Worldwide truck sales exceeded 16 millions units in 1997 and are forecast to make up half of all vehicle sales in North America in the next five years. The implications of these numbers are not lost on Ken Sohocki. Chief engineer of General Motors' all-new, full-size trucks, Sohocki and his team oversee the development and execution of the largest and most important program in the company's history. It kicks off this fall with the introduction of the 1999 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups, followed by a fleet of next-generation SUVs and heavy-duty pickups. Once fully rolled out, the program will consist of some 30 different models. To set a benchmark for the full-size pickup segment, Sohocki and his team aggressively pursued new technologies on all new designs, including novel use of hydroforming, reinforced reaction injection molding, and bused electrical center architecture. Thanks to the creativity of Sohocki's team, the Silverado and Sierra require 25% fewer parts per model and 15% less base engineering content.
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Plastic may not be the most beloved of materials to the more environmentally minded, but Plasti 2012 aimed to mold a different opinion of the material in people's minds.
The rare earth element market has become steadily more rational, and new sources coming online will continue to reduce costs. Still, it is unlikely that prices will drop to their former lows.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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