Show, Concept & Demonstration Vehicles

KWM were approached by a global automotive OEM to produce show and demonstration vehicles for their concept and motorsport marketing programmes.

 

The Challenge

  • Final design data was very late being finalised due to motorsport’s continuous development cycles.
  • The first car was required in 6 weeks to coincide with marketing events calendar.
  • There was significant cost pressure, further complicated by the low-volume nature of the product.

The Requirements

  • Life-like re-creation of current race cars.
  • Rapid turnaround from design through to manufacture and assembly.
  • Complex installations in multiple international locations.

The Approach

  • The external CAD data was imported in to KWM’s CAD system.
  • From only external vehicle CAD data (providing body shape and dimensions) a new internal vehicle platform was designed from scratch by KWM’s engineers.
  • KWM’s internal additive manufacturing capabilities were heavily used for tooling, jigs & fixtures, and end-use components. This significantly sped up manufacture time and reduced tooling costs.
  • Each car was fully assembled in-house 5 days.

The Results

  • The low tooling costs, facilitated by additive manufacturing, provided low unit cost and flexible repeatability.
  • Cars were successfully installed at multiple show locations.
  • KWM are now a trusted supplier, continuing to support the client 4 years on.