Jordan gets 50 'CATIA' seats

Jordan is replacing its entire computer-aided design and manufacturing technologies with the applications developed by IBM and Dassault Systemes, which will be supported by a technical sponsorship agreement with Rand. Jordan will also deploy Rand's industry-standard data quality tool, 'Q-checker'.

'CATIA V5' and 'Smarteam' are claimed to help designers, engineers and manufacturers to be more inventive by shortening cycle times, maximising collaborative flexibility, and cutting design time by up to 29 percent. The technical partnership agreement between Jordan and Rand follows a number of years of courtship. "There was a burgeoning groundswell of opinion that 'CATIA v5' was emerging as the leading CAD system in the automotive and motorsport industries, and that it was the right thing for us to take it on board", said Jordan's head of IT, Dr James Henderson. "It had always been on our list of priorities but, due to the challenges of timescales, it was perhaps number three on our list and we needed to focus on other things. Then, in March this year, our COO Richard O'Driscoll decided that the time was right to turn the spotlamp on implementing 'CATIA v5' as our number one priority."

Jordan has tasked a small team with ensuring the smooth transition to the new design system which, involving a complete change of hardware platform and operating system and the introduction of an entire product lifecycle and collaborative management system, amounts to a radically new way of working in its factory that must be adopted alongside its engineers' daily workload.

"It's extremely challenging and we're working flat out", said Henderson. "It has also been a lot of fun witnessing the exciting potential of the new system and seeing just how it can make a major contribution to the future success of the car. [The arrangement with Rand] in effect doubles our team without having to take on more people. It gives us access to a group of specialists who know the products inside out. These guys are rolling up their sleeves and working with us to implement and integrate the new systems, while also teaching us how to get the best out of the technology."

The implementation has been segmented into a three-phase programme. The first, leading up to the end of August, involves rolling out the technology and ensuring that Jordan's engineers and designers are up to speed on 'CATIA', at least to a basic level. The second, from August to the end of the year, covers training key designers and engineers on the specialist features of the software and using its functions to advance the design of next season's racecar. The third, next year, is to integrate the entire IBM PLM solution set across all Jordan's product-related functions.

"The third phase is a big one for us", said Henderson. "The introduction of 'Smarteam' opens up an entirely new and radical way of working. Over time, we'd like to use it to integrate every part of our business from the designers, down to the buyers, the supply chain, marketing and administration, and ensure best practice right across the organization."

Jordan's head of aerodynamics, Nicolo Petrucci, noted: "Design has always been the basis of our work and these products will make a difference in reaching our targets. As aerodynamicists, the collaboration with Rand over the coming years will allow us to explore with more freedom solutions that otherwise would remain merely abstract concepts. To develop our ideas, we need compatible tools for the methods and procedures particular to our research. Rand will provide software, hardware and specialised technical education support to assist the Jordan design team closing the loop of advanced calculation and wind tunnel experiment."

John McQulliam, Jordan's head of design, commented: "I'm looking forward to working with Rand because the design process is fundamental to the team's success and Rand will be providing us with state-of-the-art CAD/CAM software and, just as important, working with us as out technical partners. This will ensure a smooth transition from our current software and allow us quickly to realise the impressive capabilities of these products."

Jordan is already using 'CATIA v5' to design certain modifications to this year's EJ14 racecar but, once the new system is fully operational, it will drive the entire production of next year's EJ15.