Automotive Trucks information on net.

Automotive sales have been slowing in the U.S. for nearly a year. Yet the extent of the downturn is still very much in doubt.

It is interesting and worthwhile to look at how this downturn has played out so far. The 2001 model year data (through May), correlates well with the start of the downturn last fall. The 5.5% drop in total light vehicle sales is an average: There are many losers, and a few winners. Early in the downturn, much was made about this being a Big Three sales drop, with Honda, Toyota and European luxury brands seeing growth. That is still true to an extent, but few have escaped entirely unscathed.

It has been a tough year for the Big Three on the passenger car side. The Chrysler Group was down over 20% through May, while Ford wasn't much better at just over 17% down. And GM leads the pack with an 8% decrease--which happens to be better than the 9.3% decrease reported by the Toyota car division.

On the car side of the business, Toyota is having some difficulties. The Lexus IS300 and the LS430, both new, are the only cars that are showing any sign of growth in their car line-up. Sales for the company's two volume cars--Camry and Corolla--are down, though the new Camry should change things. Interestingly, the Toyota truck division is carrying the company. With two new products (Highlander and Sequoia) and one redesigned product, Toyota trucks appear to be the sales success story of the year.

Honda was doing better through the first eight months of the model year (up nearly 3%), but it, too, was showing some signs of weakness. While the Accord continues to go strong, the new Civic has had some trouble keeping pace with the previous model. The Acura car division, in a market that has remained hot for luxury models, was down over 4%. In contrast to the performance of Toyota, the Honda 'trucks' (CRV, Odyssey, and Passport) have been down this year, while the Acura-branded MDX has boosted the company's overall truck volume by almost 6%.

Many of the consumer forces that drove the Big Three profit machine of the mid-and late-90s may be changing.

Certainly it was little surprise that the new Explorer was down from previous model year figures. Given the previous version's tire problems, and the excruciatingly slow launch, sales were bound to be down. Yet what is somewhat surprising is the speed at which Ford placed incentives on the hood of a high-profile vehicle.

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They knew the track record for the presses was less than stellar because the gantry-style robots that fed and extracted parts from them were unreliable. "We looked at their downtime with the old robots, and we wanted to make improvements," says Ben Turzynski, senior manufacturing engineer in charge of injection molding and paint operations at Vandalia.

The decision was to spend a bit more for articulated arm robots, which provide greater flexibility, have more human-like motion control and are three times faster than gantry robots. And, most important, they required less space overhead in a section of the plant with a low ceiling.

There wasn't much room for error, as the presses at Vandalia would churn out door panels, map pockets and inserts for General Motors Corp. pickup trucks.

Two and a half years later, Mr. Turzynski says it was the right decision. "Our downtime is very minimal," he says. "We're very happy with the robots, and they do not have a lot of maintenance. The robot is the highlight of the transfer of these tools."

Delphi's supplier for the 11 new M-16iT robots is Fanuc Robotics North America of Rochester Hills, MI.

Carl Miller, account manager for Fanuc, says articulated arm robots are becoming popular in Europe and Japan. At Vandalia, the statistics support Delphi's switch to the new robots. Cycle time has improved 12%, and the new robots need only 5.5 seconds to remove a part from the press; the gantry robots needed 13 seconds.

And quality has improved. The articulated arm robots extract parts from the molds and successfully handle them 99% of the time, compared to about 90% for a gantry robot. "Sometimes it would miss the part," Mr. Turzynski says of the old gantry. "A lot of times it was a setup issue. If it was not set up properly, it would close on a part and cause tool damage." And more downtime.

The result? "We are getting higher quality parts," he says.

With the success in door panel production, Delphi Vandalia hired Fanuc about a year ago for a similar solution in production of steering wheels. Because of ergonomic issues, Mr. Turzynski says it was better to automate the process of loading and unloading steering wheels from the press. "It needs to be on a cycle that is very consistent, and the robot provides the consistency we need," he says.

