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Study Shows Demand for Sport Utility Vehicles Is Healthy, Growth in SUV Segment Not Stunted By Environmental Concerns

NEW ORLEANS — A growing number of Americans intend to purchase a sport utility vehicle, even as the controversy over global warming and vehicle fuel-efficiency standards continues to rage, according to a national consumer study released today by The Dohring Co., Inc.

The study showed that consumer demand for passenger cars fell 7 percent over the past three years, while intent to purchase a sport utility vehicle (SUV) almost doubled. The research indicated that consumer intent to purchase an SUV increased more than in any other vehicle segment.

According to the study, spacious interior, all-wheel drive, overall vehicle size, vehicle sturdiness/safety, styling/looks and reliability are the major factors that attract consumers to sport utility vehicles.

The study also found that, while government regulators may hope for a more environmentally conscious car-buying public, consumer attitudes would need to change.

"It is interesting to note that consumers did not mention vehicle emissions/environmental concerns as a reason not to purchase an SUV," a Dohring Co. spokesman said. "While America's love affair with higher emission vehicles is not about to end, the study also found that there is a strong potential market for electric vehicles. Twenty-three percent of consumers did say they would be willing to consider the purchase of an electric vehicle."

The study was completed in January, with a random sample of 1,253 qualified consumers from all 50 U.S. states. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percent.

New Venture Gear Signs Licensing Agreement With ASHA

TROY, Mich. — New Venture Gear (NVG), the worldwide designer and manufacturer of four-wheel-drive transfer cases and a leader in other automotive driveline products, signed a license agreement with ASHA Corp. to develop ASHA technologies into a variety of traction-control components.

NVG is developing the ASHA technologies into a line of traction control subsystems for driveline applications.

"Based on our success with ASHA's technologies in our progressive transfer case, we have agreed to use these technologies in an expanded line of products that will lead the way in redefining traction control," said Fred L. Hubacker, New Venture Gear president and CEO.

ASHA technology is used in NVG's all-new Progressive Transfer Case, which debuts in Chrysler's 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

ReviewIt Is Collaborative Design Review Software

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Cubus Corp. unveiled ReviewIt, collaborative design review software for the Internet. Engineered to revolutionize the design review process and lower costs, ReviewIt creates a new work environment where design professionals can easily and effectively record, review and track design information across geographically distributed project teams and organizations.

ReviewIt, a virtual design environment, drives progress in the design review process by increasing speed, cost effectiveness and reliability. Unlike paper-based review process, professionals using ReviewIt can review and discuss plans with other individuals in real time at a single source on the Internet. ReviewIt's collaborative workspace eliminates obstacles of time and geography between design team members.

"Cubus' technology meets the needs of the design community by creating the first dynamic collaborative environment where designs can be reviewed, revised and organized without ever printing or sending a blueprint," said Azhar Khan, president and CEO, Cubus Corp. "This environment will soon become an industry standard, as large architectural firms can easily print and ship by overnight courier more than 1,500 designs over the course of a one-year project."

ReviewIt organizes design discussion and increases productivity by linking every message to its related design view on the drawing using innovative graphical indexing technology. ReviewIt reduces the risk of miscommunication by providing numerous annotation drawing tools to mark-up a design and specific areas in question. Cubus streamlines communication by providing one screen where ReviewIt users can see the drawings and any messages from all design team members.

"There are many indications that the Internet is capable of radically altering the way that organizations deal with the design review process," said Carl Bass, chief technical officer, Autodesk, Inc. "Collaborative review on the Internet will compliment existing CAD/CAM programs, enable engineering and design teams to keep pace with technology and combat the issues of data sharing, program integration and security."

While ReviewIt provides an effective environment for design review, Cubus' server meets industry concerns of security and integration by storing and managing all feedback, the status of project work flow and by managing security and access privileges to the design content. ReviewIt provides a complete record of all design communication including full project tracking and archives that are available instantaneously.

Professionals can also search the archives to determine the status of particular design elements. Using munitions-grade encryption technologies, Cubus ensures the highest level of security for all designs that reside on the Cubus server. Cubus subscribers are also encouraged to select pre-existing levels of access for each team member. For example, a hired contractor can review designs, while only a project engineer can revise them.

