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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Siemens Team up with Ben Ainslie Racing to Launch Innovation Partnership

Siemens PLM Software in the UK have teamed up with Ben Ainslie Racing to announce a landmark technology and innovation partnership ahead of the team’s plan to compete in the world renowned America’s Cup, to be held in 2017.

From the UK, Siemens is providing cutting edge product lifecycle management (PLM) software products and, through their solution partner Majenta PLM, professional services.  The PLM environment will enable the world class engineering team to create, manage and share the innovative designs relating to the boat design and build. The partnership will last for a minimum of three years and will support the 50,000 hours of research and development of the 22 strong design team.

Additionally, 150,000 hours of expertise will also be supported for the boat design and build, in order to aid the team in their ambitions to win the oldest international sporting trophy in the world.

Siemens will be helping to develop the AC62 boats - which have the potential to reach speeds of up to 45 knots, or 52 miles per hour. Using advanced digital and software technologies Siemens will enable the design and testing the boats in virtual environments. This will be supported by a solid bank of data which can be used to fine tune the design of the boats so that they can constantly evolve to meet the needs of the Ben Ainslie Racing team.

The Siemens PLM Software helps thousands of companies make products by optimising their production processes, from planning and development through manufacturing and support. The company has a large Research & Development presence in the UK, with over 400 software engineers based at its Cambridge development centre.

Siemens NX and Teamcenter software will form the digital backbone of the boat development process allowing the entire engineering team to design, develop, simulate and manufacture in the virtual world.  The Siemens software manages the complete boat definition and revisions as the boat is developed, and also manages the alterations required based on the on-going changes in requirements from the sailing team.

Technical support is provided by Majenta PLM professional services team, who will become an integral part of the Ben Ainslie Racing design team. Majenta PLM is one of the UK’s leading Siemens PLM Software Solution Providers and is also a Platinum Partner.

Juergen Maier CEO of Siemens in the UK and Ireland said “We are putting the virtual winds into the sails of Ben Ainslie Racing through our partnership - we are immensely proud to support the team through our digital technology and software platforms - which we know will radically improve the performance of the team. What is particularly special about the partnership is that we will be supporting with our UK R&D capacity - backing the team in Portsmouth where the team will open their UK HQ next year,”

“Ben Ainslie Racing can only be successful if they have not only the best sailing team, but also the best design team and development teams. By investing in state of the art commercial software to develop a cutting edge sailing boat I believe the team will have a real advantage over the current cup holders.”

The British Challenge was launched in June and is led by Sir Ben Ainslie. The team was set up to be a commercial sporting team, with a number of individual private investors alongside commercial sponsors.

Sir Ben Ainslie commented “To win the America’s Cup with a British team, to bring the America’s Cup home for the first time in its history would be the most amazing experience. It’s a sporting challenge, it’s a technical challenge and it’s about bringing a large group of people together designing, building and then racing the fastest boat possible. The Siemens systems really enable us to collate our ideas and make sure they are put into practice. That’s why we wanted to partner with Siemens and we’ve been extremely impressed with the progress we’ve made so far.”

The 35th match for the America’s Cup will be in 2017. It will be raced in 62 foot foiling catamarans, and the venue is due to be announced in the next few weeks. Ben Ainslie Racing will be challenging current Cup holders Oracle Team USA.

In June this year Ben Ainslie Racing announced plans to build its high tech UK HQ in Portsmouth, it will be a showcase for sport, innovation, technology and sustainability.

Andy Claughton the Technical Director for Ben Ainslie Racing added “The America’s Cup is a competition where you cannot afford to have an unreliable boat. “The most important challenge for us is to build the sailors a fast boat in which they have confidence. If they don’t have confidence they won’t be able to go for a manoeuvre that could win the race. This is why we have invested so heavily in the Software and technical support.

“The most important thing we can do as the design team is to give the sailing team the boat that lets them perform at their best. All the time we’re trying to build a commonality of knowledge about the art of the possible between the sailing team and the design team. That’s why the capture of the information in 3D is so important - We want to have the 3D CAD model as the living embodiment of the design as it is right now.”

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