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The do-it-for-me (DIFM) segment accounted for the largest slice of the pie, racking up 66% of total sales. The DIY market for parts and accessories such as motor oil and chemicals accounted for 22% of sales.

Conversely, DIY activity among consumers dropped to 37% in 1999, from 42% in 1993, the report stated. Furthermore, the amount of DTYers tackling heavy repairs and maintenance fell to 8% in 1999, down from 28% in 1994. Despite this fall-off in home repair tendency, aftermarket retailers managed to compensate elsewhere and continued to drive up sales. The report states that sales in the aftermarket channel rose to $10 billion in 1999, up from $9.8 billion in 1998.

Of the top aftermarket retailers, which includes AutoZone, Advanced Auto Parts, Pep Boys, CSK Automotive, O'Reilly Automotive Inc., Discount Auto Parts and Track Auto, only Track and Pep Boys showed a drop in year-over-ear revenue. Memphis-based AutoZone, the nation's No. 1 aftermarket retailer posted a 23% increase in sales between 1998 and 1999. Additionally, AutoZone reported that first quarter 2000 sales broke the $1 billion dollar mark, a first for the chain. Advanced Auto Parts, housed in Roanoke, Va., posted an impressive 80% jump in its sales in the same time period.

While the retailers seem to be humming along nicely, the book projects that aftermarket sales will slow in 2000 and 2001. According to the fact-book, an increase in new vehicles combined with longer lasting parts will slow replacement rates for many aftermarket retailers.

Another telling statistic that surfaced in the report includes that fact that sales grew fastest (6%) in the heavy-duty truck segment, as miles driven rose to meet the demands of new housing and the booming construction industry. Record sales of new and medium heavy trucks created a glut of used vehicles and contributed to higher demand for truck replacement parts and repair services.

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Phase-two testing starts this year on a tractor-trailer diesel truck equipped with aerodynamic-assisting air jets, which could slash drag by about 50% and boost fuel economy by up to 25%.

The little jets improve air flow at the trailing edges of trailers, employing successful principles earlier applied to aircraft.

The first phase of experiments on a smaller-scale wind-tunnel model at Georgia Tech Research Institute (see Diesel Fuel News 5/28/01, p2) led to design of a full-scale on-road test vehicle based on a Volvo Truck/Great Dane trailer big-rig combo.

The first vehicle test, sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), aimed to determine fuel economy under highway conditions and learn about possible system problems.

The phase-one test version exposed a flaw: A faring designed to reduce drag around the exterior-mounted auxiliary motors and blowers didn't perform as wind-tunnel testing had indicated. That prompted follow-up tests in the wind tunnel, which led to discovery of an aerodynamic fix.

Phase-two tests later this year will move the blower-motor components inside the trailer to eliminate the faring problem discovered in phase-one.

In a future commercial application, engineering designers probably would put the blower-motors on the trailer face behind the tractor, perhaps integrated into the auxiliary-power refrigeration units used on many trucks today. This not only would eliminate aerodynamic drag and use readily available space, but also would conserve interior trailer space dedicated to revenue freight. Air ducts from the blower could run along the outside-bottom of the trailer -- the same available space where spare tires are stored.

Phase-one testing with the earlier design produced only about 5-6% fuel economy improvement in the standard Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) "Type-II" testing on a 7.5 mile track at Transportation Research Center, in East Liberty, Ohio. These SAE tests followed several "tuning" tests at Volvo facilities in Greensboro, N.C.

The new design -- eliminating the faring problem -- should increase fuel economy by about 20-25% over the stock tractor-trailer rig, explains Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) engineer Robert Englar.

GTRI, which holds the patents on this system, continues to work with Volvo Trucks and Great Dane trailers for test programs, with funding from DOE and with cooperation from American Trucking Associations.

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"Downsize" was the favored buzzword of the powertrain community at this year's Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit.

Engine developers, suppliers and strategists spoke so repetitively about the need to reduce engine displacements in North America that "downsize" began to sound like the Congress' official Gregorian chant.

