A critical migration and standardization to LMS Test.Lab in 2003, a recent LMS Virtual.Lab Durability standardization, several integrated LMS data management and CAE projects, tailor-made localized interfaces to optimize and speed up NVH road testing on the famous Balocco proving ground… Filippo D’Aprile, Director of Vehicle Architecture & Integration in Fiat’s Engineering & Design department, and Giovanni Toniato, NVH Manager took a couple of moments to explain how various LMS solutions contribute to the new way of developing cars at Fiat Group Automobiles.
Fiat mass market appeal: Panda - Punto – Bravo - Fiat 500
The Fiat Panda, Punto, Bravo and Fiat 500 are the four sturdy legs of Fiat. It’s no wonder that these four models are the building blocks of the renewed Fiat brand. The award-winning Panda was Car of the Year in 2004 and the model hit the 1,000,000 mark in September 2007 when a ‘cheeky’ red 4 x 4 version rolled out of Fiat’s top quality plant in Tychy, Poland – the same plant that produces another phenomenal car of the year: the Fiat 500, by the way. The B-segment Grande Punto is a third generation success story that started in 1995 when the model won Car of the Year. In 1996, it was the Fiat Bravo’s turn. Ten years later, the Fiat Bravo, a C-segment vehicle continues to create quite a sensation on the market in nearly 60 countries worldwide.
Cutting development time in half
To meet the ambitious release schedule of 20 new vehicles in the 2007-2009 timeframe, Fiat needed to change the way it developed and designed cars. Part of the process was to chisel weeks off the testing process. To successfully design and test cars like the stylish Fiat 500 and the new Bravo in a speedy 18 months without compromising quality, Fiat changed certain aspects of its vehicle development chain. Starting in 2003 in NVH engineering, the team migrated to LMS Test.Lab as a test system standard. The LMS Test.Lab configuration – a platform of 12 laboratory (including a dedicated fixed system in the wind tunnel) and 16 mobile field test systems (including a pilot project on the production line) – stepped up NVH engineering productivity while raising process automation and data management standards at the same time.
To extend engineering capability and productivity in this engineering discipline, Fiat decided to convert its entire range of LMS CADA-X test solutions to the next-generation LMS Test.Lab platform. Giovanni Toniato commented, “As one of the first to consider a migration plan to LMS Test.Lab, we took the opportunity to evaluate the software suite and run dedicated benchmark tests. After executing Fiat-specific test processes using LMS Test.Lab, our NVH specialists reported a considerable increase of 25% in testing productivity and an impressive improvement of ease of use, both for laboratory and field testing applications.”
The software’s usability and adaptability is also appreciated by Fiat’s management. With integrated report generation features including LMS Active Pictures in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint presentations, as well as customized templates and system-integrated formats, Fiat managers can easily access critical testing data and results without having to depend on a technical expert to extract or interpret the data for them.
“Thanks to a number of floating licenses, several key managers can access the vital LMS Test.Lab data they need right from their desks. They can also integrate a dynamic visual into a presentation or report. This immediate access to vital information saves valuable time for every team member and prevents unwanted bottle necks,” stated Giovanni Toniato. Seamless NVH engineering data speeds up development process. To streamline the system for all the different labs, design centers and R&D locations, the local team at LMS Italiana customized the LMS data acquisition, management solution to meet Fiat’s precise needs.
Besides standardizing templates and customized printing capabilities, it also included adapting the system to specific archiving rules and integrating a customized acquisition procedure so that users could easy match various procurement numbers with specifications from a dedicated list. Several dedicated modules were also customized locally to further close the gap between the required specifications, the data acquisition process and the actual testing process itself.
Proving ground perfect
Part of this system integration includes a dedicated solution at Fiat’s renowned Balocco proving grounds which includes several SCADAS front-end portable units combined with LMS Test.Lab Mobile software solutions. With no-questions-asked built-in mobility, rapid test set-up speeds, on-line monitoring, immediate visualization and on-site report-generation capabilities, LMS Test.Lab Mobile boosts routine testing enormously.
