VORD CONSULTING LTD

ABOUT VORD CONSULTING LTD

Final year subjects: Dynamics, Mechanical Power Transmission, Materials, Engineering Design, Economics.

Principal Engineer - VORD Consulting Ltd

I formed VORD Consulting Ltd in 2003 to carry out NVH consulting within the automotive industry.

(SVT). They were previously part of the MSX Group (even more previously Mascotech and SDRC). Their core engineers have been part of the team throughout all those company name changes and have developed world leading techniques for diagnosing and developing NVH problems.

With SVT I specialise in acoustic pack optimisation. Specifically cost optimisation and cost reduction of acoustic packs. Generally it is possible to reduce the acoustic pack cost of a mainstream car by about 10 euros (or cars under 100,000/year volume by 20 euros) without making any difference to noise subjectively or objectively. I tend to aim for a slight noise reduction as that allows some margin to get the revised pack through the client's subjective evaluation. The process takes about 20-30 weeks. Clients normally supply cars which have just started production so the revised pack can be included in the first model year update.

Since forming VORD Consulting I've helped manufacturers develop small hatchbacks, large saloons, vans, pick ups, crossover cars, 4WD cars, supercars, and even Formula 1 cars.

Most fun was selling the idea of NVH to a senior project manager at Lotus. At the time they thought NVH would add weight and cost. He allowed me just a week to carry out a powertrain sound quality exercise for a model year update of their lightweight sports car. I combined objective and subjective assessments with LMS sound quality techniques. The NVH treatment I proposed reduced vehicle weight and cost, and reduced unpleasant noise. I also tuned the intake system to give the engine a more powerful and sophisticated note. The new NVH characteristics were highly praised by the automotive press.