Vehicles: Page 203

Merging ERP Systems

Corporate mergers may be made in board rooms. But the software unions that follow them can spoil the honeymoon for workers below who toil with corporate information systems.Under normal operations, business-management software such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can be a headache to install, update and maintain. When differing systems suddenly need to work together, the task of making

By Jeff Zygmont • June 1, 1999

Down to the WireSoftware tools leave bar napkins high and dry

Could the useful life of a bar napkin in conceptualizing a vehicle's electrical system be drawing to a close?Truly revolutionary ideas have emerged from crude sketches scrawled on the closest thing at hand when inspiration strikes at dinner or during drinks. But with today's advanced communication tools, suppliers and automakers must find better ways to trade critical product information.In the electrical

By Tom Murphy • May 1, 1999

Broaching the Final Frontier?

AUBURN HILLS, MI - The North American Technical Center of FEV Engine Technology Inc. appears modest enough. The one-story structure could house any number of businesses in any number of industrial parks dotting the so-called "high-tech corridor" here just north of Detroit.Get "behind the door," though, and the place's lavish fitment of state-of-the-art powertrain testing and development equipment

By Bill Visnic • May 1, 1999

DSM Expands in Brazil

DSM Engineering Plastics is opening a new office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as part of its continuing global expansion. Fokko B.J. Wientjes, DSM's South American regional manager, heads the office. Brazilian customers now can directly access DSM's products. Five DSM business divisions operate out of the Sao Paulo office: Engineering Plastics, Performance Polymers, Resins, Elastomers and Thermoplastic Elastomers.

May 1, 1999

Renault First Euro Automaker with Gasoline Direct Injection

With little more than 24 months of development work in direct gasoline injection (DGI), Renault SA launches its 2L 16-valve DGI 4-cyl. engine - the first of its kind from a European automaker.The French automaker follows the gasoline direct-injection (GDI) pioneering of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., (Mitsu owns the rights to the "name" and acronym GDI) but with significant variations. The problem of the

By David Scott • May 1, 1999

The Boring TruthEverybody’s got ideas about treating cylinder bores; strongideas

Wow. Little did we know what a fire-storm we'd start with a seemingly innocuous mention of aluminum engine cylinder-bore treatment alternatives in last September's materials issue (see WAW - Sept. '98, p.61).There were plenty of letters and calls to point out we'd muffed our facts regarding the Nikasil treatment process - and we'll straighten out that matter directly. But several merely used that

By Bill Visnic • April 1, 1999

The Big Decision This year’s fire makes the SAE question more difficult

The internal discussions that occur at suppliers this time of year must be remarkably similar, from the small, automotive upstarts to the multi-billion dollar Tier 1 systems integrator.If a company left the Society of Automotive Engineers International Congress & Exposition with some promising business leads, then the annual review of the event is probably upbeat. Plans to return the following year

By Tom Murphy • April 1, 1999

Steady as She GoesGM signs long-term steel, aluminum pacts

Rising fuel prices could make SUV owners nervous. Turmoil in Asia-Pacific still could cause indigestion for any CFO. Work stoppages always are possible in North America when the United Auto Workers union negotiates a new contract, which it will do later this year.The auto industry faces enough uncertainty every day, so it makes sense to eliminate it when possible. General Motors Corp. tries to do

By BRIAN CORBETT and TOM MURPHY • April 1, 1999

Shaping Tomorrow’s EngineersNew SAE president says preparation is key

Education. That's the first priority of Donald W. Ableson, incoming president of the Society of Automotive Engineers.Mr. Ableson, director of special vehicle activity (SVA) for General Motors Corp., believes that promoting mathematics and the sciences in elementary schools is key to molding the engineers of tomorrow. And he plans to lead the charge.An industrial engineering graduate of GMI - now Kettering

By COLLEEN SCHWAB • March 1, 1999

Don’t Forget the Nitty-Gritty of SAETechnical sessions and presentations

The annual Society of Automotive Engineers International Congress and Exposition has evolved into such a, well, glitzy affair, the uninitiated might easily confuse the glowing, sometimes humming show floor for that of the Consumer Electronics Show or maybe the Specialty Equipment Market Assn. (SEMA) circus.It hasn't always been this way, and the proof is in what's going on upstairs in Detroit's Cobo

By Bill Visnic • March 1, 1999

Powerful PackagesERP software shares data where and when it’s needed

Jim Bianco likes to tell about the Friday morning two years ago, in April 1997, when his Iowa Spring Manufacturing Inc. received an urgent request from a Detroit automaker. It was 9 a.m., and the company on the phone was the one holdout among the Big Three that didn't use Iowa Spring as a regular supplier. But now a purchasing agent of the carmaker was explaining that a wire-forming machine was down.