One of the most strident orchestrators was S.M. Shahed, president of Honeywell's Garrett Engine Boosting Systems (and 2002's SAE president). Shahed is alarmed about the powertrain competitiveness of U.S. auto makers and says there's only one near-term answer: downsized engines.

These smaller-displacement engines will be enhanced by, not coincidentally, advanced new turbochargers that can make the cubic-inch-cutting transparent to the nation's power-hungry automotive customers, Shahed contends.

"It's not displacement that counts. It's air that counts," he says, asserting the route to more-powerful engines comes not from larger size but from effectively moving air through the engine. Downsizing, combined with turbocharging to make up the inevitable performance deficit, can amount to a 20% fuel economy gain, he says.

"A 2L (4-cyl.) can take on a 3L (V-6)," Shahed insists, because a downsized turbocharged engine presents higher peak torque, at lower rpm, than a larger normally aspirated engine. Higher torque at lower rpm is what satisfies U.S. drivers, he says.

Shahed says Europe's breakneck adoption of diesel engines is the perfect illustration of his point. Today's high-performance diesels deliver usable torque with markedly less displacement than a gasoline engine needs to produce similar torque.

Diesels, he says, require about 20,000 gallons (88,000L) of air for every gallon of fuel; gasoline engines suck in about 9,000 gallons (39,600L) for every gallon of gasoline burned. So the better an engine breathes, the more torque it produces.

Chris Middlemass, Garrett's director of gasoline boosting systems, says although the U.S. market has yet to mimic Europe's affinity for light-duty diesels, the downsizing/turbocharging idea is equally relevant.

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The Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Div. announced the winners of its 31st annual Most Innovative Use of Plastics Awards. Winners were chosen in six categories: Chassis, Powertrain, Interior, Exterior, Materials, and Enabling Technologies/Processes.

The winning entry in the chassis category was the Audi A2 front-end module. The innovative module was the first to join metal to metal during the injection molding process. This gave the Audi designers increased design freedom associated with plastics, while allowing for the structural integrity and safety performance of fender-to-fender steel. Faurecia was the system supplier, molder and tooling supplier, while Bayer supplied the material. Faurecia estimates that the innovation offered a 30% weight savings, and a cost avoidance of 20%.

If the Audi A2 front-end module illustrates what plastics can do for the tiniest of vehicles, the Powertrain winner certainly shows that it can be equally effective for the biggest. Charge-air-Cooler (CAC) end tanks for the Ford F250 to 550 trucks took honors in the Powertrain category. These high-volume parts are a direct replacement for cast-aluminum parts, and saved over 3.5 lb. per assembly. Valeo was the supplier for the system, while Carlisle Engineered Products did the molding and built the tools.

The Aztek took top honors in the Interiors category. The unique vehicle's self-stowing/rolling convenience system supplied by Lear earned some redemption for the much-maligned crossover. The cleverly designed storage system is capable of holding 400 lb. as it rolls out over the tailgate; it sets a new standard for utility vehicle storage. Lear worked with Duroplast, Nova and Spartech Poly-cam to better the metal prototype by 12 kg and $34.

In what shows that these people are willing to leave no stone unturned, the linchpin of the rolling system is a high tech device that offers smooth-ultra quiet operation: inline skate wheels.

# posted by Medical Information : 4:12 AM  0 Comments

Tower Automotive Inc. said it will take a $289 million restructuring charge in the current quarter and cut 215 jobs in the United States and Canada in 2002. The company expects that the cash charges recorded will be recovered with operating savings by the end of its 2002 fiscal year.

The company also said it is looking to close its Milwaukee Press Operations plant, which would affect 490 hourly workers and 40 salaried staff. Tower Automotive said it is in talks with the union representing workers at the Milwaukee plant about the recommended plant closure, which would also result in a charge of $50 million to $60 million.

Of the $289 million in charges to be taken in the current quarter, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Tower said $277 million is related to non-cash charges for goodwill and asset impairment. The company also said it will also take $203 million in non-cash charges for the impairment of goodwill and the carrying value of an investment.

