The gestation of a new component made by an automotive supplier typically begins with a Request For Quotation (RFQ) being issued by the supplier’s customer, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The supplier typically has about two weeks to submit its response.
The new business forces acting on the industry are challenging traditional beliefs, and only those capable of adaption will survive.
The purpose of this study is to conduct a preliminary investigation into the future business potential for automotive electronics, particularly for general Taiwanese companies. Although many Taiwanese companies are targeting China as a growth opportunity, our preliminary investigation was based on North America with the understanding that a more targeted investigation for China could be a future investigation. We recognized that the North American perspective would provide significant input, even to the Chinese market, because many of the auto companies and supplier’s practices and projections are easy to generalize from since they are global.
Automotive companies are trying to buy their tools, dies, and molds (TDM) at the lowest possible price. With the recent emergence of tooling capacity in “low-cost countries” (LCCs), that low price is getting even lower. Domestic TDM sources are being pressed to meet the “world price” for tools or risk losing their bids to suppliers who can provide TDM at this lower price. This paper examines how this new environment affects domestic TDM builders. This paper is the result of a nine-month study made possible by the generous support of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Many auto companies are targeting low-volume vehicles as a means to increase market share and, in some cases, to establish a “halo effect” with niche products. Engineering and production resource availability, and manufacturing cost are two critical constraints present in low-volume products.
Sponsored by: American Plastics Council; ASC, Inc.; Dana Corporation; Diversified Tooling Company; KUKA; Flexible Production Systems; McKinsey Consulting; TATA Consulting and United Tooling Coalition.
Functional build (FB) is a critical process in launching a vehicle, whereby individual prototype parts are stamped and then sent to a central location to be assembled into a prototype vehicle body.
Proceeding of IMECE2005, 2005 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition.
This Delphi report describes the North American auto industry’s perspective on the current and future state of various issues surrounding the product design process and its impact on product design success.
This study sponsored by Parametric Technologies Corporation
This report presents the results of a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that took place on December 8, 2003, in Dearborn, Michigan. The purpose of the workshop was to bring together a broad national audience to identify critical manufacturing issues associated with the high volume production of fuel cells and to explore the development of a national strategy for fuel cell manufacturability (NSFCM).