Osculati now has more than 7000 own-brand items, many of which originate directly from the work of the Design & Engineering department, which is dedicated to creating new items and improvement existing articles for maximum efficiency and reliability of Company products. Every year this office creates around 30 new projects, which consist of new articles, new ranges of articles or customised projects to customer specifications. The product development process is often fuelled by the innovative drive that characterises the Osculati family, and in p artic u l ar th e c h airman M ario O sc u l ati, as w el l as by input and requests from customers, especially th e sh ip y ard s and b oaters w h o c ol l ab orate w ith th e company, enabling the establishment of a continuous improvement process to meet ever-changing needs. There is use of CAD software and F E A (Finite Element Analysis) and F E M (Finite Element Method) anal y ses, w h il e th e c omp any is al so ab l e to simu l ate th e function and loads to which new pieces are subjected before production. This makes it possible to optimise geometries and thicknesses to reduce material waste and improve production processes. In addition, advanced prototyping techniques and 3D printing allow physical tests to be performed on the designed p rod u c ts. O nl y w h en th e p rod u c ts are ab l e to meet al l q u al ity and aesthetic requirements do we move on to the production stage, which is entrusted to the best specialised companies in the sector. Before being put on the market, all articles must pass a series of stringent technical, quality and regulatory compliance tests, w h ic h are c arried ou t b oth in-h ou se and in collaboration with external certification centres. The L C A (Life Cycle Assessment) of the product is also always considered in the design phase, seeking to minimise the environmental impact at every stage, from production to disposal, where possible using th e most easil y rec y c l ab l e material s w ith th e l ow est environmental impact. Once the design and production phase is completed, the online 3D model database is finally up-dated, which currently has more than 2000 models, all of which can b e d ow nl oad ed b y O sc u l ati c u stomers. T h is al l ow s b oat designers to download the 3D model of the article they wish to use in their project and carefully and accurately assess its installation, thus reducing the number of retu rns. In summary, the product development process to provide innovative, efficient and reliable solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of Osculati’s customers is structured as follows: Assessment of all available articles with a view to improving them or adapting th em to new c u stomer need s A s s es s m ent of and im p rovem ents to ex is ting artic l es C reation of new p rod uc ts P rototy p ing and tes ting A d vanc ed d es igning P rod uc tion and tes ting U p d ating of 3 D d atab as e Development of products from scratch on the basis of customer inp u t and mark et trend s The use of better CAD software and the carrying out of FEA and FEM analysis to optimize geometries and thicknesses, improving production efficiency and reducing materials waste Prototype and model building with the use of 3D printers, and physical testing to guarantee product quality Entrusting production to the best specialist companies and the carrying out of very strict quality and regulation c omp l ianc e insp ec tions, b oth internal l y and in collaboration with external certification centres Updating of online database with over 2000 downloadable 3D models, enabling boat designers to accurately evaluate the installation of articles in their projects, reducing the costs of returns 51
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