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SME Media Industry Reports Motorized Vehicle Manufacturing Industry Report 2018 Motorized Vehicle Manufacturing Yearbook

Motorized Vehicle Manufacturing Yearbook 2018

The 2018 edition of the Motorized Vehicle Manufacturing Yearbook is available as a digital magazine. Links to individual articles are below.
View Digital Yearbook
Thomas Kurfess

Auto Industry Growing; Offers New Demands, Opportunities

June 7, 2018
In 2017, the international automotive industry produced 73.5 million passenger cars, an increase of around 2.4%, compared with the previous year. In 2018, car sales are expected to continue to grow to about 81.6 million units, with China remaining the largest producer of passenger cars, according to a report on statista.com.
Thomas Kurfess
By Thomas Kurfess 2018 SME President
ihs markit

OVERVIEW: What’s Coming for Vehicle Output

June 7, 2018
On a global stage, IHS Markit forecasts that several regions will see growth in light vehicle manufacturing in 2018, with worldwide production estimated at 95.11 million vehicles.
By Stephanie Brinley & Joe Langley IHS Markit

Auto Industry

Outlook

  • Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing

    Metal 3D Printing’s Day is Coming in Automotive

    June 8, 2018
    The world is undergoing some radical transformations related to the concept of “motorized transport.” This term was once synonymous with the automobile and the internal combustion engine, along with the conventional infrastructure supporting this technology like asphalt roads, filling stations and repair shops.
    By Gordon Styles - President and CEO, Star Rapid
  • NASCAR race
    Controls

    How a Race Team Improves Its Performance

    June 11, 2018
    Like most auto manufacturers, NASCAR race teams are motivated to make vehicle parts better, cheaper and faster. Hundreds of the leading Fortune 500 brands are highly visible on the evocative vehicle paint schemes, pointing to continued healthy investment in the sport.
    By CNC Software Inc. - Press Release
  • Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing

    Roush Looks to 3D Printing

    February 9, 2018
    Roush Enterprises (Livonia, MI) decided to go big with 3D printing. The company spent $4.5 million over 14 months on five additive manufacturing machines, software, facility upgrades and engineering personnel and equipment.
    By Bill Koenig - Senior Editor, SME Media
  • Promotional image for Eaton Corp.’s eVaptive fuel tank vapor-venting system.

    Eaton eVaptive System Offers Engineers Flexibility in Designing Fuel Systems

    June 13, 2018
    Eaton Vehicle Group’s new eVaptive electronically controlled fuel tank vapor-venting system offers engineers flexibility never before possible in designing fuel systems. Designing a vehicle’s fuel and vapor-venting system is no easy task, despite the fact that much of the technology involved is not overly complex.
    By Eaton - Contributed Article
  • A model of a UConn competition car.

    Reverse Engineering

    June 18, 2018
    The Formula SAE competitions challenge teams of university undergraduate and graduate students to design and fabricate a small, formula-style vehicle. There are very few restrictions to the overall car design. Teams typically spend eight to twelve months building their vehicles before competition.
    By Mark Bliek - President, Bolton Works
  • Automotive design is on the cusp of major changes as self-driving cars are developed.

    Connected Cars & Design

    June 15, 2018
    It is easy to distinguish a car built today from a car built 30 years ago: You simply need to look at it. But once you sit in the driver’s seat of each vehicle, you’ll notice a remarkable consistency. Today’s vehicles may be more streamlined and technologically advanced, but the driver interface has remained largely the same for decades.
    By Peter Ivan Dow and Vikas Gujadhur, Tata Technologies

  • Fiber Laser Welding Assists Longer Battery Life for EVs

    June 18, 2018
    Fiber laser welding technology is contributing to lower cost and higher reliability batteries for the latest generation of electric vehicles. Fiber laser welding reliably produces consistently high-quality welds for electric vehicle batteries where aluminum, copper, nickel-coated steel and combinations of these materials are welded together.
    By Mohammed Naeem - Senior Manager, Applications Engineering & Technology Development, Prima Power Laserdyne, Terry L. VanderWert - Contributor, SME Media

  • Superabrasives Speed Automotive Grinding Applications

    June 18, 2018
    Today, the desire for process improvements and the need for higher productivity and efficiency are driving the grinding process. Taking a new approach to grinding system optimization for the manufacture of automotive components has many benefits.
    By Dave Goetz - Corporate Application Engineer, Norton | Saint-Gobain
  • Collaborative ARIS system being demonstrated at M-WERC facility in Milwaukee for Briggs & Stratton, HUSCO, and other manufacturers.
    Controls

    Improving 3D Scanning

    June 20, 2018
    While 3D scanning has already been adopted by many automotive part manufacturers, the use cases in Quality Control (QC) have been limited.
    By ARIS Technology - Contributed Article
  • Autocraft Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) produced by Eckhart Inc. navigate a factory floor.