ReviewIt is built upon today's leading-edge Internet technologies and integrates the best features of collaboration, design management, information search and retrieval, database and groupware software. Cubus' software architecture incorporates proprietary object components and ActiveX controls into a tool that works within the familiar user interfaces of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Cubus Corp. was founded by leading developers and engineers of CAD products. Its board of directors includes industry leaders in the graphics, multimedia, communications, CAD, intellectual property and investment banking industries.

Emerging Technologies and Growing Applications Overshadow Tighter Regulations in U.S. Plastic Packaging Market

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Fast food containers, pill bottles and plastic bags are just a minuscule sample of packaging materials we use everyday. Packaging can take the form of paper, glass, metals, or plastics, depending on end-user preferences. The plastic packaging industry is growing rapidly, due in part to its extensive list of end users, including food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and household chemicals.

This industry faces a number of challenges, including tougher environmental and recyclability issues, long lead time for approval from regulatory bodies, market consolidation, price pressures and meeting ever changing end-user requirements. Despite the challenges, the plastic packaging market is likely to exhibit a healthy growth in the U.S., according to strategic research conducted by Frost & Sullivan (http://www.frost.com).

According to the study, U.S. Market for Plastics in Packaging, total market revenues in 1996 equaled $28.7 billion, and the estimated volume consumption was 19.9 billion pounds. Total revenues for the plastic packaging market are expected to reach $44 billion by 2003, with a volume consumption of about 26.6 billion pounds. During the forecast period, the annual revenue growth rate will be a healthy 6.3 percent.

The focus of Frost & Sullivan's study is on plastics manufacturers who buy resins or who use resins to manufacture any type of plastic packaging materials. The packaging materials discussed are derived from resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester and polystyrene. Opportunities abound in several end-user markets non-carbonated drinks, carry out foods, medical devices and electronics.

To meet the challenges and exploit the opportunities, the firms are placing great emphasis on research and development and technological improvements. These developments include conversion to flexible packaging from rigid and semi-rigid packaging, coupled with lightweighting and downgauging of packaging materials to lower cost and waste. Metallocene and insite catalyzed resins are increasingly being used for their improved properties. New developments are being carried out in coatings additives and processes to improve the properties of packaging material.

Frost & Sullivan believes success in the plastics packaging industry depends on providing a total package to the customer and engaging in long-term contracts with customers. Diversification into packaging systems, machines and tooling is value add.

The U.S. Market for Plastics in Packaging, Frost & Sullivan's new study, includes segmentation by end-user markets and subsegmentation by resin types. Volume consumption, growth rates, competitive analysis, trends and strategies are all provided. Data was gathered mainly through primary research including interviews with worldwide industry experts, such as general managers, marketing managers and technical service personnel.

GE and Inepar Form Joint Venture to Serve Growing Hydropower Market in Brazil

SAO PAULO, Brazil — General Electric do Brasil Ltda. and Inepar S.A. Industria E Construcoes formed a joint venture to serve Brazil's growing hydro-electric power generation market.

The joint venture, to be named GE Hydro Inepar do Brasil S.A., takes effect immediately and will have operations in Araraquara, Campinas and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Daniel Gagne, presently manager of projects for the GE Hydro business of General Electric Canada Inc., will become president of the new joint venture and will be based in Campinas. GE Brazil will own 60 percent of the joint venture and Inepar will own 40 percent.

GE Canada will provide technology and operating management for the joint venture, while Inepar will provide increased market access. The joint venture will design, engineer, manufacture, market, sell and service hydro-electric turbines and hydro-generators in Brazil. The size of the hydropower generation equipment available through the joint venture will range up to 700 megawatts.

Brazil is the second largest hydro market in the world, with hydropower providing 93 percent of the country's total power capacity of 59 gigawatts. Industry forecasts call for the addition of 2-3 gigawatts of new power generation capacity per year over the next decade, through utilities and Brazil's privatization program.

"Through licensing agreements, GE Hydro has been active in Brazil for more than 25 years and our technology currently represents about 20 percent of the installed base of hydropower in the country," said Michael D. Popielec, general manager of GE Hydro in Lachine, Quebec. "Our new joint venture with Inepar represents a further commitment by GE to the growing and very promising Brazilian hydropower generation market."

Inepar, headquartered in Curitiba, Brazil with several manufacturing plants in different states in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, is active in four segments: manufacturing, construction, energy and telecommunications.

