paper on "Establishment of a Regional Advanced Automotive Research Facility to Support the Manufacturing Industry in South Wales" was presented at the NAFEMS World Congress on The Evolution of Product Simulation From Established Methods to Virtual Testing & Prototyping - 24-28 April 2001, The Grand Hotel, Lake Como, Italy.

Introduction to Paper

Industrial South Wales is a significant contributor to the UK automotive manufacturing industry. Over 30,000 people are employed in first and second tier suppliers, covering both large employers (Calsonic, Ford and Visteon) through to a large number of Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) component manufacturers. It is recognised that as the design-to-market time of new automobile products is decreasing, there is a consequential devolution down the supply chain of product design and development activity. The reduction in available time for prototype build and test is highlighting the need for a design-right-first-time philosophy where predictive modelling of component performance is integrated into the development cycle. In particular, the SME sector in this region has relatively little experience and expertise in applying C.A.E. tools for performance analysis.
The Faculty of Applied Design & Engineering at Swansea Institute has a long tradition of responding to the local industrial community and has introduced a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses that are well supported by industry. In 1995 a technology transfer section was established, dedicated to supporting project work largely in the industrial design sector.
In January 2000, this activity was supplemented by a £ 1.1M Automotive Research Centre (ARC), that was part-funded by an E.R.D.F. grant. The rationale for the ARC is to provide a centre of expertise in predictive modelling for near-to-market problems in the manufacturing sector.