The engine industry is facing increasing pressure to make the test and development process quicker, cheaper and of better quality. Suppliers of engine test bench systems have responded by offering a higher level of technology in their products, but these alone do not ensure that improvements can be realised. An objective approach to understanding and improving the complete engine development process is required for continued success of a testing operation. For many years, the use of automated test bench control systems has brought considerable benefit to such routine testing operations as durability and fuel and lube testing. Established engine development methods have, however, remained inherently manual processes, and as such are unsuited to automation. Despite this, the needs of development testing have led to improvements in instrumentation systems, but the full potential of current facilities is rarely exploited.
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