The charges being announced are in addition to those associated with the closure of the company's Sebewaing, Mich. facility, which was announced in October 2001.

The company intends to continue the assembly of frames for the Dodge Ram and Ford Ranger trucks at its Milwaukee facilities.

Tower Automotive, Inc., produces a broad range of assemblies and modules for vehicle structures and suspension systems for the automotive manufacturers, including Ford, DaimlerChrysler, GM, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Fiat, Kia, Hyundai, BMW and Volkswagen. Products include body structural assemblies such as pillars and package trays, control arms, suspension links, engine cradles and full frame assemblies.

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Recently UAW leadership cited free trade with China as the latest factor contributing to the three-decade long shrinkage in American automotive employment. While the UAW is correct that China is fast becoming a major source of parts and components and eventually fully assembled cars, it's hard to imagine that the Union could do anything to change the inevitable. Free trade is now a government mandate. Even though the present administration penalized the auto industry to protect the steel industry, Washington isn't likely to be sympathetic to Detroit. If the UAW tried to protect jobs by forcing assemblers or suppliers to guarantee headcount, they will merely accelerate the decline of U.S. companies and potentially threaten their existence.

In the early 1980s the union argued that underpaid, exploited Japanese workers were taking away the jobs of American workers. The Union was correct that Japan had a labor cost advantage that penalized higher paid American jobs. But even in a politically more sympathetic climate that saw the enactment of import quotas, the job drain continued.

There was a great deal of hand wringing about how many vehicles people would be able to afford to buy as the country lost high paid manufacturing jobs. But that hasn't materialized as Americans enjoyed the highest standard of living in history, partly through the availability of cheap, high-quality imported goods.

While the numbers of non-union automotive assembly workers in the United States has climbed, employment at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler and at many of their suppliers has been in a permanent downward spiral. The loss of more than 15 percentage points in market share since 1980 shifted work from Big 3 assembly plants to competitors based overseas or to North American transplant assembly plants. Matching Japanese productivity eliminated more jobs, as has outsourcing at both the Big Three and at suppliers who have moved their plants to Mexico or across the Pacific.

# posted by Medical Information : 4:20 AM  0 Comments

In a new report, corporate analyst Schroder-SalomonSmithBarney boosts its Euro diesel car share forecast to 45% in 2005, up from a 42% forecast last year, based on continued soaring growth in diesel vehicle demand.

Euro diesel car sales jumped another 12% last year, as consumers continue to respond to huge improvements in diesel performance technology and continuing big advantages in fuel economy versus gasoline. Trends indicate that diesels should hit 50% share in a few years, probably stabilizing around that mark.

"The wider availability of diesel fuel with lower sulfur content should also be helpful in heading off health concerns" about dieselization, as ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) is a "key enabler for the efficient use of NOx catalysts" while sulfur-sensitive diesel particulate filters (DPFs) also "may become necessary to meet tighter Euro V standards," it says.

Other key dieselization factors:

"We expect that fuel taxes will remain high in Europe as government continues to fight against spiraling traffic growth and congestion. Under these circumstances, diesel engine fuel economy is likely to remain in vogue with consumers...

"As diesel output continues to rise, we expect that diesel engines will become less costly to make relative to gasoline versions. This may prove particularly beneficial for small-displacement engines," the report says.

While world-wide diesel vehicle sales were about 10.5 million units last year, or 18% of the world light vehicle market, about half of these sales were in Europe, the report notes.

Another 2 million light commercial diesel sales went to Europe, while the remaining 3 million diesel light vehicles produced last year were sold principally as commercial vehicles in Asia.

"Several commentators including ourselves see potential for this non-European sales base to double to around 6 million [diesel] units by 2010," the report says. "The greatest potential seems to be in Asian markets such as India, where diesel is already available for commercial vehicles and where economic growth is expected to stimulate fast growth in car buying."

