PROTOTYPEING DUCATI MOTORCYCLES

Critical Analysis - Prototyping Ducati Motorcycles

Abstract

In this study, we try to explore the concept of “Prototyping in Ducati Motorcycles” in a holistic context. The focus of the research is on “Prototyping in Ducati Motorcycles” and its relation with the “performance prototyping”. The research also analyzes many aspects of “Prototyping in Ducati Motorcycles” including automatic generation, deployment of small components and emulating the intended behaviour of real components under design into the real IT-infrastructure and environment. Instead of the “build first - upgrade later” approach, prototyping will be analyzed in a more coordinated manner that reduces cycles. We then discuss the method of integrating prototyping in to the commercial UML-tools.

Table of Contents

Introduction4

Problem Statement5

Purpose of Study6

Significance of the Study6

Research Questions7

Literature Review7

Benchmarking7

Simulation8

Manual Prototyping9

Load testing9

Methodology10

Modeling Performance Prototypes11

Generating Performance Prototypes12

Experiment performance with WAVE Simulation Model14

Calculating Engine performance with WAVE Simulation Model14

Noise prediction with WAVE15

Conclusion17

References19

Critical Analysis - Prototyping Ducati Motorcycles

Introduction

Ducati was established in 1926 as a component manufacturer for the new radio transmissions industry. It later, during the World War II, converted to the automotive industry. Ducati is undoubtedly categorized as a prestigious brand in the world of motorcycling. (Petriu, 1999)

It has over 1,000 fine employees working with utmost dedication. Almost 200 of the employees are focused to research and development processes. Ducati invests about 12.0 million Euros each year in research and development. Ducati, operating in an elite market, manufactures products where high-tech content is combined with high performances. (Mirandola, 2000)

The design activities of all departments are interlinked. Apart from that, Ducati has actively pursued the goal of integrating production with the design process. This is essential to reduce the overall cycle time as about 95 percent of production takes place externally.

It is obvious that larger IT systems or products have complex interaction between the different hardware, which comprises of peripherals and network links; middleware, which makes up the different layers of operating systems and server processes; and behavioral software components that implement the business logic of the system. (Dimitrov, 2002)

With the trends to standardize “off the shelf” products with interface and protocol, the division of responsibility between teams for the purpose of development, planning, installing, configuring and operating tends to add into the efficiency of the organization. However, due to the increasing expectations of the customers to perceived performance, an unsatisfactory performance might adversely affect the system's success. Insufficient performance may occasionally result in heavy losses as these systems are often business critical.

Today, engine-cycle simulation has become a vital tool for engine performance optimization. Thus, Ducati Motors applies simulation tool in order to optimize engine performance and shorten prototyping time. (Hennig, 2002)

Problem Statement

“Performance issues can be minimized by the employing simulation model in performance prototyping”

The prime reason behind the various performance failures of IT systems is the delayed performance evaluation, which derives from lack of awareness of performance and restrictions in measuring and controlling progress in terms of performance goals. A role of a “performance engineer” is immensely vital in large and performance-critical ...