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Global Supplier Database Maps the Future of the Supply Base

TROY, Mich. — A first-of-its-kind interactive global supplier database titled Automotive Supplier Authority New Customers of the 21st Century, has been developed by International Business Development (IBD)Corp.

Produced by leading automotive industry analyst Donna L. Parolini, the Automotive Supplier Authority is an adaptive software database designed for use as a strategic tool to focus on global supplier activity. The Automotive Supplier Authority identifies supplier representation within specific regions for each of the five vehicle systems.

The database is equipped with a dynamic mapping system that will allow the user a visual representation of global supplier location. The system plots search results with color-coded dots labeling each supplier. It is the first tool of its kind to map supplier plants around the world by vehicle system, sub-system, country, company and sales volume.

"The mapping system is a big part of the database that differentiates it from a standard directory," said Parolini, president of Troy-based IBD Corp. "The maps allow the user a visual representation to accompany the data."

Database users will be able to determine who the new customer will be. The database will assist system integrators in advancing their corporate make/buy decisions within their current supply chain and with cross region perspective. It can also assist in strengthening or advancing product lines by leveraging capabilities; and streamlining global supplier procurement activities.

"The supplier industry is experiencing 'merger mania'," said Parolini, "This database is an exceptionally valuable source to assist corporate executives in the decision making process."

Subscription to the Automotive Supplier Authority is available on a one-year subscription basis, which allows the subscriber 24-hour access to the database and mapping system. The database is password driven and is only available on the Internet. Database information will be updated on a weekly basis. Information and a brief demonstration of the Automotive Supplier Authority are available through IBD Corp.'s web site at http://www.ibdcorporation.com.

Founded in 1987, IBD Corp. is dedicated to preparing top management of leading automotive suppliers and other companies for business cycle changes, by developing personalized long-range growth strategies. The company focuses its resources on providing corporate strategic management behavior models, based on years of actual experience in product and corporate strategy, product engineering and expansive research.

TRW Paves Way for Next Generation of Air Bag “Off” Switches

DETROIT — That's why TRW Automotive Electronics Group — which developed and produced the first passenger air bag disable (PAD) switch, the first retrofit passenger air bag disable switch and the first intelligent PAD switch — is focusing its expertise and experience on creating next-generation switches offering even greater value and function.

In 1995, TRW began production of the industry's first passenger air bag disable switch, enabling light truck drivers to disarm the passenger air bag when a rear-facing infant seat or small child was present in the front seat. Last year, TRW introduced the first retrofit air bag disable (RAD) switch for automakers — offering driver and passenger side application in response to the recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ruling on air bag deactivation.

The first intelligent passenger air bag disable (IPAD) switch — which TRW put into production in 1997 for the 1998 model year — offers higher reliability, a 30-percent parts count reduction, greater packaging flexibility and cost-savings potential over its predecessor.

Designed to work with a vehicle's air bag diagnostic module or body controller, the TRW IPAD is constantly polled by the electronics to determine switch position. If the switch is in the "Off" position and a crash occurs, the air bag controller would prevent the passenger air bag from deploying.

To operate the switch, the driver simply inserts the ignition key into a lock cylinder on the instrument panel, turns it clockwise 45 degrees to the detent position and removes the key. An indicator lamp showing the word "Off" confirms that the passenger air bag has been disabled, and the air bag remains disabled until the switch is rotated back to its original position with the ignition key.

Tested to 15,000 cycles and proven in sled tests and actual vehicle crash tests, TRW's IPAD switch uses a hermetically sealed contact system to protect the switch from environmental contamination. The TRW IPAD switch has been impact-tested to 50 Gs of force on all axes and operates throughout a temperature range of -40o C to 85o C.

Since the TRW IPAD switch interfaces with the air bag diagnostic module, switch contact bounce can be filtered out to reduce impact sensitivity. The module's diagnostics also monitor the switch's indicator light, allowing for a standard lamp to be used instead of a more expensive, high-intensity light emitting diode (LED). Because the module also records the state of the switch at the time of impact, the telltale fuse used in the first generation PAD switch has been eliminated.

According to Ronald Muckley, vice president of product engineering, North America, TRW Automotive Electronics Group, work is well underway on TRW air bag disable switch designs which will meet automakers' evolving system architectures, as well as the potential needs for both driver and passenger side applications.

