DIGITAL MOCK-UP AND RAPID PROTOTYPING IN AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Döllner, Gernot | Kellner, Peter | Tegel, Oliver

Affiliations: Volkswagen AG EZTI Wolfsburg, Germany | Technical University of Berlin ME Department Berlin, Germany

Abstract: The automobile industry is facing challenges which result in demands to optimize their product development processes. For this purpose, methods and tools to verify development results which can be used early in the product development process are needed. In this paper, Digital Mock-Ups and Rapid Prototyping techniques are presented as means for the verification of the development results. Prerequisites, potential benefits and hurdles are discussed and examples from the implementation of these techniques in the automobile industry are presented. Finally, an optimized product development process based on the use of these techniques is defined which aims at the fulfillment of the overall goals of time and cost reduction, and quality improvement.

Journal: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 55-66, 2000