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Automotive manufacturers are facing continuously changing Global environment. Traditionally, these manufacturers relied on structural and general durability tests to validate vehicles. For these tests to remain representative of customer usage in a Global environment, the overall surface conditions of the Global road systems must be studied. Understanding and classifying these road systems conditions is an important step in dealing with vehicle durability in the Global environment. In this paper, an approach to mapping the world road systems into Established Roads (ER) and Developing Roads (DR), utilizing Statistical Discriminant Analysis (SDA), is presented. The classification of Global regions as DR and ER road systems can be effectively used to recommend appropriate development and validation tests for each road system. A few examples are presented to demonstrate how the ER vs.

Implementing the lean principles and tools in manufacturing has been successful in many companies. This success has led to different implementations, of these principles, in other organizational activities such as design and management. While these implementations can produce some improvements, the segmentation of the product development processes in most company limits the potential for achieving the desired goals and in some cases the success of the implementation process itself. In other words, full success of lean principles implementation cannot be achieved when applied to isolated segments of the product development process. This paper addresses lean design, in the context of a fully integrated product realization process. The paper discusses the integrated nature of any product realization process and its flow from concept to production.

Success in lean product realization depends on the ability to specify value from the voice of the customer at the beginning of the process. Value streaming, is therefore essential for assuring that the specified value is being pursued and achieved throughout the process. During lean implementation, however, it is usually assumed that nothing but value will be streamed if wastes are eliminated using value stream mapping. While waste elimination is necessary to make the process leaner and facilitate value streaming it is not sufficient for assuring that specified value is being streamed without structured and formalized participation of customers. With current structure of product realization processes, the voice of the customer is provided during the planning phase at the beginning of the process and customer satisfaction feedback is provided after product launch.

Virtual Simulations tools are extensively utilized by many industries today in product development processes. In auto industry, however, this utilization has not reached its full potential. So far virtual simulations have been playing a supporting role in traditional product development processes founded on physical builds. To reach the full potential of virtual simulation, in reducing the product development time and costs, a paradigm shift in the product development processes and the role of both physical and virtual simulations is need. For an integrated realization process, innovation, analysis, integration, and continuous correlations are necessary design practices for achieving the desired product attributes. This paper, discusses the expansion of the virtual simulation role in an integrated product realization process to reshape the traditional product development process.

Implementing the Voice of the customer is one of the main challenges during the Vehicle Development Process. The variety of desired vehicle attributes requires well-defined processes that include manufacturability along with the voice of the customer in all aspects of the product development process. Customer's defined attributes along with regulations and manufacturability requirements should flow through all process phases starting from the early concept development phase. This paper discusses a lean design approach to assure that the voice of the customer attributes are addressed and balanced through the product development process from concept to production. The lean approach includes architectural, performance, and manufacturability as key development attributes. A case study of Automotive Modular Door System is presented to demonstrate the application of the lean approach in the design and development of complex automotive systems.

Lean applications in product development usually start with manufacturing due to the relative experience of measuring improvements and identifying wastes in physical settings. The full potential of lean implementation in any product development, however, can only be realized when applied throughout the process, starting with early process. Considering that the first and most essential principle in lean implementation is the characterization of value from the customer's perspective, it is imperative that the proper definition of value is realized at the beginning of the process. In addition, streaming and flowing of this customer's specified value should be realized throughout the process from start to finish. This paper discusses the application of lean principles to integrated design and manufacturing phases of the Product Development Process.

Analytical thinking is the most prevailing attribute among engineers and applied scientists. Breaking systems or subsystem down to its fundamental components to understand each and every detail is core of analytical thinking. By examining most educational and training programs in applied sciences and engineering the resulting conclusion will be that analytical skills and its development is the core of these programs. While truly analytical skills deserve that role it is important to understand its effects and how it is used in different contexts. For example, while analytical skills are key in reverse engineering of a product or a process it is the integrative skills that are needed to build such a product or a process. In other wards those who are skilled in one type of activity should understand its limitation in certain context to achieve the desired results.

The ultimate goals for developing hybrid power train systems are improving fuel economy, reducing emissions and providing commercially viable alternative low cost transportation solutions. To achieve these goals, during hybrid system design and development, a well defined set of targets and specifications are needed. These targets and specifications are necessary for optimizing the power train subsystems, components, successful system integration, and the development of proper control system. For developing a set of well defined targets and specifications, especially when dealing with hybrid power train systems, valid and reliable road load data and duty cycle profiles are required. This data is one of the most critical elements in sizing and control of the hybrid system components such as engines, batteries, generators, and motors.

Side impact collision is one of the toughest safety challenges facing the Auto Industry today. Over thirteen thousand deaths, due to side impact, occurred during 1998 in the United States alone. The main difficulty in designing for side impact collisions is the limited crumple zone between the impacting vehicle and the impacted occupant. This paper presents a proprietary side impact protective door system within the space between the outer skin of a car door and the occupant, which will be as efficient as those already standard in frontal impact. The main objective for introducing the side impact structural system is to maximize energy absorption and minimize injury to the occupant. The developed structural side impact door system acts as a Primary Structure, to be assembled as a truly modular entity. This primary structure is also packaging modular in the sense that it acts as a carrier for the door latch, window regulator and hinges.

Large hood mounted plastic trim components are subjected to complex and often extreme loading conditions. Typical loading conditions include solar and thermal cycling, as well as road and powertrain induced vibrations, aero lift and buffeting, and mechanical loads such as car wash. For the above components understanding and classifying the typical loading conditions is an essential and important step in achieving long term quality. This paper discusses different approaches to the design, analysis, development, and testing of plastic trim components. Samples of analysis and test results are presented to demonstrate how to identify and prevent the loss of the part function. Some useful guidelines and practices for addressing thermal expansion, dimensional variation, and redundancy in attachments are also discussed.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG, is a byproduct of both natural gas processing and crude oil refining. As a chemical, propane (C3H8) is a nontoxic, colorless, and virtually odorless hydrocarbon. It is economical to store and transport in liquefied form. Due its availability and adoptability as engine fuel, propane is quickly becoming one of the viable alternatives fueling 17 million vehicles worldwide. So far, there are about 270,000 propane fueled vehicles in the U. S. This number represents about 1.6 percent of the world propane fueled vehicles. In this paper, a commercial viability a multi-year cost study of captive fleet buses is conducted for LPG as alternative mass transportation fuel in comparison with gasoline and diesel. The study is based on more than four million of recorded mass transportation service miles.

Vehicle quality and affordability will always be the most distinguishing summative characteristics in a fully saturated and highly competitive market. While vehicle quality differentiates between brands in any market segment, affordability remains the key decisive factor for many buyers in each segment. Equally important, affordability is a critical factor in achieving equity in transportation by providing reasonably priced vehicles with quality fitting the needs of different users. Keeping in mind that the cost of quality is usually in conflict with affordability, the main challenge during the different phases of the vehicle design and development process from inception to production becomes the achievement of the multi-objective conflicting goals of maximizing affordability and quality at the same time.