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Automotive executives have been selling, merging, acquiring and swapping bits and pieces of, or entire companies, across national borders with the enthusiasm of teenagers trading Internet music burns.

The British sold off their entire industry; the Swedish auto industry is controlled by Americans; Japan and the U.S. are down to two home-controlled major producers; French directed products are back in the U.S.; and the Germans run more of the U.S. retail market than the Japanese.

The Germans gained ground by "merging" with Chrysler and taking over Mitsubishi, while Volkswagen/Audi and BMW earned U.S. market share gains exceeding those of Mercedes.

Japan first gave up control of Mazda to the Americans, then Nissan to the French, and now Mitsubishi to the Germans, with Fuji/Subaru, Suzuki and Isuzu moving toward the Americans. Only Toyota and Honda stand free and clear as major and true Japanese national entities. Korean companies, most facing severe financial and/or labor problems, are dickering with both Americans and Germans.

Oddly, images are blurred. Americans think of Nissans as Japanese vehicles. At the same time, the Japanese people revere French management as the true Nissan. Reams of articles about a few shared mechanical components brought many Americans to the point of thinking of Jaguar as another Ford product while considering Range Rover as British. Conversely, the Germans would like to find a way to tie Chrysler products to the Mercedes image. Unfortunately, many Americans pass the merger off as an example of a faulty German management decision.

As for America, there are only two home-controlled entities remaining -- General Motors and Ford. The concept of the "Big 3" is fading faster than a monster SUV's gas gauge. The question is, can the "Detroit Duo" hold or gain ground? Their situations differ. GM has been on a constant downward slope since 1980. During that period Ford experienced ups and downs, but overall it made share gains. The General is now showing signs of understanding the business -- quality and emotion. Ford, having forgotten the key to initial quality and profitability, has earned long-term quality ratings touching the Japanese well ahead of the Germans, yet it is seen to be on a downward slope while GM, if not quite at an upturn corner, is close enough to see and feel the winds of turnaround.

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Delphi Automotive Systems said it will enter a co-development agreement with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. to supply Jinbei- branded vehicles with engine management systems (EMS) during the next four years. Production of these vehicles will begin in September 2001, Delphi said. The agreement covers four model years and is worth approximately $50 million to Delphi.

"We are working diligently to grow our business in Asia Pacific," said Guy C. Hachey, vice president of Delphi Automotive Systems and president of Delphi Energy & Chassis Systems. "Delphi is clearly a leader in EMS, utilizing its unique 'building block' approach. In this case, we took all of the issues important to our customer: low emissions, fuel economy, vehicle performance, dependability and value, and offered them a complete systems solution."

Engine management is the science of equipping and calibrating an engine to achieve clean exhaust emissions while providing the best possible performance, fuel economy and driveability. The EMS project with Brilliance involves 11 Delphi technologies.

Delphi's engine management systems will be applied to the Brilliance 2.2L 491 (4Y) engines scheduled for fall production. "Under this new agreement with Brilliance, 70 percent of the system components will be manufactured in Delphi-owned or joint venture facilities in the Asia Pacific region," noted Choon T. Chon, president of Delphi Automotive Systems, Asia Pacific.

"As we continue to grow our customer base in this key region, more original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will realize we can accommodate their major concerns: compliance with local legislation and growing competition." Delphi said it will utilize its Beijing Delphi WanYuan EMS Co. Ltd. facility and the Delphi Delco Electronics plant in Suzhou, China, for this project.

"Brilliance has been expanding quickly in the automotive sector and we are keen to work with a world leader in automotive components and systems, like Delphi," said Rong Yang, chairman, president and CEO of Brilliance.