By Jeff Zygmont • March 1, 1999

Double-Dipping in Detroit Everything wants to be something else at thisyear’s NAIAS

Cars that want to be trucks. Trucks that want to be cars. New cars that want to be old cars. New trucks that want to be old trucks.If you can follow that, then you've got the gist of the 1999 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It likely will be known as the auto show holding a world-record for most new incarnations for the automotive terms "hybrid," "crossover" and "retro."At this

By BILL VISNIC and WAW STAFF • Feb. 1, 1999

Sealing the Deal Recyclability helps plastic win new application

Eating, breathing and sleeping automotive weather seals isn't glamorous work, but at Advanced Elastomer Systems (AES) - and at automakers - it's worth the trouble. Weather seals are those flexible rubber strips that ring the perimeter of doors, hoods and decklids, locking out the elements and making interiors cozy and quiet.If they do their job, nobody notices. In fact, some luxury automakers go to

By Drew Winter • Feb. 1, 1999

An Exercise in Agility Makino shines in GM’s most advanced engine plant

General Motors Corp. talks a lot about the need to be an "agile" manufacturer, and last year's Harbour Report on labor productivity illustrates just how much room there is for improvement.In ranking the efficiency of engine plants in North America, Harbour found that GM boosted its labor productivity by 6% in 1997 - the fourth consecutive year of improvement - and remained ahead of last-place Chrysler

By Tom Murphy • Feb. 1, 1999

Old Process Offers New Possibilities

TOLEDO, OH - Bang! Everybody jumps. At least everybody standing near an unusual looking machine here at the engineering center of Dana Corp.'s Driveshaft Div. Jim Duggan, chief engineer of advanced design, apologizes for the commotion and says the actual production process is much quieter.But the noise seems appropriate because Mr. Duggan says the closest thing to what is being demonstrated is something

Jan. 1, 1999

1998 Ten Best Engines: Long-Term Update

Let's start from the back: It's been Ward's practice to start out a new year with long-term evaluations of two of our Ten Best Engines winners. Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. provided a 1999 Maxima, packing the marvelous VQ 3L DOHC V-6, an engine we'd been itching to long-term test. And Mercedes-Benz graciously agreed to let us have a yearlong look at its first-ever 6-cyl. engine that isn't an inline unit.

Dec. 1, 1998

Dissection and Nitpicking Inc.New company offers independent vehicleteardowns

Sitting in a nondescript building in suburban Detroit, the brand new Honda Odyssey minivan glistens under the harsh industrial spot- lights.Even though it has been yanked off the factory truck before the dealer could even clean it up, it still looks near perfect, proudly displaying its famous Honda quality.Pity. It's about to be disassembled and dissected like a medical school cadaver.But first it's

By Drew Winter • Dec. 1, 1998

Lutz Lured to Recharge Battery Supplier Exide

That sure was a short retirement. At the tender age of 66, former Chrysler Corp. Vice Chairman Robert Lutz (see WAW p. 118) is finally running his own company.He takes over as Exide Corp.'s chairman, president and chief executive officer. It's a turnaround challenge at the world's largest battery maker, much like what Chrysler faced about seven years ago.Exide's stock has fallen from a 52-week high

Dec. 1, 1998

Dana-Eaton Powertrain Package Extended to Medium-Duty Market

Making money as an automotive supplier is rarely simple. In the heavy truck market, the struggles are the same, as some components today are selling at 1980 prices.Two Ohio-based suppliers, Dana Corp. of Toledo and Eaton Corp. of Cleveland, have chosen to collaborate rather than compete. Last year, Dana bought Eaton's heavy axle and brake division for $287 million and sold Eaton its heavy clutch operation

Dec. 1, 1998

Defending Its Turf Freudenberg-NOK faces challenges in engine sealing

In the great outdoors, hikers are reminded that stepping between a bear and her cubs is a life-threatening endeavor. The mother is sure to defend her young by any means necessary, whether a threat is implied or not.Such is the scenario unfolding between two automotive suppliers, Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership, which has pioneered the concept of single-source engine sealing, and Federal-Mogul

By Tom Murphy • Nov. 1, 1998

In the Headlights: Daewoo Lanos, Nubira and Leganza

It's been a little more than 10 years since I last laid my hands on a car built by South Korea's Daewoo Motor Co. What a difference a decade makes.I spent a very long weekend in 1988 in a Daewoo-built Pontiac LeMans in One Lap of Michigan. After 1,000 or so miles in both passenger and driver's seat I came away with some memorable impressions. The most notable: The generator (yep, it was a generator

By Mike Arnholt • Oct. 1, 1998

IMTS: A Really Big Show Tool show highlights automotive manufacturing

CHICAGO - Being relatively new to this trade show gig, I figured I had witnessed the granddaddy of them all at the Society of Automotive Engineers congress in Detroit earlier this year.But in sheer size, the SAE pales compared with the International Manufacturing Technology Show, which is so big it takes up three buildings at Chicago's McCormick Place conference center. It's the largest industrial

By Tom Murphy • Oct. 1, 1998

The EUROPEAN Juggernaut Potent products, Continental cachet fuel sales surge

Fahrvergnugen. Volkswagen AG used that made-up word in the late '80s and early '90s advertising to try to describe that mystical wonderfulness of driving a German-engineered car. Unfortunately it was a German car that was more expensive and less reliable than a comparable Japanese model, and probably built in Mexico by ticked-off workers who were itching to go on a really, really long strike.It didn't

Oct. 1, 1998

UTA Gets a Major Piece of GM’s Delta Program Instrument panel contract isworth at least $400 million

So much for the theory that Lear Corp., Johnson Controls Inc. and Magna International Inc. are locking up the North American interiors market.United Technologies Automotive has scored a major strategic coup by winning a General Motors Corp. contract to supply fully assembled instrument panels for the new Delta small-car platform program beginning in 2001.Analysts estimate the deal is worth between

By GREG GARDNER • Oct. 1, 1998

Come Up and See Our Etchings . . . New laser technology has automotivepotential

PERRYSBURG, OH - It has gotten scant attention in the automotive industry, but a new wrinkle in laser technology developed by Technolines Inc., a fledgling company based here, may have significant potential for interior and other applications.The technology, covered by some 10 patents - with several others pending - basically consists of proprietary software that converts digitized images into laser

By David C. Smith • Oct. 1, 1998