Global Development

Clear definitions for complex requirement profiles

Stuttgart, Nov 30, 2006
Vehicle electrical and electronic systems are not only becoming more comprehensive; they’re also growing increasingly complex, especially in terms of their functions. This development is being driven by automakers’ ability to precisely define which requirements a certain component must meet in order to ensure that it can subsequently be integrated as desired into the overall system. For a component or system to even be suitable for cross-platform applications, a very sophisticated approach is needed — a new culture of vehicle development that demands more than simply specifying technical processes.

Anyone who thinks a blinker is only a simple light, or says that a tachometer can hardly be considered a complex instrument, can expect a vociferous rebuttal from Frank Houdek. The DaimlerChrysler researcher needs only a few minutes to convince even the most uninformed lay person that such notions are all wrong. “I myself am time and again amazed by how complex the definitions of requirements have to be, even for components I had thought were very simple,” he reassures his novice visitor.
Houdek works in the Software Process Design department led by Bärbel Hörger in Ulm. The sign on his office door says “Requirement Engineering Processes,” because there’s no succinct German translation for this area of research. The focuses of the work performed by Hörger’s department include a process central to the overall task of vehicle development — specification. To the experts, the term means precisely describing all the requirements that must be fulfilled by simple components like LEDs, by more complex systems such as the vehicle dynamics system ESP, or even by the entire vehicle with all of its various functions.
And in this field, “precise” means “unambiguous.” In practice, “unambiguous” in turn means that “Anton,” a development engineer responsible for a control unit, is able to understand a requirement definition in exactly the same way as does his colleague “Boris,” whose tire pressure sensor sends a signal to Anton’s component. And the two of them must understand the specification document in exactly the same way as “Claude,” an engineer working for a supplier who is responsible for developing the tire pressure display for the instrument cluster of the planned model.
Clarity also means that development engineers “Osamu” at Fuso in Tokyo, “Beth” at Freightliner in Portland and “Kurt” at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart all have exactly the same understanding of a jointly formulated requirement definition — for a new multifunctional display that is to be installed in the respective instrument clusters of the heavy-duty trucks from these three brands, for example.

Short Circuits Cut Down on Friction

Stuttgart, Nov 30, 2006
The introduction of electric arc wire spraying in engine production has made it possible to build very low-friction cylinder running surfaces in aluminum engines.

The new 6.3-liter V8 engine developed by engineers at DaimlerChrysler’s AMG subsidiary is the world’s most powerful eight-cylindery naturally aspirated engine. It delivers an output of 386 kW (525 hp), and 630 Nm of torque at the crankshaft, and is now being used in various AMG models, most recently the Mercedes-Benz CL 63 AMG high-tech coupe. The fully aluminum engine has 32 valves, a cylinder bore of 102.2 millimeters, and a stroke of 94.6 millimeters. It achieves its impressive power not only from its large displacement and favorably streamed intake and exhaust system, but also by means of a unique innovation deep in its interior: The running surfaces of the light-metal cylinders consist of an “EAS coating” that ensures extremely low-friction operation.

Innovations? Sure Thing!

Planned reliability in the development process

Stuttgart, Nov 30, 2006
Adding new functions to a vehicle that are useful for the customers is one of the challenging tasks the DaimlerChrysler developers face. After all, premieres in automotive engineering highlight the company’s technological leadership. However, innovations also harbor a number of risks. No customer accepts “teething troubles” in technical advancements. To address this problem, a joint project has been set up between DaimlerChrysler’s Advanced Development unit, the Mercedes Car Group and the van business. The objective: Reliability has to become predictable from the very start.

We don’t measure the success of our work by how many accolades the scientific community heaps on us for it. Our work has been successful if we succeed in integrating our methods into the vehicle development process and if the users — that is, the development engineers — let us know that they can work better from now on thanks to our method,” says Alexander Bodensohn, department head in the Reliability and Diagnosis Laboratory at Advanced Development.
Although Bodensohn isn’t aiming to reap any scientific awards with the “Planned Reliability” project, engineers around the world are following the progress made by the industrial researchers with great interest. As far as they are concerned, the reliability project counts as one of the “hot topics” in the sector.
In addition to Advanced Development, the Mercedes Car Group’s Series Development and Quality Management areas as well as the Total Vehicle Test/Reliability Vans unit are also involved in this project.
Expressed more simply, the aim is to be able to assess at a very early stage within the vehicle development process whether a planned innovation functions reliably in accordance with requirements. After all, the customer is supposed to be satisfied with the product in the end, and the service area shouldn’t be confronted with unpredictably high costs resulting from warranty or goodwill expenses. Reliability must become more predictable, in the same way that advance assessment of the costs of creating a new product has become increasingly precise since the 1990s.
Although determining the reliability of a new function after it has been introduced requires a significant amount of work, it is by no means a complicated undertaking, because experience has already been gained with the component in question.
The numbers of customers who are satisfied or dissatisfied with it can be as easily determined as can the repair frequency and the costs that have already been incurred for the company within the scope of various warranties and goodwill payments.
However, the empirical knowledge gained at this late date leaves only a bitter aftertaste if, in fact, there was still a gremlin in the works of the new product in spite of all the tests.
The method used in the “Planned Reliability” project therefore focuses on the initial phase of vehicle development. “We want to evaluate concepts for product innovations with regard to their technical reliability, feasibility and the cost and time required, and to do that already in the strategy phase,” explains Bodensohn. The important decision concerning which functions are to be implemented in a new model is made at that point.
However, only the function itself has now been decided on. In most cases, the way it will ultimately be implemented has not yet been definitively determined. Generally, a whole range of alternative technical concepts is available for that purpose.
“Take, for example, the function for protection against something getting caught in electrically moved parts,” clarifies Bodensohn, using an example to illustrate the point. “The impending threat of something catching in a sunroof, a sliding door or a window can be registered by various sensors. In actuator engineering one can choose between hydraulic or electromechanical drive systems, and various approaches are possible for the controls.”