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Two long-haul trucks operating in Europe equipped with a new N[O.sub.X] control system are currently meeting the Euro 4 standards for N[O.sub.X], which will come into effect in 2005 throughout the continent, according to Engelhard Corp., which worked with TNO Automotive to develop the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system used on the vehicles. The one-year field tests are being conducted to evaluate the commercial potential of the SCR system. In the new system, a truck's silencer is replaced with a catalyst unit. A water/urea solution is injected at the entrance of the catalyst in order to activate the reduction process. Heat in the exhaust converts the urea solution into gaseous ammonia. Within the catalyst unit, the ammonia reacts with N[O.sub.X] in the exhaust gas and is converted into nitrogen and water. The SCR system is reducing N[O.sub.X] emissions by around 80 percent for the European Stationary Cycle (ESC) and 70 percent for the European Transient Cycle (ETC).

In the joint-development program, Engelhard developed the catalyst technology, including packaging of the SCR catalyst/muffler, while TNO was responsible for the overall system integration, calibration and testing.

The Lubrizol Corp. said it will provide BP with its proprietary PuriN[O.sub.X] low-emission diesel fuel technology, which will enable BP to blend its new Aspira low-emission fuel for diesel engines, a key part of the BP System City low-emissions initiative. BP's first System City customer is Arriva, one of the largest transport services organizations in Europe and the largest bus operator in London. Arriva is running Aspira in its 120-plus-vehicle London Clapton garage fleet. BP will further channel sales of this offer directly to centrally fueled diesel engine fleets, which include on- and off-road applications, such as pickup and delivery vehicles, urban and school buses, waste management fleets, agricultural vehicles, mining and construction equipment, coastal marine ships and stationary power generators.

PuriN[O.sub.X] low-emission diesel fuel technology incorporates a special blending system provided by Lubrizol to mix the components of the fuel into a water-in-diesel emulsion that is stable and safe enough to burn in engines traditionally run on normal diesel fuel. BP will purchase the special additive chemistry from Lubrizol in order to blend the water with the fuel.

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PITTSBURGH -- Timken Co., Canton, Ohio, will invest about $10 million in its bearings plant in Altavista, Va., to take advantage of the growing automotive aftermarket.

The expansion will enable Timken to make the most of increased demand for replacement wheel-hub bearing assemblies for light-duty pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

"The Altavista facility has been a strong performer for Timken, and we are adding capacity to capitalize on a significant opportunity for profitable growth in the automotive aftermarket with this expansion," said Jack Cameron, Timken's general manager for the North and South American automotive aftermarket.

Timken supplies automotive wheelhub bearing assemblies to both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the automotive aftermarket. The Altavista facility, which has 140,000 square feet of space with about 308 employees, has grown steadily since it opened in 1991.

Timken plans to add 50 new jobs and increase capacity of the Campbell County plant. The expansion project, which will begin in the second quarter of 2006, will receive roughly $460,000 in state and local government incentives.

"Access to a strong, well-educated work force and excellent infrastructure in a pro-growth business environment has been integral to our success in Virginia," John Plazak, Altavista's plant manager, said.

Michael Greenwald, an analyst with BB&T Capital Markets, Richmond, Va., said the expansion is another example of Timken taking advantage of a growing market.

"This goes along with their steady build-out of their bearing operations," he said. "They're pretty heavy in capex (capital expenditure) spending right now." For example, in November 2005 Timken said it would spend $27 million to expand its Asheboro bearings plant in Randleman, N.C., which produces highly engineered tapered roller bearings for industrial applications (AMM, Nov. 8).

"The aftermarket is a little better margin business for them," Greenwald said. "Any time you're selling to OEMs it is not as profitable."

Statistics from the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), Orland Park, Ill., show the automotive aftermarket represents a $190.5-billion market, with expectations for it to grow 3.5 percent a year during the next five years, about even with the trend seen during the past decade.

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Cited in more than 90 percent of police crash reports, driver error remains the leading cause of crashes on America's roads. To help improve driver performance and safety, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) established the national Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI). A significant new direction for USDOT safety programs, the M focuses on preventing crashes by helping drivers avoid hazardous mistakes.

Other partners in the project include the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the American Trucking Associations, ITS America, the motor vehicle industry, seven universities, and 10 State and local transportation agencies. A departure from the past, the initiative looks at "preventing" crashes, rather than "reducing the severity" of crash-related injuries to people and property.

