Elsewhere in industry, there are very few examples of the enormous technological development that the Automotive sector has achieved over the past decade. Magneti Marelli's principal objective is to achieve the best technological responses to the challenges of the future automobile: environmental sustainability, safety, affordable mobility, and interconnectivity. In its mission as global supplier of automotive components, the innovation process continues to be fundamental to achieving key technologies that are affordable for the final user, to combine quality with competitive pricing, technology and flexibility to leverage proven know-how in electronics to develop intelligent systems and solutions that contribute to the evolution of mobility.
Areas of research
Magneti Marelli has structured its Research & Development activities to optimize the ability to service the scientific requirements of each business area. The resulting coverage by discipline is structured similar to the modern university Engineering departments. The areas of research, which are largely covered by in-house personnel, are: Mechanics, Hydraulics, Fluid Dynamics, Thermo Dynamics, Vehicle Dynamics, Acoustics, Optics, Electronics, Controls, Information Technology, Chemistry, Material Sciences and Ergonomics. In addition, approximately 20% of activities are conducted in collaboration with universities and other centers of excellence. Through these partnerships, the academic research base can be leveraged for industrial innovation.
The development process
Several years are needed before an original concept reaches the production phase. The innovation and basic research process is initiated some 4-6 years before production commences. It is typical for certain activities to be carried out in-house and others in collaboration with external research centers, particularly at universities. Around 2-3 years before production launch, development begins on defined sub-components. One year before production launch, the final product application phase begins for both physical components and virtual components (e.g., software). A delicate phase in the process is the passage from Research/Innovation to Development.
Laboratories and technologies
The capability of Magneti Marelli's technical laboratories is a resource that is constantly leveraged in development of the business. For the Automotive sector, the quality requirements are fundamental. In addition to the traditional materials laboratories, other laboratories have been established where engine and vehicles are tested and the reliability of components is assessed by recreation of the most severe environmental conditions. For the development of software and computerized controls, a laboratory environment simulates actual operation of, for example, engine control units, varying the configuration and operating conditions studied.
University partnerships
The resources of an individual company are not enough. Universities also possess laboratories, instruments, and applied research capabilities that can collaborate synergistically with Magneti Marelli. For example, studies on the electromagnetic and chemical-physical properties of materials are regularly carried out in collaboration with universities. Magneti Marelli has introduced a proprietary model for continuous and intensive collaboration with the academic world in the form of JRAUM, acronym for Joint Research Area University Marelli. The idea is to establish an area dedicated to activities conducted in collaboration with the university that is physically separate from day-to-day operations, typical for new product development, but also separate from an exclusively academic environment, which is not always ideally suited to concrete application of the research results. The objective is to ensure a structured process that enables a symbiosis between the scientific knowledge base of the university and the program for industrial innovation in the pre-development phase for new products. Also important is the positive effect that this integrated process has in preparing students and new graduates to enter the automotive sector and in identifying qualified candidates. Experiments have been conducted in this area since 2005 in collaboration between the Bologna facility and several Italian universities. In mid-2009, this activity was extended to include a partnership between the facility in Venaria Reale (Province of Turin) and Politecnico di Torino.