"As development partners, we can ensure that our next-generation switches provide automakers with a whole new level of benefits, in terms of system integration, packaging, reliability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness," Muckley said.

TRW currently provides original equipment air bag disable switches for various 1998 model year vehicles, including the Ford F series truck, Dodge Dakota truck, Dodge Ram pickup, Dodge Ram van and Plymouth Prowler. TRW also supplies eight versions of a retrofit air bag disable switch to cover 111 General Motors platforms.

Mechanical Dynamics Product Integrates ADAMS Mechanical System Simulation Software with Computer-Aided Design Software

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Mechanical Dynamics, Inc., a worldwide supplier of software and services to the virtual prototyping market, released CAT/ADAMS, a new product designed to facilitate the exchange of data between its ADAMS mechanical system simulation software and the CATIA computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering (CAD/CAM/CAE) software from Dassault Systemes of France.

The new product, developed within the CAA Partnership Program of Dassault Systemes, integrates ADAMS, the world's most widely used mechanical system simulation software, within the CATIA Application Architecture (CAA).

Engineering teams use ADAMS to produce virtual prototypes, realistically simulating on their computers the full-motion behavior of complex mechanical systems. CATIA enables users to perform a wide range of design, engineering, and manufacturing tasks, including 3D parametric solids modeling, feature-based design, and drafting.

With CAT/ADAMS, users can transfer CATIA Kinematics models and geometry as well as product data from the CATIA system to ADAMS. They can then perform motion simulations to evaluate the dynamic performance of the complete product, and transfer the results back to CATIA for collision detection and clearance studies.

Mechanical Dynamics worked with a consortium of major automotive manufacturers — BMW, Chrysler, and Peugeot — to develop CAT/ADAMS. The three companies, whose design and engineering teams use the two software packages extensively, contributed to the funding of the integration software's development and assisted in defining technical specifications.

Robert R. Ryan, president and chief operating officer of Mechanical Dynamics, said, "CAT/ADAMS is the result of a unique consortium combining customer knowledge of the CAD process using CATIA and Mechanical Dynamics' acknowledged expertise in motion simulation technology. We believe this product will help engineering teams increase their productivity through improved communication and will result in higher-quality product designs."

According to Gerard Lecina, director of the Analysis and Simulation Division at Dassault Systemes, the CATIA-ADAMS integration is part of Dassault Systemes' continuing strategy of helping users streamline the product development process. "Many engineering groups at the major automotive companies worldwide use both packages," Lecina said. "CAT/ADAMS will enable these engineers to design parts and complex kinematic assemblies in CATIA and analyze their dynamic behavior in ADAMS much faster."

Ryan noted that the addition of CAT/ADAMS to Mechanical Dynamics' product line broadens the company's market coverage. Users can now obtain ADAMS virtual prototyping capabilities embedded within all of the major Unix-based mechanical design automation environments as well as the leading PC-based CAD packages.

TRW Advanced Suspension Systems Significantly Decrease Weight, Improve Performance

DETROIT — With an unmatched capability for producing advanced suspension systems, TRW is providing automakers worldwide with lightweight components that offer significant performance, economical, environmental and safety improvements.

"Our integrated, lightweight suspension systems — which can decrease weight by at least 40 percent compared to steel — can significantly improve fuel economy, emissions, energy savings, driving safety and comfort," said Clive Spackman, vice president of engineering, TRW Linkage & Suspension Systems. "Realizing these remarkable benefits, several automakers have incorporated TRW's innovative suspension systems into a variety of their vehicles."

He said the new Porsche Boxster's rear axle and suspension module, for example, features TRW's advanced aluminum longitudinal arms, control arms and toe links. TRW's operations in Europe also are assisting Audi and other automakers with the design of multi-link suspension systems that utilize lightweight aluminum and fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) components.

In order to produce a broad range of lightweight suspension systems, TRW uses a variety of advanced materials, technologies and processes, including: FRP — a material that is manufactured by the thermoplast injection die casting method in multiple nest molds, and reduces weight, cost and noise reduction; thixoforming — a unique process in which the raw material is heated up to a temperature between solidification and a liquefied state and is pressed into a form by a modified die casting unit, creating a low porosity structure that is similar to aluminum casting materials; aluminum forging — a process in which material flow in the die produces a tight structure of fibers, thus achieving a high integrity of the structural parts; and vacuum die casting — an innovative process that produces parts with low porosity structures that can be heat treated, resulting in parts with excellent deformation features, time sufficient rigidities and tensile strengths.

