EuroCarBody in Bad Nauheim, Germany, sees TECOSIM showcasing its benchmarking portfolio and TEC|BENCH process solution between October 22 and 24, 2013. The conference is a key forum for international automotive engineers to gather standardised benchmarks for vehicle bodies from different vehicle segments. We spoke to Martin Westerwald, General Manager at the TECOSIM's Rüsselsheim branch.
Martin Westerwald, Rüsselsheim Branch, General Manager
Mr Westerwald, what exactly awaits visitors to the TECOSIM booth on the first floor?
The main focus of our showcase is TEC|BENCH. This process solution enables automotive manufacturers to compare their own products with rival products during early stages of development, thereby achieving a major advantage over competitors.
How does TEC|BENCH work?
Cars freely available on the market are dissected and scanned in several stages. We also analyse joining techniques and the materials used. We bring all this information together in a computer model. The data taken from the hardware are then directly available to our clients in a virtual environment, where they can be compared to the clients' own data for products still at an early development stage. This not only saves on time and costs, but also offers many other advantages.
The 15th Global Car Body Benchmarking Conference, once again offers the most important forum for defining and discussing the state of the art in modern series car body engineering.
What exactly are these advantages?
Our clients gain a decisive advantage in terms of knowledge. They receive numerous options for making comparisons. Their understanding for rival products is also enhanced. TEC|BENCH can deliver needs- and results-oriented analyses for specific tasks. The process unites the key fields of engineering expertise: testing, benchmarking, scanning, reverse engineering and simulation.
And what special information are you offering visitors at EuroCarBody?
Our TEC|BENCH experts will explain individual steps in processes and will use specific examples to show the advantages of TEC|BENCH. We also use reference projects to illustrate how it was possible to perform needs-based and results-oriented analyses and simulations for specific tasks right from the early stages of product development. In the process, we will also be able to answer visitors' specific questions.
TEC|BENCH: Cars freely available on the market are dissected and scanned in several stages.
What type of clients is TEC|BENCH relevant for?
There is a special emphasis on projects for clients in the automotive industry. Due to increasingly shorter product cycles, a steadily growing variety of model ranges and the establishment of niches, product comparisons are becoming increasingly more important for automotive manufacturers. However, TEC|BENCH is also beneficial for other sectors, such as mechanical engineering. The process does not always need to focus on making comparisons with competitor products. We have also used TEC|BENCH to carry out tasks such as optimising quality in production.
Can you name a few reference projects for us?
Only to a limited extent. Examples which we are allowed to mention by name are Smart City Coupé, the Mercedes ML, the Toyota Camry and the Hyundai Sonata.
How much does TEC|BENCH cost?
There is no standard price as such. Clients can commission varying dimensions and depths, from individual components to complete vehicles and systems. As a result, costs are between four-figure sums for smaller components and six-figure sums for items such as a validated complete vehicle which can be used to perform crash and NVH analyses.
How important are face-to-face encounters with clients at the booth for you?
Very important. Firstly, TEC|BENCH is highly flexible in its use. A direct meeting with a client offers both sides the best approach to finding an optimum solution. It is also very important for us to learn what is currently of interest to our clients, so that we can optimise the TEC|BENCH process further and adapt it to the needs of the market.
Many thanks for talking to us, Mr Westerwald.
You will find TECOSIM at Booth 5 on the gallery on the first floor.
