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Essay on Ducati Case Study

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February 1, 2014 Introduction:
Being a motorcycle company that produces high performance, highly successful racing motorcycles, as well as motorcycles for the commercial market, has proven to be a winning strategy for Ducati. This case focuses on Ducati Corse, a subsidiary of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. that manages racing teams, bike development, promotions, and sponsorship areas of the company. Ducati Corse is a relatively small organization that encourages cross-departmental integration with its internal teams to achieve the best motorcycle design and racing outcomes as possible. Ducati started racing in the new MotoGP Circuit during the 2003 race season. With unexpected positive racing results, Ducati took the data collected …show more content…

Ducati's success was a combination of Ducati engineers' passion for their work, their detailed attention to the design process, and a well-defined, developed method called the “Ducati Method.” The “Ducati Method” helped lead to modular design via extensive use of CAD and simulation technology to optimize the design before physically developing the components followed by intense testing to validate the design.

Question 2: How did Ducati use data?
Processing, interpreting, and using real-time data is a complex task which the Ducati engineers employed with the help of other departments. They utilized rider feedback from the races, videos of each race, track tests, data on race performance, and functional data acquired by on-bike sensors. Ducati used the data from the track to identify problems that could not be detected in simulation. This type of data is excellent for measuring relative performance, evaluating structural stress loads, drivetrain torque, and system temperatures. However, it can be greatly influenced by the driver and environmental conditions. Data of this volume proved difficult to sift through, and additional staffers were hired to tackle it for the 2004 season.

Question 3: What is your assessment of their approach?
We feel that Ducati's approach was ineffective due to the lack of a structured plan with clear priorities. Ducati Corse tried to solve more problems than they were able, which seemed to result in missed

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