A full-service supplier with total suspension systems engineering capability, TRW's Linkage and Suspension Systems is a leading producer of steering linkages, control arms, stabilizer links, radius rods and suspension ball joints.

TRW annually produces more than 40 million ball joints and is the leading supplier of fiber-reinforced plastic stabilizer links (producing more than 3 million a year).

The company, which offers a variety of innovative processing technologies, also is one of the largest manufacturers of vacuum die-cast and thixoformed suspension components.

ASHA Gerodisc Breakthrough Traction Technology Promotes Safer Driving and Handling

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Ask any safety engineer which type of technology — accident avoidance or occupant protection — has the greatest impact on safer driving and the answer is easy.

Avoiding an accident is the best way to prevent someone from being injured. Until now, antilock braking systems (ABS) have been touted as the key accident avoidance technology, while air bags used with seat belts are the two best ways to reduce injury in an accident.

ABS will now have to share that exclusive platform with Gerodisc, a breakthrough traction technology developed by ASHA Corp. Robert Anderson, ASHA managing director of Automotive Components said, "Gerodisc helps keep a vehicle moving, even if only one wheel has traction, while reducing the chance for spinouts and loss of vehicle control on slippery surfaces."

He adds that Gerodisc is compatible with all cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, and trucks; and can be used on all types of vehicle platforms front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive.

The self-contained hydromechanical device contains a continuously operating fluid pump, piston, and set of clutches that fit inside the axle carrier. It will limit wheel spin if a driver starts losing traction and vehicle control on slippery surfaces by automatically sensing when a wheel begins to slip. The increased wheel speed increases the pump's output pressure that causes the clutches to engage and slow the spinning wheel. At the same time the Gerodisc unit smoothly transfers the incoming driveshaft torque to the non-spinning wheel to regain traction.

Gerodisc continuously monitors and maintains this torque balancing act. It shifts torque from side to side on two-wheel drive vehicles and also front to back on four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles regardless of which wheel begins to spin and lose traction. Thus, providing a dynamic safety and handling feature those passenger vehicles without Gerodisc technology do not offer.

Anderson says that Gerodisc traction technology is now available for the first time on a popular domestic 4x4 sport utility vehicle in both the front and rear axles which gives the vehicle the ability to keep going even if only one wheel has traction. ASHA's Gerodisc differential responds more quickly and smoothly than a viscous coupling. Response time can be tuned to driving conditions, enabling the use of this advanced traction system in the front axle as well as the rear which is an industry breakthrough, according to vehicle engineers.

"One of the safety and handling disadvantages of present four-wheel drive traction control systems is torque steer," Anderson said. "This is an unwanted and unexpected feedback of twisting force through the steering system caused by the transfer of torque from the spinning to non-spinning wheel. It causes the steering wheel to lurch in the driver's hands and can lead to temporary loss of vehicle control."

According to Anderson, "Gerodisc technology's high sensitivity to changes in wheel speed enables vehicle engineers to tune the transfer rate of torque between spinning and non-spinning wheels to an optimum level for improved vehicle handling and control."

Other drawbacks of conventional 4x4 and all-wheel drive systems can include shifting gear levers, driveline vibrations, reduced fuel economy, higher ground clearances, and a lack of durability. Gerodisc in comparison, delivers passenger-car quality ride and durability, with transparent operation that goes unnoticed, except for the improved handling and control over slick, slippery pavement and muddy back roads.

The Gerodisc system is designed for all drivers, not just the driving enthusiasts, or those who prefer sport utilities, pickup trucks, or luxury vehicles. "It makes a minivan a 'go anywhere' type of vehicle, especially in bad weather," says Anderson.

Oddly enough, when tested in high performance vehicles like the Camaro, Mustang, and Corvette, drivers told Anderson the cars felt under-powered after Gerodisc was installed.

"The reason for this," Anderson said, "is that they equated squealing tires during high-speed cornering with speed. When we showed them their lower lap times, they began to realize that Gerodisc put the power into traction, not smoke and noise."

In addition to improving vehicle traction, handling, and safety, Anderson says Gerodisc will reduce weight, cost, and projected warranty exposure when compared to present control systems.

