Improvement of Collaboration between Testing and Simulation Departments on the Example of a Motorcycle Manufacturer

In testing and simulation departments in product development (PD) data types, data structures and data storage are often very different. Exchange of data and information is normally not automated and often not supported by management systems. This can lead to loss of time and information. A literature study in combination with 20 expert interviews and the analysis of documents as well as data storage structures and IT systems in a PD department of a motorcycle manufacturer were performed. Test and simulation processes were classified and standardized, documentation formats analyzed, standards in Test Data Management (TDM) and Simulation Data Management (SDM) as well as verification and validation processes compared. IT support in SDM is better than in TDM. An integration of TDM and SDM could lead to improved collaboration between testing and simulation departments. Options for this integration could be specific ontologies, object-oriented interfaces, a higher-level intermediate application, use of a common standard or integration of one standard into another one.