Desktop Engineering partners Prodrive for long-term benefit

Back in 1984 Prodrive was formed with just 4 employees. It has grown to become one of the one of the world’s largest, most successful motorsport and vehicle technology businesses with a turnover of more than £125 million and employing nearly 900 staff in Europe, North America, Australia and Asia-Pacific. Desktop Engineering has been working in partnership with Prodrive from those very early days, providing software, hardware, support, training and consultancy in an evolving role, changing with it to meet the new demands of a rapidly growing business.

Choices for development

Desktop Engineering’s speciality is engineering design, analysis, and manufacturing IT solutions making it the ideal partner for Prodrive, helping the company to make the most appropriate choices as its IT requirements developed.

“We chose to work with Desktop Engineering because of its superior product knowledge, and the way in which it was prepared to work in partnership with us.”
Ian Johnson, Systems Manager, Prodrive

Success story

The Prodrive story is an exciting one, it is the only company to be involved in the three major series – Formula One, World Rally Championship and Le Mans. It has won six World Rally Championship titles (three manufacturers’ and three drivers’) the most recent with Subaru and Petter Solberg in 2003. In circuit racing, Prodrive has won five British Touring Car Championships, most recently in 2000 with Ford Team Mondeo, and in 2003 took GTS class honours at the Le Mans 24 Hours with its Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello. Now the company is helping to take Aston Martin back into motorsport with a new programme, Aston Martin Racing, which will see the British company return to sports car racing in 2005 with the DBR9. In F1, Prodrive has been managing the Brackley, UK based, B.A.R Honda Formula One Team since the beginning of 2002. Prodrive chairman, David Richards, is team principal, and his aim is to make the team an F1 title challenger within five years.

Partners since 1998

Desktop Engineering started working with Prodrive in 1988, and were initially instrumental in the company’s very early transition from 2D to 3D design. Desktop Engineering also assisted with analysis projects on gearbox components and the implementation of its first in-house finite analysis software, paving the way to the systems in use today. Ian Johnson, Systems Manager for Prodrive said, “We chose to work with Desktop Engineering because of its superior product knowledge, and the way in which it was prepared to work in partnership with us.”

Motorsport and automotive technology

There are two arms to the Prodrive business, motorsport, and automotive technology, which Prodrive began to exploit during the 1990’s, offering its unique technical skills to the mainstream automotive market. Currently, automotive technology accounts for more than half of the company’s turnover. Prodrive has design, test and development facilities around the world, including a 250 acre proving ground in the UK which comprises a 2.5 mile test track with low friction straights; areas for suspension and dynamics performance testing; and a high speed, six lane, mile-long straight.

Ford supplier chain

Developments in the Ford supplier chain in the late 1990’s lead to a requirement to join Ford’s C3P programme, which provided exclusive links to Ford and collaboration within the design process. Desktop Engineering supplied and implemented systems for Prodrive, providing hardware, software, training and consultancy, enabling it to work effectively within the supply chain, providing systems which continue to be important to a close relationship with Ford. Prodrive’s relationship includes a joint venture in Australia called Ford Performance Vehicles, which manufactures thousands of cars a year.

UNIX systems

As Prodrive’s business had expanded, there was a growing need to move to high-end design systems in order to maintain the close links with its customers and suppliers and to provide the tools necessary for increasingly complex design processes. Desktop Engineering continued its relationship, supplying UNIX hardware and support for the range of systems installed during this transition.

CATIA software & training

Now as an IBM Business Partner, Desktop Engineering supply all the CATIA software for Prodrive, which has expanded its capacity to 14 seats, with migration to CATIA V5 planned to coincide with the demands of its customers. For Prodrive, Desktop Engineering also regularly supplies CATIA training at its Long Hanborough office, maintaining the high skill levels of Prodrive’s engineers. Ian Johnson commented, “We are very happy with the service that Desktop Engineering has supplied over the years. Other suppliers have come and gone, but they have given us the confidence to continue to work with them, and they have contributed to our long term success.” Geoff Haines, Managing Director of Desktop Engineering added, “Our aim has always been to work in partnership with our customers, offering solutions to suit each step in the evolution of their businesses. The 16 year relationship we have with Prodrive clearly illustrates how this policy can produce worthwhile benefits.”