Partnership to develop multi-industry digitalisation services

Vehicle manufacturers across global transport sectors whether long established companies or disruptive new entrants, are facing the same four key challenges: bringing products to market faster: so called ‘left-shifting product development’; reducing development costs - including the removal of expensive physical prototypes; increasing efficiency; and improving quality.

At the same time, all sectors need to decarbonise transportation whether driven by regulation or changing customer preferences. This involves optimising, downsizing and electrifying existing technologies and deploying new forms of propulsion to help us meet our net zero goals.

These requirements, together with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, have accelerated the need for digital engineering and data-driven products and services for manufacturers: to reduce the time for product iterations through modelling, simulation and virtual calibration within the product development life cycle, and to optimise real-world performance.

Working in partnership, Amey Consulting and Ricardo plan to combine engineering domain expertise with digital analytics and data science understanding to develop and bring to market new digital and data products and services supporting clean, efficient and integrated propulsion and energy solutions for global transport manufacturers.

Ricardo Director of Technology and Digital, Adrian Greaney said: “Vehicle manufacturers across all transport sectors face tough challenges to meet net zero carbon targets, continue to be competitive in an extremely challenging economic climate, and deal with the added challenges of responding to the global pandemic. They are looking for solutions which can accelerate their product development plans by reducing cost and time, and deliver improved efficiency and real-world performance.

"Digitalisation and data are essential to achieving this. Partnering with Amey Consulting will enable us to leverage our engineering and domain expertise to develop and design data products and services which will add real value to our customers’ products and enable them to feel the real tangible benefits of digitalisation.”

Alex Gilbert, MD of Amey Consulting said: “Partnering with Ricardo brings a new type of relationship to the market, one that connects vehicle manufacturing to highway infrastructure design and maintenance through the use of digital analytics and data science. This creates a unique opportunity to deliver benefits to road users and drive the decarbonisation agenda; we are excited to bring our expertise together to create sustainable digital solutions for global transport manufacturers.”