Monday Afternoon Session, August 2

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Confirmed Speakers:

To view Speaker presentations, click on Speaker name.

If not listed, the presentation is not available at this time.

Co-Chairs:

Richard Gerth, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Manufacturing Systems Group, Center for Automotive Research and Jeffrey Liker, Ph.D., Professor, University of Michigan, College of Engineering; Co-Director, Lean Manufacturing Program; and Director, Japan Technology Management Program

Tim Jackson (1) (2), Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing and Engineering, Tenneco Automotive

William Fluharty, Vice President, Industrial Design, Johnson Controls, Inc.

Dave Leone, Chief Engineer, General Motors Corporation

Darrel Sterzinger (1) (2) (3) (4) (5), General Manager, Engineering Design-Chassis, Toyota Technical Center

Wayne Coeburn (1) (2) (3) (4) (5), Director, Consumer Tire Technology, North American Tires, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Due to ever-increasing competitive pressures and the recognition of the importance of product development in the market-place, many companies have focused on creating a world class product development process. They have also often invested heavily in information technology infrastructure and math-based design software. However, in many cases these new processes have not delivered the expected results. A variety of reasons have been proposed, ranging from poor supplier relationships and shifts to global engineering to lack of a qualified engineering workforce due to cost-cutting, early retirements and outsourcing.

This session will present some of the latest trends in world class product development and what companies can do to make it work. It will focus on topics that illuminate the key factors of product development success through comparisons of varied successful product development processes. CAR will present some results of its Product Development Delphi study indicating the current state and future trends in product development in the automotive industry. Speakers from domestic and foreign OEMs and from outside the auto industry will tell the stories of their product development systems and highlight the elements of their system that make it a success, as well as the challenges that remain ahead.

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