The variety of transmissions available in the market today is continuing to grow exponentially Driveline gearboxes within the last 15 years, all while increasing in complexity. The result is definitely that we are now coping with a varied number of tranny types including manual, typical automatic, automated manual, dual clutch, constantly variable, split power and natural EV.
Until extremely recently, automotive vehicle producers largely had two types of tranny to pick from: planetary automatic with torque converter or conventional manual. Today, however, the volume of choices available demonstrates the adjustments seen across the industry.
This is also illustrated by the countless various kinds of vehicles now being produced for the market. And not just conventional vehicles, but also all electric and hybrid automobiles, with each type requiring different driveline architectures.
The traditional advancement process involved designing a transmission in isolation from the engine and the rest of the powertrain and vehicle. Nevertheless, this is changing, with the limitations and complications of this method becoming more more popular, and the continuous drive among producers and designers to provide optimal efficiency at reduced weight and cost.
New powertrains feature close integration of components like the primary mover, recovery systems and the gearbox, and also rely on highly sophisticated control systems. That is to ensure that the very best amount of efficiency and performance is delivered at all times. Manufacturers are under improved pressure to create powertrains that are brand new, different from and better than the last version-a proposition that’s made more complex by the need to integrate brand components, differentiate within the market and do everything on a shorter timescale. Engineering teams are on deadline, and the advancement process needs to be better and fast-paced than ever before.
Until now, the usage of computer-aided engineering (CAE) has been the most common way to develop drivelines. This process involves parts and subsystems designed in isolation by silos within the business that lean toward proven component-level analysis tools. While these are highly advanced equipment that allow users to extract extremely reliable and accurate data, they are still presenting data that is collected 
without concern of the complete system.
While this can produce components that work nicely individually, putting them jointly without prior thought of the entire system can create designs that don’t work, leading to issues in the driveline that are difficult and expensive to correct.