U.S.A-TEAM looks first at the plant floor in collaboration with NIST
Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 3/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
The Big Three American automakers—DaimlerChrysler, GM, and Ford—and the U.S. Department of Commerce are looking to collaborate on standards for automation devices as a means to reduce R&D and other costs.
The U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR); Commerce's Technology Administration's Office of Technology Policy; and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will contribute to a new partnership—the United States Alliance for Technology and Engineering for Automotive Manufacturing (the U.S. A-TEAM)—which will focus on production technology and technical information exchange.
The first three areas of focus are digital/virtual tools, plant-floor controllers, and ergonomics.
Says the Commerce Department's John Sargent, an executive director for the project, "This is new in that the focus between the Commerce Department and the U.S. auto industry is specifically on increasing manufacturing competitiveness, rather than on larger policy goals of improving fuel efficiency or a new generation of vehicles. We're looking at areas where there may be commonality of tools and interfacing."
