As you should know, we’ve defined digital twins in our previous article. But just in case you didn’t read them, digital twins aggregate all the trending IOT technologies in a unique flow of digital information, reinventing the way we analyze and implement the production of products. Continuing in the manufacturing sector, we will present a twinning case in the Italian car industry: Maserati.
Maserati, known as a luxury car brand from the holding company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has digitized its production process thanks to a partnership with Siemens. In the production plant “Avv Giovanni Angelli Plant” located in Grugliasco (Turin), the company produces two of its most famous models, better known as the Maserati Ghibli and Maserati Quattroporte. Embracing up-to-date technologies like creating a digital version of the car and the entire manufacturing process – manufacturing machineries included. By using an integrated software, Maserati has an interface that connects all the teams developing the project on the same mathematical base. This allows to reduce the analysis time and possible errors caused by miscommunications within different teams. One of the strong advantages of the Siemens partnership, is that they offer a product portfolio that covers both manufacturing and engineering, that tightly integrates both departments.
Furthermore, the automotive industry is a great example of the advantages that digital twin technology gives us. Since several tests are needed in the post-production to guarantee the standard quality of the product, this technology helps us yield the testing curve and implement changes. In the case of acoustics for luxury cars, it is as complex for engineers as it is important for customers. From silent interiors to the external vibrant “voice” of the car. In order to save time originally used for these tests and increase productivity, Maserati moved this task to the digital platform. As the product leader -Maggi - explained: “to optimize the sound inside the car, we placed a dummy equipped with microphones in the prototype, recorded the sounds, and used this data for further virtual tests.” What they found out is that the digital twin drastically reduced the cost for test-drives. Using the tactic referred to as reverse engineering, prototypes or already produced vehicles are sent to the street and data is collected using sensors. This allows digital test-drives to be repeated as often as needed under modified conditions, and and cars can be optimized virtually. “Siemens software helps us minimize the number of expensive prototypes.” said Maserati manager Gian Luca Antinori.
In conclusion, the investment of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles leads to an increase in productivity: three times as many cars than before, while maintaining the same level of quality. This example was so successful that other competitors are now finally following Maserati, in fact Lamborghini has just announced the use of the same technologies for the production in 2018 of its new SUV model “Urus”.
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