A Structured, Concurrent Engineering Approach to Friction Material Development

This paper describes the collaboration between BBA Friction Ltd and the University of Liverpool in establishing a Concurrent Engineering (CE) environment that exactly meets the current and future requirements of BBA Friction Ltd. BBA were trying to design a friction materials development process to meet the needs of their customers in a way that would significantly improve material performance, reduce product development lead times and enhance customer satisfaction. The paper describes the concept of CE, BBA Friction Ltd's materials development needs and why the CE environment approach was selected. It then goes on to describe how BBA Friction Ltd's CE environment was developed, how the implementation was planned and executed and the results of the work. It also shows how a successful collaboration may be conducted between a commercial engineering company and an academic institution.