Manufacturing Executive - January/February 2009 - (Page 11) Q: How does this agile approach help you cope with increasingly demanding customers? A: We don’t just sell cars at Ferrari. We sell dreams. Our philosophy is to really customise our product. There are no limits. We will never produce a mass-market vehicle. Customisation is a real differentiator for us in our market. We have launched a program called “One-to-One” for our customers, and it’s not just a slogan. We really want to delight our customers for every desire they have. So we will customise 100% of the product around our key models. There are standard options, special options, personalisation options — covering both the components and the lifestyle around the car. And if you want something very special and very unique, you are even free to ask for that, too. Q: So how do you cope with such extensive customisation from a technology perspective? in terms of volumes and constraints. Formula One is a very intense, high-performance competition, so in many areas they have dedicated systems — in telemetry or CAD, for example. But we have some common platforms, such as the ERP, which is used by both organisations for purchasing and supply chain management. But what is important is that the IT organisation is common. That’s what makes Ferrari unique. We can share the know-how, even though some applications are dedicated, so there may be developments from racing that may help the sports car side in terms of technology or best practice. We are always trying to leverage more synergies between our operations, so things like advanced approaches to simulation will probably be of benefit to the whole company. Q: You recently announced a partnership with Microsoft to test its new High Performance Computing supercomputing suite for Windows in race car simulations. What was the business motivation here? A: Like every manufacturer, we’re always hungry for new computing power. It’s an increasingly complex business, so every year we have to demand more. But it’s not just about delivering more computer performance. It’s also about productivity. What is really promising, and what can be very powerful for us in the future, is the integration of this high-volume, high-performance technology with the normal Windows tools that everybody uses everyday. That could really boost the productivity because it avoids many intermediate phases that we currently face today between R&D and the rest of the company. Integration with widely used Windows productivity tools across the business can make life easier for us to exchange and analyse engineering results, find new solutions, rerun simulations, or whatever. Q: Is that potential productivity improvement likely to benefit Ferrari’s sports car business, too? A: Why not? A lot of high-performance computing is still evangelistic, but it’s becoming more and more available for everyday work. We are still exploring the possibilities, but it is already looking very promising. I think it could certainly be useful for other areas of the company. We have already used it for simulations on some road car models. Q: So looking ahead, what technology areas do you feel hold the most opportunity for the future of manufacturing in these difficult times? A: Integration is a key point at many levels. Like other manufacturers, Ferrari has a layered architecture and we have many different technologies and applications to manage. Developing solutions across these processes often implies touching many applications. Since all our investments have to be very carefully considered these days, I think new integration technologies and middleware can really help us be more agile, more efficient, and quicker to develop new applications. But that’s why I love working at Ferrari. There’s always a challenge. It’s not just a profession. It’s a passion. ME Manufacturing JAN/FEB-09 Executive A: What technology can give is support for managing that complexity. Making sense of the enormous volumes of production and customer data, all the options, and the rules, like in our new car configurator. This helps our customers and commercial people to plan and build the desired vehicle better and faster. Of course, our demand-driven approach is not typical because our customers usually have to wait around 18 months to get their new car. What’s special is that we have systems in place that let the customer modify that car to the very last minute. That has an IT impact on how we manage our supply chain and on how we track all the individual orders and products. Q: How do the customer and supply chain systems interact with the manufacturing systems to achieve greater agility? A: Our key area of responsibility is all the enterprise systems down to the plant systems, connecting at the borders with factory automation, and including a new MES layer for our new manufacturing facilities. That gap between the business and production systems is very relevant to us right now. MES, or manufacturing operations management, as it is now being called, will be an area of increased focus for us in the next few years. I am convinced that it will give real benefits to the manufacturing people, and that’s what’s important. Q: What kind of benefits do you expect from Ferrari’s new MES? A: Most of all efficiency, but also in terms of timing, cycles, routings, quality, and establishing common practices across the company. That’s why I’m convinced that a standard MES layer is so valuable, even for monitoring performance and identifying efficiency features to help select the right investments. That’s something that can really be useful for manufacturing people. Q: How does the road car business work together with the Ferrari racing division? Is there much exchange of ideas and best practices? A: Ferrari Gestione Sportiva operates in a different world 11
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