Frost & Sullivan: World Process Analytical Instrument Markets Growth Allows Educated Market Players to Breath a Bit Easier

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — As pollution continues to present a growing concern in all regions of the world, governing bodies are constantly searching for ways to monitor and control the levels of pollution to which people are exposed on a daily basis. Process analytical instruments are not only providing invaluable solutions to monitoring pollution, they are also contributing toward making manufacturing processes more efficient.

According to recent strategic research by Frost & Sullivan, World Process Analytical Instrument Markets are providing invaluable solutions for continuous monitoring of various parameters during the manufacturing process.

While this market generated revenues worth $883 million in 1997, it is expected to expand to $1.4 billion in 2004 with a compound annual growth rate of 6.3 percent.

This study analyzes the process analytical instruments markets for four distinct world regions including North America, Europe, Pacific Rim countries, and "rest-of-world." Examining 16 product markets, this research finely segments the market, providing competitive information on revenues, revenue growth rates and market share information. Market drivers and restraints are also covered, including possible global factors and a qualitative discussion involving the potential impact of the recent Asian debacle. Current market players and those considering entrance into the market cannot afford to overlook this ground-breaking market research.

Analyzed by major market segment, this research takes an in-depth look at the process-analysis gas analyzer market, the process-analysis liquid analyzer market, and the process-analysis solid and multiphase analyzer market. For each of these three segments, forecasts by end users are provided along with current market dynamics, trends, future opportunities, and geographic region analysis for each product.

Recent strategic alliances and partnerships have become the trend in this growing market. Companies are looking to expand globally, making product diversification essential. The trend toward development of application specific instruments, incorporation of microprocessors and development of smart instruments is also expected to drive this market into the 21st century.

In this research, these and other market trends and competitive issues are discussed in-depth in an effort to educate motivated companies striving to succeed in the World Process Analytical Instrument Markets.

Technologies covered in this research include: process-analysis electrochemical gas analyzers, process-analysis magnetic gas analyzers, process-analysis chemiluminescence, process-analysis thermal conductivity gas analyzers, process-analysis flame ionization detector gas analyzers, process-analysis electrochemical analyzers, process-analysis colorimeters, process-analysis refractometers, process-analysis turbidity analyzers, process-analysis conductivity analyzers,

The National Science Foundation Selects Superconductive Components, Inc. for Research Grant

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Superconductive Components, Inc. was awarded a Small Business Innovative Research grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a novel manufacturing method for superconductive wires.

The program, titled "An Advanced Method to Manufacture Continuous Reacted Lengths of BSCCO-2212 Wires" links Superconductive Components, Inc. (SCI) with one of the prominent superconductive wire manufacturers, Intermagnetics General, Inc. of Waterbury, Conn. The Phase I award of $97,285 will fund work to be done at SCI to optimize its superconductive powder manufacturing technology and downstream processing of those powders by Intermagnetics into multi-filament superconductive tapes. Phase II of the program, if approved by NSF, could be funded up to $400,000.

SCI Vice President J.R. Gaines, Jr. said, "We know that there were several proposals submitted on this topic. This award is a great acknowledgment of our technical strengths in powder manufacturing and the overall capability of the team. We are hopeful that this contract, which allows us to work closely with one the most successful superconductive wire manufacturers in the country, will lead to significant follow-on revenues, both in research and commercial sales."

Lesh Motowidlo, superconductive program manager for Intermagnetics General, Inc. said, "The success of this program will improve the performance of the basic conductor, and possibly lead to a continuous manufacturing process for the BSCCO 2212 tape. That process breakthrough could possibly make the wire competitive, cost wise, with Nb3Sn. "

Centaur Technology Selects Cadence for DSM Design Flow

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced that Centaur Technology, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT) selected Cadence's Silicon Ensemble DSM and IC Craftsman EDA tools for its deep-submicron IC design flow.

The selection of Cadence tools comes after extensive benchmarking and design flow reviews, resulting in Centaur defining a state-of-the-art microprocessor design strategy.

Centaur, the latest entrant in the field of X86 microprocessor design, is revolutionizing the marketplace by developing and shipping high-performance, low-cost, low-power processors targeted at business and consumer applications. Its success in the microprocessor market stems from optimizing semiconductor design for die area, speed, and low power consumption.

