Rather, expertise should be utilised from anywhere possible, taken advantage of and harnessed to improve your end product.
The Romax Solution
It is these industry needs to collaborate and to innovate which have really been the driver for Romax Technology’s reimagined software offering, an integrated environment of products designed to suit specific users and their workflows, aligning with the drivetrain and transmission development cycle, from rapid modelling and concept exploration to detailed simulation and virtual product sign-off. Our software suite offers a complete solution, for a complete system, across the complete development process, but within easily segmented products designed around specific workflows.
At Romax, we’ve been pushing the industry forward for decades, and Romax software offers all of the pioneering component and system level driveline simulation technology which Romax are well known for. It enables our customers to engineer the next generation of drivelines, to meet pressures whilst maintaining sustainability, commercially and environmentally. It facilitates the systems engineering required for robust development of the next generation of electro-mechanical drivelines. Intelligently integrated into the wider CAE world, Romax software empowers your teams and enables Right First Time design.
To find out more, read our full discussion paper here.
Melanie Fitton-Hayward has worked at Romax Technology for over 10 years. Melanie has developed her career with us, having started initially as a part-time proof-reader alongside her degree in English and Latin at the University of Nottingham. She is now nearing the end of a PhD in Classics, and holds the position of Product Marketing Manager here at Romax. In this role she works very closely with both the Product Management and Corporate Marketing teams, managing all of our activities to market the products – she thoroughly enjoys the varied challenges that the role brings!