"The mission of the IVI is to reduce the number and severity of crashes through the application of advanced driver assistance systems," explains Ray Resendes, IVI program manager at FHWA. "Through the IVI program, the Federal government, and FHWA along with its partner agencies, is helping the transportation industry produce better safety. systems more quickly."

During the summer, a 3-day national IVI meeting and vehicle demonstration was held at FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. Several State departments of transportation (DOTs), local transportation agencies, and members of the private sector displayed intelligent vehicle technologies developed trader the IVI. The technologies included an avoidance system for intersection collisions, a bus equipped with an innovative frontal collision warning system, cars with adaptive cruise control and lane-departure warning systems, and a tractor-trailer truck featuring onboard trucker safety advisory and automatic crash notification systems. Products in testing are expected to appear soon in passenger cars, including rear-end collision-avoidance systems and roadway-departure warning systems. Eight M operational tests also are underway.

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Customers want quieter vehicles. They also want cars and trucks that have better fuel economy. Until now, the two goals were mutually exclusive because making a vehicle quieter meant adding more layers of heavy insulating materials. The weight of these materials might run from 55 lb. on a smaller vehicle, to as high as 135 lb. on a luxury sedan at a time when engineers are chasing ounces elsewhere in the car. If that isn't enough, larger pieces-like dash panel sound insulators--are often so heavy (15 to 20 lb. isn't unusual) and flexible that it takes two people and multiple fasteners to install them on an assembly line.

"Our Ultra Light technology," says David Westgate, president and CEO of Rieter Automotive Systems' Americas business unit (Farmington Hills, MI) "can take an average of 30 lb. out of a vehicle, and lower the weight of a typical dash panel by as much as 70%." (Rieter claims weight savings of between 15 lb. and 90 lb. on the 20 production vehicles currently using the system.) He proves the point by putting the current dash panel from a new Japanese midsize car, and its Ultra Light replacement on a scale. The formed Ultra Light pad weighs 12 lb. less than the 17 lb. standard insulator, and needs five fewer fasteners. "The current unit takes two people to lift into place and secure," says Jeff VanBuskirk, v.p., Systems Engineering and Development, "while ours can be fitted by one person in less time, which frees that worker to perform other tasks."

Reducing the weight of the typical sound barrier material increases the amount of noise that is transmitted to the vehicle interior. "Conventional materials are designed to smother unwanted sounds," says VanBuskirk, "and they need the mass to do that." Ultra Light, a patented multi-layer material, absorbs sound and makes cable runs and other noise infiltration paths--including windows--less critical. "You don't want to build a sound-proof box," says VanBuskirk, "because any sound that does leak through turns the interior into a reverberation chamber. The idea isn't to keep sound from entering the cabin, but to absorb it as quickly as possible so that it doesn't become an annoyance." Anything that can cut weight and noise infiltration in this manner must be pretty special.

# posted by Medical Information : 5:45 AM  0 Comments

If one could only select a single adjective to describe the automotive industry, the most apt descriptor would likely be: complex. Here in automotive, market segments are large and diverse--from passenger and light vehicles to heavy trucks and equipment. Industry value nets are comprised of an intricate web of suppliers, automakers and retail dealerships. Not to mention that automotive is a global game--with design, manufacturing and distribution occurring on virtually every continent.

And doing business in automotive has only become more complicated over time. Intense competition for market share generated a frenzy of mergers and acquisitions that frequently left larger companies with complex--if not unwieldy--organizations and infrastructures. Outdated forecasting practices coupled with inflexible manufacturing facilities and fast-changing business dynamics have resulted in substantial overcapacity and complicated inventory management practices that have sliced margins. To top things off, the innovation race has multiplied the technological complexity of vehicles and the processes used to produce and service them, thereby increasing time-to-market, lifecycle costs and the potential for quality problems. This can lead to safety issues and contribute to rising governmental regulation, which adds yet more time, cost and (no surprise here) complexity

Excess global production capacity currently estimated at more than 20 million units(2)

Warranty costs now average more than $700 per vehicle in the U.S. alone(3)

Record number of mergers and acquisitions between 1998 and 2002(4)

To keep business opportunities from getting mired in all of this complexity, auto companies need a different approach--one that allows them to cost-effectively produce the innovation demanded by customers, team with partners to drive down development time and costs and enter new markets when and where appropriate.