What took weeks, now only takes the teams several days. In a crunch, the test team can opt to run tests on the track in the morning and analyze and document the results right on site in the afternoon. “Traditionally Fiat test drivers at the Balocco track not only perform the instrumental test, but they also integrate it with a subjective test. It could be -- let’s say -- challenging to prepare an error-free and easy-to-use procedure that lets our people concentrate not only on measurements, but also on their subjective impression,” stated Mr. Toniato.
To eliminate variables, like typing errors and miscalculations track-side and increase the overall accuracy of the testing process, LMS Italy created an easy-to-use on-the-road system that guarantees that every single measurement is done exactly the same way and matching the same parameters in the lab and on the track.
“Working with a single open-platform system facilitates the work of all Fiat test operators, who regularly deal with varying NVH test assignments, covering classical modal, dynamic stiffness, transfer path, acoustic response and sound quality measurements,” adds Mr. Toniato. “Through this open environment, we succeed in providing the freedom that is required to efficiently capture and perform any test assignment, ranging from a straightforward routine test to a highly specialized troubleshooting case.”
“In regards to return on investment, the migration to LMS Test.Lab really paid off. We’ve been able to tailor it to Fiat’s broad user community with floating versions for our experts and locked-parameter versions for general usage. Our entire organization can now benefit from the same software for the lab and proving ground measurements, which significantly streamlines the process. Our experts only need to use one system. This cuts our training time and cost,” stated Mr. D’Aprile.
Cars that people want to drive
Today Fiat meticulously focuses on how new ideas take shape and the way innovative solutions are developed most efficiently. It is all about creating innovative vehicles with great acoustic and vibration comfort, by combining well-defined marketing strategies, specialized engineering skills and the use of top-class engineering solutions. Giovanni Toniato said, “By deploying LMS Test.Lab and teaming up with LMS to further streamline our NVH test processes, we succeed in raising test productivity considerably, both for laboratory and field test applications. At the same time, LMS Test.Lab allows our NVH specialists to gain a deeper insight into underlying technical phenomena, providing validation at various stages in the development process. This is an essential aspect of Fiat’s capability to develop high performance, comfortable and appealing vehicles that people want to drive.”
Streamlined future-ready test processes
All LMS test systems of Fiat are standardized on LMS Test.Lab software and latest LMS SCADAS hardware. This gives Fiat the flexibility to extend its application portfolio and plug in additional acquisition cards to enable its test infrastructure to grow along with the scale and diversity of the company’s future testing requirements.
“Thanks to our successful partnership with LMS, we’ve started to integrate LMS Virtual.Lab modules into our testing structure. We find the noise and vibration and correlation modules can really accelerate our processes. On top of that I might mention that we opted for LMS Virtual.Lab Durability as a CAE department standard as well. In the future, other LMS Virtual.Lab modules will be integrated into our development process. Integration between testing and simulation is strategic. With both LMS Test.Lab and LMS Virtual.Lab, well, the choice is quite obvious,” added Mr. Toniato.
Besides the numerous solutions in the front-end of design, Fiat is currently using a LMS Test.Lab solution in a production line pilot program in their Cassino, Italy plant. Configured to match the exact NVH parameters in the lab and proving environments, the system re-measures various NVH parameters of cars as they come off the production line to guarantee overall postproduction vehicle quality.
“With our new way of working both internally amongst the various Fiat companies like Fiat Powertrain Technologies, Magneti Marelli, and the Fiat research and design centers, such as the Centro Ricerche Fiat in Orbassano (Torino) and Elasis in Pomigliano d’Arco (Naples), and externally with our partners and suppliers, it is important that we use the same tools to share data and design the best possible cars,” concluded Mr. D’Aprile.(end)
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