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Tier 1 Automotive Supplier Puts Solution to the Test
It's no secret that automakers are facing increased demands from shareholders to curb their exposure to warranty/recall issues and are, in turn, passing that pressure onto their suppliers in the form of stiff penalties for missing deadlines, substandard quality or even merely delivering assemblies out of sequence.
As a result it is more important than ever that suppliers like IAC, the European division of International Automotive Components Group and one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive cockpit interior systems, get things right the first time every time. Failure has a direct and immediate impact on profitability.
IAC's Gothenburg, Sweden plant, formerly owned by Lear, is a tier one supplier to Volvo—producing cockpits for four Volvo models—V70, XC70, XC90 and S80—with 100-plus part numbers in each panel and many different combinations depending on the model of car. Volvo installs the instrument panel in the car within five hours of the order being received at IAC...
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Be Precise: Modeling Enhances Standards
Standards, the lifeblood of the technology world, are being improved by a shift to models, which reduce ambiguity and reduce the possibility that various interpretations will cause incompatibilities.
One of the key tools that lets standards bodies create more precise standards is the Unified Modeling Language.
UML, itself an ISO standard from the International Organization for Standardization, has been used to create standards such as the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society's ISA88 and ISA95 standards, as well as the PackML standard created by the Open Modular Architecture Control (OMAC) Users Group. Using UML to describe facets of specifications has done a lot to eliminate a vexing issue for volunteers trying to come to a consensus on complex issues—helping organizations finish standards in a timely fashion. That's in part because UML's models provide precision and eliminate the back-and-forth questions over the meaning of terms....
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Robust Growth Seen for RFID
Closed-loop applications lead the charge as multiple industry segments contribute to strong market trends for radio frequency identification technology.
The total market for radio frequency identification (RFID) will turn over approximately $9.7 billion by 2013, representing roughly a 15 percent compound annual growth rate for the period from 2008, according to new forecasts released by ABI Research, Oyster Bay, N.Y...
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