Counteracting increased complexity requires business processes that are fully integrated--end-to-end across the company and with key partners, suppliers and customers--so that auto companies can respond with flexibility and speed to any customer demand, market opportunity or external threat.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:42 AM  0 Comments

As the Grateful Dead once sang, "What a long strange trip it's been." It won't be long before 2003 will enter into its rightful place in the annals of automotive history. It was a year that saw both natural and man-made disasters, from the tornado that hit GM's Oklahoma truck plant to the blackout that left the entire northeastern U.S. powerless.

It was a UAW contract year, with negotiations that were, as one analyst put it, "kind of scary," with the union and Big 3 coming to a very quiet and uneventful agreement. While 2003 had its share of excitement, auto analysts say that what will make 2003 important is that it sets the stage for the future of the domestic Big 3 as they dig in, trying to find a way to stop their market share erosion.

Automotive Industries sat down with industry analysts to get a glimpse of what's to come in the short term. Will 2004 be equally as interesting as 2003 was?

Production

Analysts predict another strong production year, with North America looking at 16.5 to 17 million units, spurred on by less economic uncertainty on the consumer side and an increase in merchandise as both domestic and transplant OEMs add new models to their lineups.

Dave Andrea, director, forecasting group for the Center for Automotive Research, says that it's always hard to predict a softening of sales or production in an election year.

"I think there's only been one or two in history where an election year has given you softer auto sales," Andrea says.

Incentive's will again play a major roll in 2004 as the Big 3 fight to control market share. Michael Robinet, vice president, global forecasting services for CSM WorldWide, sees incentives heating up in certain areas, like full-size pickups. He says that both DaimlerChrysler and General Motors will be under a lot of pressure from Ford Motor Company and Nissan who are both coming to market with new full-size pickups.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:41 AM  0 Comments

WE ASK SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN PRODUCING PRODUCTS WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TECHNOLOGY VENDORS TO PROVIDE, SOME OF THEIR ANSWERS ARE SURPRISING. ALL OF THEIR ANSWERS OUGHT TO BE ADDRESSED BY SOME ENTERPRISING ORGANIZATIONS.

Next month, the 2002 rendition of the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) will be held by the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) in Chicago's McCormick Place from September 4-11. In all, there will be some 1,300 exhibitors showing the latest equipment, systems and accessories in an area measuring 1.3-million [ft.sup.2]. To provide attendees with a better sense of what's where, there will be specific areas called "pavilions."

The nine pavilions for this event are: Metal-cutting; Machinery Components/Cleaning/Environmental; Controls and CAD/CAM; Gear Generation; EDM; Quality Assurance; Tooling and Work-holding Systems; Metalforming and Lasers; Business Services; Abrasive Finishing/Sawing/Finishing. And for those who are more interested in learning about the trends and developments in the manufacturing arena (from equipment to strategies), the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, in cooperation with AMT, is hosting a concurrent manufacturing conference. You can learn all about this by going to www.imtsnet.org.

What will be exhibited at IMTS 2002 is what product vendors have developed to address customer needs. But what about the needs that seem not to be addressed? What about the things that people in industry are really interested in? What if there was a proverbial magic wand that could be waved? What would people really want?

As we were wondering about that "If you could have anything, what would it be?" question, we put it to some of the leading manufacturers in the industry. What we discovered is that while some people may think that "manufacturing" people are solely interested in things that cut or form metal or plastic, or things that screw or otherwise put things together, their actual areas of interest are significantly broader.

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