"Cadence's technology enables us to meet our time-to-market demands while achieving the performance and density requirements of high-speed, multi-million-transistor microprocessor design," said Mark Brazell, Centaur's chip-integration leader. "IC Craftsman is the only full-chip router currently available which allows a truly gridless methodology. We chose Silicon Ensemble and IC Craftsman after extensive benchmarking of competing tools and concluded that the combination unquestionably provided us with the best available solution with a proven customer support system." Silicon Ensemble-DSM is a multi-engine automatic place and route platform designed specifically for complex, high-performance, two- to six-layer designs. Silicon Ensemble-DSM contains Qplace, the de facto industry standard timing driven placement engine, and Warp Router, a performance driven area router which is an order of magnitude faster than other routers while providing superior density, routability, and automation.

Silicon Ensemble-DSM also provides an integrated RC extraction, timing analysis, and specialized routing engines for wide wire and balanced clock tree routing.

IC Craftsman is a physical design toolset addressing performance sensitive layout issues for high-speed digital, deep submicron, and analog designs. The toolset includes an on-line hierarchical rules manager, a connectivity-driven, device-level editing environment, and timing- and noise-controlled routing solutions.

IC Craftsman provides a solution that avoids design flaws due to wire interconnect, such as signal-path delay, skew and crosstalk. IC Craftsman plugs into existing CAD environments through IC Craftsman translators.

Pratt & Whitney Launches 'Next Leap' — The Geared Turbofan

NEW YORK — Pratt & Whitney is developing an engine that will set new standards for reliability, operating cost, fuel burn, and noise levels for the 21st century.

"The PW8000 geared turbofan is the next leap in engine technology," Pratt & Whitney President Karl J. Krapek recently told an audience of aviation industry analysts. "This engine, an extension of our PW6000 family, reduces operating costs as much as 10 percent, reduces fuel burn 9 percent, cuts noise levels 30 decibels, and boosts reliability by eliminating more than half the airfoils in the compressor and turbine sections. The PW8000 changes the rules of the game."

The geared turbofan is the result of more than 10 years of research by Pratt & Whitney and an investment in technology development of $350 million since the mid-1980s. The engine's fan, which produces most of the thrust, is driven through a reduction gearbox, rather than being directly connected to the rest of the engine.

"The gearbox between the fan and the low pressure compressor and turbine allows us to select the best possible operating speed for each engine section," Krapek said. "Each runs much more efficiently, allowing us to reduce the number of engine stages and parts."

The engine will have 40 percent fewer stages than a conventional turbofan of the same size and 52 percent fewer compressor and turbine airfoils, lowering operating cost up to 10 percent and maintenance costs nearly 30 percent. A typical 120-to-180 passenger aircraft will return annually $600,000 more due to lower operating and maintenance costs and improved productivity.

"We have known since the early 1980s that the theoretical argument for a geared fan engine was compelling in terms of cost, fuel burn, noise and reliability," Krapek said. "We also knew that it would take careful technology development to create an engine with those new levels of performance and the ruggedness and reliability the world's airlines expect. Our hard work and investment is paying off now.”

Pratt & Whitney incorporated revolutionary advances in gearbox bearing design during thousands of hours of development testing. These, coupled with advances in the design of the gears and lubrication system, have resulted in a gearbox with an efficiency of better than 99 percent and a heat load less than half that originally predicted.

At 32,000 horsepower, this gearbox is only slightly larger than an automobile transmission. If the transmission in the average car were as efficient, it would weigh about two pounds.

The PW8000 geared turbofan will cover a range of between 25,000 and 35,000 pounds of thrust for aircraft between 120 and 180 passengers.

The engine will be certified within 30 months. It uses common core technology developed for the PW6000, which will be offered in a thrust range from 16,000 to 23,000 pounds. Together the PW8000 and the PW6000 will cover all aircraft between 80 passengers to 180 passengers.

"It is not unusual for Pratt & Whitney to move forward at the speed we are without a commitment on a specific aircraft," Krapek said. "We did it with the J57, the JT8D and the JT9D, all industry pacing products. Unlike conventional jet engines, the PW8000 uses a gearbox for maximum efficiency. The 17-inch gearbox, with 32,000 shaft horsepower, enables the fan and low spool to operate at different speeds.

A jet engine is divided into high and low spools. Each spool consists of a compressor and a turbine. The low spool drives the fan and gives an engine its propulsive power.

