It was no surprise that Daimler wanted rid of Chrysler, but what will the move mean from a product development standpoint? It’s just a gut hunch, but I like the move. Ordinarily takeovers by venture capitalists are bad news for product quality. Believe me, I’ve been there. But I don’t think Daimler was helping Chrysler, whose glory days came in the years immediately preceding the takeover by the boys from Stuttgart. Think Viper! That was one of the coolest cars I’ve ever seen. And it was a masterpiece of design and development. Why? Chrysler had no development money and handed the project over to its suppliers (on a tight leash of course). The result was a composite bodied muscle car that zoomed from zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds. The adhesive guys and the glass guys sat down and talked through trade-offs for the first time that accelerated materials development. What a novel idea! The supply chain guru who pioneered the collaboration model, Tom Stallkamp, became president of Chrysler, and then left when Daimler took control. Daimler had a “not-invited-here” syndrome. OK, I liked Dieter’s ads and some of the technology transfer to Detroit. But in the end Chrysler has a better chance to succeed under independent ownership. Bring back Stallkamp!
Ford and Unifi, maker of Repreve, will gather and recycle 2 million plastic bottles at CES and other shows for conversion into the Repreve seat fabric used in the 2012 Focus EV.
Thanks to embedded electronics, medical devices are getting smaller and smarter than ever. Pacemakers and implantable defibrillators are now able to call physicians. MRIs, CT scanners, and ultrasound machines are gaining mobility. And the venerable Band-Aid may soon be able to detect illnesses ranging from fevers to heart arrhythmias. On February 21, join Design News senior editor Charles Murray for a wide-ranging discussion, "Embedded Angles for Medical Products," which will explore the latest developments in medical electronics. The discussion will examine advances in medical device technology and offer an inside look at the embedded electronics behind it.
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