Editorial – The View Ahead 2/2006

Dear readers,

Ever since Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz invented the automobile, their pioneering spirit has been motivating us to come up with outstanding automotive innovations. Whether it’s vehicle construction, design or safety technology, DaimlerChrysler has been a leader when it comes to producing impressive concepts that enhance our customers’ individual mobility.

DaimlerChrysler is also devising pioneering solutions for the processes we use within the Group for vehicle development and production. For example, our researchers and developers are working on methods that will enable us to assess the reliability of new components as early as the concept stage. They are also developing future-oriented processes in production and materials technology that will facilitate lightweight construction and thus help save energy.

In the “Digital Factory” project, we have begun to link up our value chain digitally, from the initial concept all the way to the final product. Here, our hall, body shop, assembly line and logistics planners are already benefiting from the same digital processes that our development engineers use to design components and vehicles. In this way, we can achieve an advanced degree of product development at an early stage when a model series is launched or updated.

Planning for the Future in 3D

Networked data for the digital factory

Stuttgart, Nov 30, 2006
With the Digital Factory project, DaimlerChrysler production planners are moving in a new direction. In particular, planners of halls, body-in-white facilities, assembly lines and logistics are turning their attention to digital methods, digital processes and 3D geometries of components, production equipment and buildings. Their efforts are helping series production vehicles to reach an advanced level of development at a very early stage.

The road to the future starts in the basement — or, more precisely, in the lower level of Building 28 at DaimlerChrysler’s plant in Sindelfingen, Germany. That’s where the “Digital Factory Planning Room” is located. Here, planning specialists from all units at the Group meet to discuss the construction of new factory halls and production facilities, as well as the renovation of existing ones.
The unusual thing about these meetings is that the factory and production planners sit in a semi-circle in front of a “Powerwall” about the size of a soccer goal. Wearing 3D goggles, they immerse themselves in very realistic virtual worlds that provide them with a detailed look at the buildings and facilities of tomorrow.

This digital journey into the future begins when someone like Klemens Benz, a member of the Digital Factory Planning team, uses a control panel to turn on the six high-performance projectors that beam their images onto the Powerwall’s special screen from the rear. The screen then displays 3D images that show what a complete factory — including all production machinery — or a fully equipped office will look like when it is built someday in the future.
As an example of how the system works, Benz and the leader of his team, Peter Csavajda, like to show visitors the virtual depiction of the Van Technology Center (VTC) that DaimlerChrysler put into operation at the Untertürkheim plant in 2005. Even before ground was broken at the site, the staff at the VTC were able to see a virtual image of their future workplace on the Powerwall. The digital tour of the VTC features realistic, photographic-quality depictions that guide observers through the entire complex and show the individual offices and work areas, presenting not only desks and workbenches but also offering a view out the window to the new Mercedes-Benz Museum across the way. “What you see here is more than just an impressive 3D visualization,” explains Csavajda. “For us, the system is above all a precise, reliable, and fast tool for creating digital mockups that depict and ensure the quality of all factory components.” At the heart of the virtual system is the Microstation from Bentley, which makes possible comprehensive three-dimensional planning of buildings. Using the Microstation, DaimlerChrysler specialists then developed the FAPLIS factory planning system, the first version of which was used in 1984. These days, FAPLIS can depict and assemble all the different components of a factory in 3D.
“Simply put, what we’ve got here are digital building blocks that can be used to construct a complete factory,” Csavajda explains. “As part of the process, all of the 50 or 60 specialized areas needed to build a new factory are digitally registered in a standardized database. The really special thing about our digital planning room is that we bring people and data together simultaneously within the framework of an integrated factory planning system, and then we try to come up with the best solutions.”

November Sales Up 3 Percent; Best in Five Years

Sales in November establish five-year November record

Jeep® Wrangler sales surge 95 percent year-over-year; Dealers place orders for 62,000 units of Jeep Wrangler

Dodge Nitro sales increase 80 percent over October 2006 sales; Dealer orders exceed 50,000 units

Sales of Dodge Ram Pickup rise 8 percent

 

Auburn Hills, Mich.,

Dec 1, 2006

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Chrysler Group reported that unadjusted sales in November 2006 rose 3 percent to 164,556 units, compared to November 2005 sales of 159,898 units. November 2006 sales establish a five-year November record.

“Chrysler Group sales in November were up 3 percent over last year, marking the best November in five years,” said Steven Landry, Vice President, Sales and Field Operations – Chrysler Group. “Our new product lineup continues its customer appeal as they arrive at our dealerships and drive a big part of the sales improvement for the Chrysler Group.”