Suppliers: Page

Quest for QS-9000: suppliers begin long journey to compliance

Whoever said "be careful what you ask for, you might get it" must have been thinking of QS-9000, the U.S. Big Three automakers' first attempt to standardize quality standards for its Tier 1 suppliers.Suppliers have been asking Big Three purchasing departments to unify their quality requirements since 1988. Vendors currently submit various engineering reports, manufacturing quality reports and other

By Tim Keenan • Nov. 1, 1995

Electronic evolution: suppliers bring refined ABS, other advances to ‘96s

Advances in automotive electronics and the evolution of supplier-automaker relationships are combining to not only pack 1996 model vehicles with technology but also make that technology work as an integral part of the total vehicle.Historically, electronics suppliers develop systems for years before an automaker finally decides to install the technology on its vehicles. Then the suppliers scramble

By Tim Keenan • Oct. 1, 1995

Explore the Trendline➔

Automotive Manufacturing

Production strategies are changing rapidly as tariffs and shifts in consumer buying patterns affect the industry.

By WardsAuto staff

Thailand beckons; U.S. automakers and suppliers welcome.

BANGKOK - U.S. automakers and suppliers wanting to take advantage of one of the world's fastest growing auto industries had better head for Thailand. Now!"You have to be in the market as soon as possible," says Chackchai Panichapat, deputy secretary general of Thailand's Board of Investment. "You cannot let your competitor take all of the market share and dominate all of the partsmakers' capacities."He

By Knapp, Gwendolyn S. • Sept. 1, 1995

Dana wants to enter car module market

Dana Corp. believes its experience supplying complete chassis modules to Mack Trucks Inc. qualifies it for light-vehicle systems contracts. Although it has yet to reel in any, in one recent four-month period Dana was involved in 13 system bids worth $1.6 billion. Five of the opportunities were black-box programs. Dana currently supplies complete chassis, just-in-time and in-line sequence for 25,000

Sept. 1, 1995

India’s automotive push lures suppliers.

NEW DELHI, India -- A hefty injection of foreign capital and know-how is rejuvenating India's parts and components industry -- and heating up the rivalry with China for export markets.The primary emphasis these days naturally is on serving domestic automakers whose ranks are rapidly swelling in the wake of the economic "liberalization" and reforms introduced in mid-1991 after India and its policies

By Mack Chrysler • July 1, 1995

Eastward ho: Japanese robot builders shift production to U.S.

It's no secret robot sales are booming in the U.S., but a visit to the recent International Robots and Vision Automation show in Detroit reveals that robot manufacturing is quietly moving here.Thanks to strong U.S. demand, the trend toward supplier globalization and the musclebound yen, some Japan-based roboteers are shifting production to the States.Kawasaki Robotics Inc. says it has been building

By Drew Winter • July 1, 1995

China’s busting out all over

Adam is about to bust loose in China.With its 1.2 billion people, growing economic power and determined strides toward a market economy, China promises to be the key emerging territory for the auto industry in the next 10 years. China also has the potential to become an important export base -- a gateway to Asia -- for Western carmakers and suppliers looking to step up the battle against the Japanese

By David E. Zoia • July 1, 1995

European suppliers on fast track: partnering, networking is old stuffin the Old World

Every day, the future of Europe's component industry arrives in trucks at the gates of Peugeot SA's assembly plant in western France at Rennes in Brittany. The trucks carry integrated plastic air filter boxes and valve covers for the midsize Citroen Xantia from supplier Mecaplast SA's nearby plant.Across the English Channel, in Brentwood just outside London, the future takes shape as suppliers join

By ROB CLEVELAND • July 1, 1995

Strategic foam: Foamex, JPS alliance is paying dividends

AUBURN, IN -- Most headline-grabbing supplier consolidations involve megacorporations gobbling up smaller companies. A lot of creative and strategic maneuvering, however, is taking place out of the spotlight's glare.One example is Foamex International Inc.'s year-ago purchase of fabric maker JPS Automotive Products Corp. Because fabric is usually attached to foam wherever the latter is used, Foamex

By Tim Keenan • June 1, 1995

Fastener industry could come unhooked; potential North American capacity shortage looms

The $1 billion North American steel fastener industry may be on the verge of a profitability crisis that ultimately could lead to a capacity shortage.A study conducted by Coopers & Lybrand Consulting for the Automotive Industry Fasteners Group (AIFG)-- an organization of 32 steel fastener suppliers located mostly in the Midwest and Canada -- concludes that the industry must get lean and consolidate

April 1, 1995

Miles’ switch to Bayer adds to global identity

Customers and employees of Bayer Corp. - formerly Miles and once Mobay - may need to take a couple of the company's aspirin tablets now that it has changed its name for the second time in a little more than three years.The latest revision of the Pittsburgh, PA-based plastics supplier's nomenclature will give the company one worldwide name and a stronger position as the auto industry progresses toward

By Tim Keenan • March 1, 1995

Suppliers beef up testing: automakers push for higher quality from Tier 1 types.

Not of many people these days talk about the auto industry and thriving small business in the same breath. From suppliers to dealerships, this is the age when size and money talk.The ability to do business internationally with billion-dollar lines of credit is the ante in an increasing expensive and complex industrial showdown where fewer and bigger are the words most often heard by suppliers.But

By Lowell, Jon • March 1, 1995

IHI growing domestically; Asian, European expansion next

To paraphrase Garrett Morris's "Saturday Night Live" character, sunroofs have been very, very good to Inalfa Hollandia Inc. (IHI). The company has surpassed its own sales goals and expects to be doubling current production within three years.The original equipment supplier, based in Farmington Hills, MI, was looking to double its 1991 sales of $25 million over the following five years, but already

By Stoddard, Haig • March 1, 1995

Dana expands operations, sponsors NASCAR truck series

Dana Corp. is driving with the aggressiveness of a top-notch NASCAR driver toward becoming a complete systems supplier in many of its core product areas. The Toledo, OH-based company also is getting closer to its goal of attaining 50% of its sales from outside the United States.Aiming to supply complete engine sealing systems, Dana buys the Paris, TN-based Plumley Companies Inc., which makes molded

March 1, 1995

Hoechst Celanese AMG moves into new HQ

Hoechst Celanese Corp.'s 225-employee advanced materials group moves from Chatham, NJ, to new headquarters at the 45-acre Robert L. Mitchell Technical Center in Summit, NJ. The Mitchell complex also is home to the company's research division and advanced technology group. Adhesive and sealant supplier Essex Specialty Products Inc. moves its 200 employees to a new 73,000-sq.-ft. (6,800-sq.-m) facility

Feb. 1, 1995