Changing Automotive Body Measurement System Paradigms with 3D Non-Contact Measurement Systems (2004)
This report assesses the measurement system capability of the 3D non-contact measurement system Optigo 200, produced by \CogniTens Ltd. The Optigo 200 is portable, manually operated, and uses CCD cameras to create 3D part feature representations that can be compared to part design nominal conditions. To evaluate the effectiveness of this system, Optigo measurement readings are compared to measurements of the same panels using Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) systems. The overall conclusion of this report is that the Optigo system represents a viable measurement system alternative for automotive body manufacturing in terms of measurement system capability. In addition, the Optigo system offers significant advantages over traditional discrete point measurement systems in terms of diagnostic capability.

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Fuel-Saving Technologies and Facility Conversion: Costs, Benefits and Incentives (2004)
This report show the long term cost savings, through job retention, of providing incentives to automotive manufacturers and suppliers to gradually re-tool their existing engine plants to prepare for an increase of hybrid and advanced diesel engines. This strategy would retain manufacturing jobs that could move overseas, where they are currently.
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WHITE LIGHT MEASUREMENT: A CATALYST FOR CHANGE IN AUTOMOTIVE BODY DIMENSIONAL VALIDATION (2006)
This report examines the usage of 3D non-contact white light (WL) measurement technology and how its adoption could impact traditional North American automotive body dimensional evaluation strategies from die tryout through PPAP. The report includes several WL measuring studies involving a longitudinal analysis of door components and their resultant assembly throughout the preproduction process. It provides several recommendations for new part measurement strategies and business processes for automotive body stamped parts and subassemblies. The recommendations support a part quality evaluation process that places a greater emphasis on measuring overall part shape and feature conformance as well as intrapanel correlation patterns (e.g., twists and feature-to-feature relationships) versus process capability conformance of discrete points to individual specifications. These recommendations include adopting percent in specification metrics such as PIST, reducing measurement sample sizes for both tryout runs and PPAP, and utilizing new methods for analyzing and reporting part dimensional data. These new methods are aimed at providing more comprehensive part quality representation to increase the utility of dimensional measurement data for end-users..
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The Future of Modular Automotive Systems: What are the Efficiencies in the Modular Assembly Concept? (1999)
Sponsored by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, this 1999 research memorandum investigates the major issues of modular vehicle assembly. The paper reviews major economic factors in modular vehicle assembly, summarizes current modular vehicle assembly efforts, and reports the results of a small survey of 22 automotive suppliers. The survey addresses issues such as cost savings, location, the OEM/Supplier relationship, and the major drivers and negative factors in modular vehicle assembly.