    What Makes AGVs Move Around Factory Floor

    June 13, 2018
    Konrad Lorenz won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1973 for his experiments with animal behavior. Lorenz discovered the principle of imprinting, where a bond is formed between a newborn animal and a caregiver. This is the mechanism where an auditory or visual stimulus is used to induce the young to follow its parents.
    By EU Automation - Contributor

Tech View

  • The Digital Factory: Where Are We in the Rapid Evolution of Industry 4.0?

    June 11, 2018
    As OEMs and suppliers alike wrestle to convert Big Data to Smart Data, Industry 4.0 and digitalization, plus cloud-based technologies for production monitoring and management, how do manufacturers best work together with end-users to achieve today’s production targets and plan future facilities?
    By Peter Loetzner - CEO, EMAG LLC
  • Expert Opinion

    Clay Modeling Still a Key for Vehicle Design

    June 12, 2018
    Motorized vehicles normally start as a vision. An engineer creates a vehicle design that is desired by the consumer and keeps in line with the direction the vehicle manufacturer is heading into for the future. This may mean standard fueled, hybrid, electric, and autonomous vehicles.
    By Mike Yaremchuk - Director Styling Solutions NA, Wenzel America Ltd.
  • A 1-cylinder installation of two exhaust valves both equipped with the switchable roller finger follower (RFF). The first RFF is for iEGR and the second for decompression.

    Eaton System Helps Meet Diesel Regulations

    June 14, 2018
    Eaton Corp.’s Internal Exhaust Gas Recirculation (iEGR) technology enables automakers to meet stringent regulations on diesel engine emissions by providing direct control over the thermal management of the exhaust system. The iEGR technology also provides superior cold start characteristics over hydraulic solutions, whatever the engine condition.
    By Eaton - Contributed Article
  • Industry 4.0 concept

    A Rose by Any Other Name…

    June 20, 2018
    “No Fault Forward” is the hot new catchphrase in the assembly industry. It means, essentially, that mistakes should be caught when and where they happen and not somewhere downstream in the process. If that idea sounds familiar there is a good reason.
    By Glenn Nausley - President, Promess Inc.
  • One of a 20-unit order of all-electric platform walk-in vans for AmeriPride Services—one of the largest uniform rental and linen supply companies in North America.

    Navigating an EV Fleet Market Production Build with Partnerships

    June 19, 2018
    As we continue to grow our business, we not only have to keep up with automotive trends, but also the changes we see in each market our customers serve. We identified the significant need to lead the fleet market in EV production. To that end, we partnered with Motiv Power Systems.
    By Tom Ninneman - Chief Operating Officer, interim President, Spartan Emergency Response

  • Taming Complexity, Variation in Automotive Engineering with PLE, Digital Twin

    June 19, 2018
    Automotive engineering has never had so much complexity to address. Producing millions of vehicles per year is a daunting feat.
    By Cathy Martin - Vice President, BigLever Software

Workforce

  • Automation

    Auto to See More Robots

    June 20, 2018
    Automotive is one of the most highly-automated industries in the world, and it has been a leading force in expanding the use of industrial automation for decades. In fact, the first industrial robot in production was a Unimation UNIMATE that GM installed on a die-casting line in New Jersey in 1962.
    By Kristin Dziczek - Vice President - Industry, Labor, & Economics, Center for Automotive Research

Online Extra

  • Auto Interiors Evolve

    June 20, 2018
    The automotive industry is an ever-changing one, triggered by forces such as technological advancement and changing consumer preferences. Today’s consumers want more from their cars. They look for greater comfort and safety more than a stylish and sleek exterior.
    By Sharmistha Sarkar - Allied Market Research