Chevy Volt more Computer than Car
There was an article yesterday that did a great job highlighting something we’ve all come to recognize in the automotive manufacturing business. Discrete manufacturing and materials like metals and...
View ArticleFor Auto Makers, Platform-based Manufacturing is Here to Stay
There are many signs that the automotive industry is beyond the worst of the Great Recession. GM recently posted its best profits in years. One global sales forecast anticipates unit volumes to exceed...
View ArticleWhy the Japanese Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis will Shift More Manufacturing to...
Japan has been the unwilling recipient of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. Despite the incredible repeated tragedies that have taken place, there’s a lot of floating ideas on the long-term...
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The Growing Complexity in Automotive Manufacturing
Earlier this month, J.D. Power and Associates released their latest New Vehicle Initial Quality Study (IQS) results, which includes surveys from new-car owners on the quality of their vehicles during...
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Squeezing Lemonade from the Automotive Lemon
Figure 1: US Vehicle Sales, according to CR4RE LLC I’ve seen a lot of articles in trade presses this year about the latest challenge hitting some in the automotive industry – constrained capacity. It...
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From the Detroit Auto Show: What’s Next for the Industry in 2012?
It’s a new year, and once again thousands of journalists, industry pros and curious consumers have been descending on Detroit for the North American International Auto Show, to see what’s coming next...
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How do you Improve Production Throughput Capacity?
Start by working smarter, not harder. Despite the physical constraints of equipment size and the square footage at AGCO’s Fendt plant located near Munich in Germany, they were able to accelerate...
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Product Traceability: Beyond WIP to Ship
I just read an article with an update on a product recall for defective airbags. The recall covers the 2001 and 2002 Accord, 2001 to 2003 Civic, 2001 to 2003 Odyssey, 2002 and 2003 CR-V, 2003 Pilot,...
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Time to Move Beyond “Check-the-Box” Traceability (Part 1)
The function of traceability has long been a core component of most Manufacturing Execution System (MES) solutions. Countless MES RFP’s have contained a line that described a company’s requirement for...
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The Digital Factory: Bridging the Gap between Planning, Design & Execution
When you think of the factory of the future, what do you envision? The manufacturing pundits often conjure up images of a world where robots roam freely around sterile factories that operate 24×7 with...
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The Importance of Innovation Execution
We all like winning. Be it your favorite football team (go Lions), a raffle or simply a friendly wager. So, it should come as no surprise that when my new employer, Dassault Systèmes, was ranked #31 by...
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In Pursuit of the Transparent Manufacturing Plant
On a quest to reach the pinnacle of quality control, manufacturers in the automotive, industrial equipment and other industries are collecting and crunching massive amounts of information to best...
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It’s Time for a Lean Manufacturing Makeover
Manufacturing has changed a lot since the 1950s when Toyota Motor Company of Japan introduced the concept of implementing an integrated process to more efficiently manage equipment, materials and its...
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In Case you Didn’t Notice … Corporate Accountability just Moved into a Fishbowl
We have always lived in a world where shareholders (and the SEC) demand financial transparency, where global supply chains and business operations require visibility, and where manufacturing strives to...
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Driverless Vehicles Driving Manufacturing – Part 1
I just read an interesting announcement on autonomous connected vehicles. Dassault Systèmes and AKKA Technologies have announced a long-term partnership aimed at promoting innovation in the...
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Driverless Vehicles Driving Manufacturing – Part 2
I began this topic in my last post with a commentary on a recent partnership announcement between Dassault Systèmes and AKKA Technologies (read Part 1 of this post here). The goal for this partnership...
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In the Automotive Industry, was 2014 a Year Worth Recalling?
2014 was a record-setting year in the automotive industry – but not in a good way. Recalls reached record levels, and show no sign of letting up. You couldn’t pick up a paper, log onto your favorite...
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Containment is now Critical in Today’s Global Economy
The nature of today’s global economy means that manufacturing processes need to be monitored more closely than ever. Supply chains are complex. Intense competition means that continuous improvement is...
View ArticleIs the Automotive “Factory of the Future” Closer Than We Think?
In the automotive business, we’ve been hearing about the Factory of the Future for years now. It’s easy to dismiss the whole idea as just one more round of hype and promises. But not too long ago...
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Automotive NPIs Keep Accelerating – Can You Keep Up?
We’ve been talking about accelerating New Product Introduction (NPI) in the automotive industry for years. But if you think the trend has reached its limit, you might want to think again. A recent...
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