Ducati Corse Extends Siemens Partnership for Motorcycle Design

Siemens Digital Industries Software has renewed its technical partnership agreement with Ducati Corse, the racing division of Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati. Under the two-year agreement, Ducati will leverage the Siemens Xcelerator platform to help the company design increasingly powerful, safe and sustainable motorcycles.

“Our partnership with Siemens has not only helped us meet current challenges but has also positioned us perfectly to meet future challenges, both on the racetrack and in the global market. We are ready to continue winning, with innovation as our guiding principle, always together with a technological partner that allows us to remain competitive and at the top,” said Massimiliano Bertei, CTO, Ducati Motor Holding. “In the world of racing, being able to modify your bike until the last second is crucial. For example, during race weekends, we can remotely design new components using Siemens’ technology, which are then sent to the track and printed on a 3D printer.”

“Our collaboration with Ducati demonstrates how digital transformation helps a company excel in developing cutting-edge technology for the racetrack and then quickly apply those insights to its wider business,” said Franco Megali, vice president and CEO for Italy, Israel and Greece, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “It’s a perfect example of the power of Siemens Xcelerator, to empower multi-domain teams to collaborate and achieve innovation at an incredible pace across the entire enterprise.

Ducati’s research and development teams’ adoption of Siemens Xcelerator includes a wide range of software and capabilities, including Polarion software for requirements capture and management; Designcenter NX software; and Teamcenter software to provide the digital thread backbone to connect design and engineering data with Ducati’s ERP system to enable cross-department collaboration and centralized data synchronization.

With Simcenter software and Simcenter Testlab software, Ducati Corse is able to virtually simulate and integrate digital simulation with physical test processes and data gathered from the track during race weekends. Siemens’ solutions also play a role in taking design and engineering into production, with Siemens’ Fibersim software enabling reduction of development timescales for complex carbon fiber parts.

Ducati is also relying on Siemens Xcelerator to connect motor racing to its street bike business with Teamcenter playing a key role. “Thanks to Siemens Xcelerator, we reduced development times with full sharing of data from the racing world to the street bike world," said Pietro Mappa, CAD/PLM manager, Ducati Motor Holding. "The mechanical, electronics and software teams, both in the street motorcycle and the racing worlds, have a single tool for collaboration and data sharing. There are no more departmental silos, and we have created a single integrated environment in which track engineers and vehicle design engineers can collaborate.”

You can watch a video about the collaboration here.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.