Global Engineering Solutions and Product Development company Detroit Engineering Products (DEP) was established in the year 1998 in Troy, Michigan, US. Within the last 24 years DEP is grown beyond boundaries and now works for customers with a geographic presence in Europe, China, Korea, Japan and India.
Detroit Engineered Products (DEP) provides customers with a one-stop solution for everything from Benchmarking, design concepts, detailed design, simulation, testing, prototyping and other developmental support services. DEP takes on the challenge of building a comprehensive solution that results in faster time-to-market, irrespective of the various engineering hardships in the product development cycle.
In an exclusive interview with Machine Maker, Basant Sharma, Vice President of DEP talks about DEP, its services and solutions. “We provide unique solutions using our integrated CAE platform “MeshWorks“. With the robust features of MeshWorks, we promise futuristic product creation, especially with the application of morphing techniques that transform an existing design into a new shape and geometry”, says Basant Sharma.
He adds, “additionally for further optimization, we don’t need a traditional way; instead, we can increase performance directly by doing modifications in CAE models using parametric technologies. Being a technology torch bearer & services expert, we support customers in the product development segment by saving cost, time & effort.
Major Supplier in Engineering Services for Multiple Industries
“In my journey with DEP for the last 15 years, I’ve witnessed incredible progress in both engineering and product development fronts. We are well known CAE solutions provider when we started, and now we evolved in multitudes”, said Basant Sharma. DEP today is a major supplier in the engineering services & solutions arena with expertise in areas like Design, Conceptualization, Manufacturing Assessment and Packaging Validations, Reverse Engineering, Control Systems Engineering, etc.
DEP has also evolved tremendously on the product development side by developing our own technology demonstrator products, such as Ion Sensors, E-Scooters, Aftermarket Drones, etc. “These developments are our major contributing factors in the 15-year progression and key turning points in our mission towards distinct identity.”, adds Mr Sharma.
India is Cost Sensitive Market; They are Running ahead in EV & Advanced Manufacturing
Basant believes depending on various parameters considered, every market behaves differently. On a geographical scale, the Indian markets are generally viewed as relatively sensitive to cost factors since they are closely associated with the lifetime of the products. When it comes to the EV race, India is already running ahead of many other countries and it is a great sign of consumer evolvement. And compared to many other technologically developed countries, India has a promising market for electric two-wheelers development & usage. Sparing the above considerations, mostly all markets remain the same in every other related aspect.
To stay competitive in today’s market, any manufacturer or service provider must consider cost, quality, and on-time delivery. These are the major role players in providing the required competitive edge for the companies in the market. “We are glad to say that at DEP, we are committed to providing custom-tailored solutions that help attain the necessary competitive edge for the manufacturer and aid in achieving the best possible results”, says Basant Sharma.
DEP for Advanced Manufacturing: Automotive & Aerospace
As per Basant Sharma DEP can offer plenty of solutions for OEMs and Tier1 companies, supporting their manufacturing as well as design and engineering iterations. Customers in this category can reduce the time taken to design and manufacture a product by employing our morphing technology by reusing an existing design rather than beginning from scratch.
Using CAE Parametric technology, current models are optimized to satisfy performance and safety criteria with significant time savings in design & engineering cycles. Additionally, the rapid time to market comes with cost benefits too. Using the CAD Morphing method, DEP can examine the manufacturing impact and factor the identified inefficiencies into design especially in mould flow, forming processes, etc.
“We assisted a number of aerospace companies in the development of their aircraft components by way of supporting the designing and simulation processes. We offer comprehensive CFD studies that result in optimization based on aero drag, load calculations, and other applications”, said Basant Sharma.
Some of their major projects include CFD calculations to compute the structural loads caused by air pressure, applied to aircraft components and assemblies to ensure better performance in high-velocity circumstances. These are critical features that require extreme precision since they come under safety protocols. “We provide accurate forecasts in terms of analysis studies and methods for failure rectification based on numerous projects we worked on and correlations that we made”, says Basant Sharma.
Virtual validations compared to present applications are going to be way more advanced in the future. In aerodynamics, as testing and prototyping will be a big cost constraint for manufacturers, virtual validation will be holy-grail to manufacturers. “Furthermore, as AI/ML advances, virtual validation may become a lot more accurate than in the past, allowing the test cases to be much more accurate”, added Basant Sharma.
DEP has developed its own aftermarket drone that is called Garuda, the birds scattering drone. The main application is that for the safety of planes during take-off, our Garuda drone emits supersonic signals to scatter the birds away from driveways. DEP’s product engineering team created this unmanned aerial system tailored to specific use cases our clients provided for. On the drone development side airframe, deterrence mechanism, radio control & autopilot, camera, power, ground control, drive train, and pre-flight systems were all designed by the DEP team.
Drones are becoming important players in the commercial delivery industry compared to the former association, mainly with military or hobbyist applications.
Our development team is currently working on implementing some advanced AI methodologies that facilitate MeshWorks users during various development stages. With the implemented intelligence there will additional insights be provided to users on even minute impacts for any given use cases of Morphing, CAE Process automation, etc. With all the uploaded data the software will compute the necessary factors and provide the user with more clear results for better optimization using features and pattern recognitions.
Engineering Future is in Digital Transformation
Basant Sharma says there is a good future for digital technology in engineering and manufacturing, especially in India. In the past, the analysis is arrived with “what if” scenarios developed using 2 or 3 real-world situations that helps test the product’s efficiency. “However, by combining Digital Twin with AI, we can obtain real-time data on test conditions such as temperature, wind speed, road conditions, and many more factors. Also, now we can execute various ‘live -what if’ scenarios to improve performance and safety requirements”, said Basant Sharma.
All tedious processes can be quickly optimized with an infinite number of test cases using real-time data. As a result, digital technology will become more important than physical testing in order to create smarter products that will sustain in technology advanced future.
With rising environmental concerns & fuel prices, and increased awareness of spending among the public, electric vehicles (EVs) have got a bright future in India. The Indian government has taken a number of steps including attractive subsidies for increasing EV production by manufacturers. “In addition, they are doing promotion for wide acceptance of electric vehicles in the country. With the above-said factors favouring the EV support & services, DEP got a great potential in serving manufacturers for all their projects”, said Basant Sharma.
He further added, “Following our success in supporting a large number of EV companies in the United States, we intend to extend providing that same level of technology& engineering expertise in the Indian market too. Going forward, the EV sector offers an excellent opportunity that everybody should embrace.”
DEP is expanding its Global Network
In five years, we want to be one of the best solution providers across the world
“We are concentrating on expanding our global network across all other technically prominent countries with the present reach in the United States, India, China, Japan, Europe and the Far East. Positioning ourselves as a global player to increase the confidence among our customers from various parts of the world and addressing any problems arising during the product design and development process will be our 5-year vision”, said Basant Sharma.
“We want to serve various sectors, particularly in the area of electric vehicles, where customers are actively seeking assistance, technology, and services”. Concluding the interaction Basant Sharma said DEP as an innovative technology provider will focus to address the challenges in product development with more robust solutions that further shorten the design and engineering cycle.