Fans work best at slower speeds while compressors and turbines run more efficiently at higher speeds. The gearbox helps the fan, compressors and turbines achieve their most efficient operating speeds. This leads to a quieter engine with better fuel burn and fewer parts to maintain. In addition, the PW8000's gearbox design allows for a larger fan and therefore an impressive 11:1 bypass ratio.

An 11:1 bypass ratio means that 11 parts of air pass around the core of the engine compared with one part that passes through it. The higher the bypass ratio, the more efficient the engine.

Pratt's new engine has a 76-inch fan and measures 124 inches in length. A typical engine in this class has a fan size of about 65 inches.

The PW8000 pulls 90 percent of the engine's propulsive power from the fan. This reduces the number of stages needed in the low-pressure compressor and low-pressure turbine. Fewer stages mean fewer parts that would have to be repaired or replaced. The PW8000 operating costs are $600,000 a year for typical aircraft.

Pratt began working on a geared fan concept in the late 1970s as a way to increase fan bypass ratio. Since the mid-1980s, engineers have worked to assure gearbox reliability.

To eliminate gear misalignment and stress, for example, the gearbox in the PW8000 uses "self-centering" technology. Gearbox heat generation is minimized by demonstrated gear efficiencies of better than 99 percent. In fact, the PW8000 gear system will generate less than half the heat expected in a gearbox of this size.

The technology in this new engine is proven. The PW8000 gear system has gone through more than 1,000 hours of component testing and another 1,000 hours of full-scale testing. In addition, a 40,000-shaft horsepower gearbox, 25 percent larger than required for the PW8000, has run in a full test engine for about 100 hours.

Consolidation and Price Issues Challenge the Rapidly Growing Infrared Imaging Sensors and Systems Industry

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — The infrared imaging FPA sensors and systems market is growing steadily as both commercial and military applications continue to emerge. Although market participants are faced with price pressures and consolidation, this growth trend is expected to continue.

According to strategic research conducted by Frost & Sullivan (http://www.frost.com), U.S. Markets for Commercial and Military IR Imaging FPA Sensors and Systems, the total market will experience growth over the forecast period, with an annual growth rate of 29 percent, although the growth rate for each segment will differ, with emerging infrared technologies growing the fastest. Total revenues for infrared imaging FPA sensors in 1996 were $283.7 million. At the integrated system level, revenues reached $1 billion in 1996.

Frost & Sullivan divided this study into five major segments: mercury cadmium telluride, indium antimonide, platinum silicide, extrinsic silicon and emerging FPAs/imaging systems, which includes microbolometer, ferro-electric and multiple quantum well. The U.S. infrared imaging FPA sensor industry consists of two tiers. Participants in tier one are primarily merchant FPA suppliers, while the second tier represents integrated system sales and includes the participation of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

The greatest growth opportunities will be in emerging infrared sensor technologies, such as microbolometer, ferro-electric and multiple quantum well. Opportunities will also exist in very high performance infrared sensor technologies, as military programs come online and require high-volume production. Such emerging military programs and expanding commercial markets will be key in revenue growth.

Several market trends are effecting the infrared imaging FPA sensor industry, including improving FPA sensor performance and revenue growth in high performance and FPA segments due to military and paramilitary infrared imaging system upgrades. Another trend is the expansion of the commercialmarket. In order to reach low-priced commercial infrared imaging systems, FPA manufacturers are moving toward big volume production. This, in turn, drives system integrators to approach commercial markets that have not traditionally used infrared imaging systems.

Technologically, several changes are hitting the market, such as the development of multispectral FPAs for applications such as missile threat determination and distinction. Staring infrared sensors have also emerged as an effective FPA technology for numerous applications. There is also continued development of uncooled FPAs and of large array infrared FPA sensors, as well as efforts to drive toward TV-quality performance of infrared sensors.

The most important competitive trend affecting the infrared imaging industry is corporate consolidation. Every major participant has undergone or is currently undergoing an acquisition or merger, and this is expected to continue for the next couple of years. The companies that will lead the industry will be those that can offer the least expensive and high performance infrared FPA sensors and systems before their competitors.

Frost & Sullivan's new study, U.S. Markets for Commercial and Military IR Imaging FPA Sensors and Systems, is a comprehensive market forecast that for the first time covers both tiers of the infrared industry. The study provides market participants with trends, market share, competitive information and strategies.

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Mechanical Engineering Magazine Online's News Digest is compiled from original reporting and various print and online news sources. The Digest will be updated regularly.

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