McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
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Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#2Seemingly a puff piece on McLaren...
Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#3Metcals, Mantises, own reflow line, they certainly dont eff around. F1 bans testing? they Matrix tests. Im all jelly.
This is certainly a good PR piece, makes me want to work there.
Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#4The technology in Formula 1 is just impressive, there's far more to it than meets the eye of a casual observer.
Just to name a few things related to McLaren... Their headquarters has an artificial lake to cool down the airflow in their 145 meter underground wind tunnel [1]. And when the cars are out on track anywhere in the world, their engineers and strategists are hard at work in their mission control room [2] that resembles something out of a space program more than a racing team. Not to forget that they are pioneers in using composite materials in racing and other applications.
But I really had no idea that they had something to do with toothpaste.
Now, I'm a bit gutted to see such a great team having such a horrible season in racing with their new engine supplier.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_Technology_Centre [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYhl7csZJHw
Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#5> “We didn’t tell the shop-floor workers what to do,” McGrath says. “We put them in McLaren overalls and let them play with the system. They saw for themselves what had to change.” The Maidenhead team developed a seven-step process that began before the changeover, mirroring McLaren’s cycle of simulation, pre-planning, debriefing and continuous improvement. Changeover times fell by 60 percent, dropping from an average of 39 minutes to 15, equating to an extra 20 million tubes by the end of the year. “We used to see changeovers as down time,” Glover says. “McLaren sees pit stops as an opportunity to win the race.”
It seems like it boils down to this. Which means it's a management issue, in a way.
Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#6I would honestly prefer to watch an F1 competition where we get to watch all the back-room engineering and support infrastructure than the actual F1 car on the track itself. I've always been a fair-weather F1 watcher, but I'd really dig seeing more of what goes on behind the scenes as part of the battles between engineering teams.
Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#7> “We used to see changeovers as down time,” Glover says. “McLaren sees pit stops as an opportunity to win the race.”
This is a compelling way to change the frame-of-reference. Business X has a factory that makes widgets. By framing the downtime as a "pitstop" instead of a "break", it totally changes the mindset, expectations, and pace of the participants.
Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#8just to supplement a really interesting article on how the same principles were applied from engineers is Japan
Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#9Seemingly a puff piece on McLaren...
Ron Dennis has always wanted to diversify, to use the Mclarent know-how and brand elsewhere, and that was good when they were winning races. The embarrassing spectacle of both Mclaren cars at the back of the grid, being lapped, has to make one wonder if all group energy and bandwidth should be spent on the F1 operation rather than potential distractions. The brand is currently being damaged.
Re: McLaren F1 Tech Applied to Other Industries
#10I would honestly prefer to watch an F1 competition where we get to watch all the back-room engineering and support infrastructure than the actual F1 car on the track itself. I've always been a fair-weather F1 watcher, but I'd really dig seeing more of what goes on behind the scenes as part of the battles between engineering teams.
Secrecy is an inherent factor in F1 - no team wants to give away valuable data to their rivals.
If you're interested in the technical side of the sport, there are many journalists providing very detailed analysis. Craig Scarborough, Matt Somers, Steven de Groote and Ted Kravitz spring to mind, but there are plenty of others.