The factory buildings were specially designed with both style and incredible amounts of functionality in mind, from Renzo Piano’s Wind Tunnel building, completed in 2007 and resembling a part of an engine, to Marco Visconti’s visually stunning aluminum and opal glass paint shop, designed to minimize contact between the workers and toxic materials.
The central element of the Wind Tunnel building is a tubular duct 80m long where airflow can be artificially generated and modified for turbulence, angularity, and uniformity. The turbine guarantees an airflow of about 250kph for models in 1:2 scale and of about 150kph for 1:1 scale models, as well as real cars.
The central element of the Wind Tunnel building is a 80m tubular duct where airflow can be artificially generated and modified for turbulence, angularity, and uniformity.
Thanks to a mechanism controlled by more than 300 sensors and a conveyor belt that is synchronized with the wind speed, Ferrari's engineers can simulate and monitor practically every movement of the various models, from rolling to yawing, pitching, and swerving.
Engineering engines that purr
The mechanical workshop, too, was built with advanced technology in mind, as was the new logistics Ges, a long hangar-like building designed by Sturchio Architects & Designers, where the logistical heart of the Ferrari team is located.
It’s the eight-level paint shop, however, that is probably the most impressive facility at the Ferrari plant. Designed by Marco Visconti and opened in 2004, the paint shop is a magnificent structure of aluminum and opal glass, interspersed with clear insets that serve as an adjusting filter to the outside weather conditions, which helps to cut down on energy. Controlled by one operating and control center, the building was constructed in such a way as to ensure that contact between the workers and the materials used by the paint shop remained at a minimum. The powder-based primer and water-based paints are applied in a process of pretreatment and cataphoresis in a tunnel where the car bodies are immersed and rotated 360 degrees in 11 successive tanks, without any human intervention whatsoever.
Ferrari even has its own foundry on site, mainly to manufacture primary aluminium alloys, as well as to manufacture parts for engines and body work. Engine parts are cast by means of sand molds and gravity die-casting for what Ferrari maintains is “the best mechanical performance.”
There are also two prominent engine assembly lines in the Ferrari complex, for the production of the iconic eight- and 12-cylinder engines. The 12-cylinder line is reserved for the most experienced workers, who carry out all of the final assembly operations and sign the technical sheet of the engine. The eight-cylinder engine base is manufactured in the foundry unit by casting aluminium with 7 percent silicon (at approximately 760 degrees centigrade) into a shell.
The first design V12s were replaced in sports cars in about 1953 with an engine series based on their formula one engine; first four cylinders, then a six cylinder inline.
Indeed! Or express a wide variety of experience. It all depends on what topic comes up in these magazines.
Ever read any of the Ingersoll Rand Compressed Air trade magazines? They have covered everything from restoring a WWII 16" coastal defense rifle, to bees. There is only the magazine name on the front cover and company advertising on the inside and back cover.
Needless to say, some of the articles generate a lot of information from the knowledgeable readers.
Sylvie—terrific article!I certainly learned something today.I had no idea their annual production was only 6,000 cars.They obviously go for quality and not quantity.Sadly enough, I read today the earthquake in Bologna has shut the factory for an undetermined period of time.Let's hope there were no injuries or significant damage and they can get up and running again quickly.Your description of their factory mirrors the efforts of VW here in my home town (Chattanooga, Tennessee).VW has built a "green" production facility that is truly marvelous.Again, great article.
Thank you! That means a lot to me! It was a piece i really enjoyed writing, so it's always nice to hear that people enjoyed reading it too.
I was also surprised that annual production was just 6000, but rarity increases value, so I guess there is incentive to keep it high quality, high cost.
We visited Maranello last fall on a trip through Italy, and what we were most impressed with was the sound of engines throughout the town. The mechanics will take cars out on the road to test drive them, so it's not uncommon to have one cruise by. Additionally, there's a place adjacent to the Ferrari museum where, for a fee, one can get "pre-flight instruction" on driving a Ferrari, then take one (accompanied by an experienced driver) out on the road.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
A new battery design, which replaces lithium with abundant and low-cost elemental sulfur, is still in its nascent stages but shows real promise for giving batteries more energy potential.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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