The ability to implement testing and measurement procedures that bring both quality and speed makes F1 a useful arena for study.
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Quality manager Pierluca Magaldi of the Torro Rosso team believes that they have benefitted from using 3D inspection software coupled to non-contact robotic scanning on an increasing range of components and sub-assemblies for the past two race seasons.
The impact of the new measurement system has also been seen outside the company. Magaldi reports that at least one supplier was so impressed that it started bringing parts it had manufactured to Toro Rosso for inspection.
So the F1 team acted as an external quality control service provider to its own supplier. Since then, a number of other suppliers have invested in similar systems of their own.
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Meanwhile 2010 legislation in the US has played a role in the major upgrade of a quite different sort of test installation. The heavy duty engine facility at the Chicago Test Center of automotive engineering consultants Ricardo has undergone a $250K rejig, which prepares it for the laws covering particulate and NOx emissions by diesel engines sold into the US market.
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