Analyst Event: Adams Golf
Adams Golf started as a fairway woods manufacturer. Today, they provide the #1 hybrid on the PGA tour. Check out my interview with Tim Reed, vice president of R&D.
Tim shared how their staff of 20 in R&D work in an accelerated development process called RNPD – rapid new product development.
Their product development cycle is six to nine months. Yet they’ve had some as short as six weeks.
That cycle requires a flexible, adaptable PLM system. One that can help Adams achieve these tenets for their clubs: world-class performance, visibly unique and demonstrably superior.
One of the more interesting uses of our technology by Adams is in the area of simulation. They use NX Flow for aerodynamics on their clubs. They’ve test them in wind tunnels and used our CFD functionality to validate the results.
It was also interesting to hear about the challenges golf club manufacturers face by limits set by the USPGA. Adams noted as driver heads got bigger, ball speeds went up. The USPGA started setting constraints on volume and size and even inertia in the golf club design. But even with those challenges, Adams continues to push the bar. They told me they file close to 50 patents a year.
Adams noted that they don’t pay any of the PGA golfers to use their clubs. Yet their clubs are the choice of leading players, such as Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer, Chad Campbell, Aaron Baadeley, Yani Tseng, and Brittany Lincicome.