Dynamic Materials’ Acquisition of Spin Forge Assets Adds to Earier Merger with Aerospace/Defense and Aircraft Parts Maker

LAFAYETTE, Colo. — Dynamic Materials Corp. and Spin Forge, LLC entered into a letter of intent for DMC to acquire the assets of Spin Forge, LLC. The acquisition is subject to the parties reaching an agreement on the final terms of the transaction, the completion of due diligence and the approval of DMC's board of directors.

Spin Forge, headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., is one of the country's leading manufacturers of tactical missile motor cases and titanium tanks for commercial aerospace. "Spin Forge enjoys a number of strategic strengths, including sole-source supplier status on several projects and the ability to spin form exceptionally large metal parts using what is believed to be among the largest capacity Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) spin-forging equipment for such work in North America," said Paul Lange, president and chief executive officer of DMC.

"Our sales and marketing organization already has extensive experience promoting large sheet-metal parts manufactured utilizing DMC's explosion forming technology,” Lange continued. “We believe the acquisition will make this combination of companies particularly complementary."

Separately, on Jan. 5, DMC acquired the assets and business of AMK Welding, headquartered in South Windsor, Conn. AMK is a leading supplier of commercial aircraft and aerospace-related automatic and manual, gas tungsten and arc welding (GTAW) services. AMK has considerable expertise in vacuum controlled atmosphere purged chamber welding — a critical capability when welding titanium, zirconium, high temperature nickel alloys and other specialty alloys.

According to Lange, DMC's plans are to continue to operate AMK's business, to build on AMK's proprietary technologies, and to grow the organization's production capacity to satisfy customers' demands.

The unaudited 1997 revenues for Spin Forge and AMK Welding were approximately $6.5 million and $1.2 million, respectively.

Boeing Completes Successful ABL Wind Tunnel Tests

SEATTLE — The design of components critical to the performance of the Airborne Laser (ABL) was confirmed by a month-long series of wind tunnel tests conducted by Boeing.

The recently concluded tests focused on the design of the nose turret and the laser exhaust system. They will allow Team ABL — comprised of Boeing, Lockheed Martin and TRW — to proceed with detailed design of the weapon system that will destroy theater ballistic missiles in the boost phase of flight immediately after launch.

"These tests exceeded our best expectations," said Victor Buonadonna, a Boeing engineer who directed the tests at the trans-sonic wind tunnel adjacent to Seattle's Boeing Field. " We confirmed that the passive flow control of the turret is extremely effective, and we also refined a series of exhaust design candidates."

Confirming the performance of Lockheed Martin's basic turret design, and obtaining all the necessary dynamic pressure measurements, allows Lockheed Martin to complete its detailed design of the turret, he said.

Buonadonna said the tests of the 104-inch nose turret design had two primary objectives. "We wanted to minimize dynamic pressure (on the turret surface) and also to optimize the passive flow control to reduce the effects of the shear layer."

Earlier tests disclosed that in certain turret positions, air flow — called the boundary layer — separated from the turret surface and created a turbulent shear layer. That turbulence degraded the quality of the laser beam when the laser aimed through it, which could increase the time required to destroy the ascending missile.

The wind tunnel tests "not only identified the best turret design but we also came up with a couple of candidates to further reduce the dynamic pressure with very moderate design changes," Buonadonna said. "That will produce better beam quality and less jitter, which will enhance the performance of the whole system."

Material and expertise for the successful wind tunnel tests came from across The Boeing Co. "We really used the whole company," Buonadonna said. "The six-percent-scale 747 model used for the turret tests came from Seal Beach, Calif., the aerodynamic engineers and wind tunnel model designers were from Wichita and Seattle, and a key contribution for the laser exhaust tests came from Boeing in St. Louis."

He explained that the St. Louis contribution took the form of "pressure sensitive paint" developed by Boeing Advanced Wind Tunnel Applications.

"The goal of the laser exhaust tests was to evaluate various flow control devices for minimizing exhaust effects on the airplane. We came up with 12 separate configurations that we'll use in trade studies of cost, drag, weight and complexity to identify the best one."

Buonadonna said the capability provided by the pressure sensitive paint team in St. Louis allowed accurate and efficient observation and measurement of concentration and temperature variations on the aircraft due to the laser exhaust. "It was a diagnostic challenge that they pulled off without a glitch," he said.

The wind tunnel tests are the latest in a series designed to reduce risks before proceeding with the next steps in the ambitious missile defense program.

The ABL weapon system will use a high-energy, chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted on a modified 747-400F aircraft to shoot down theater ballistic missiles in their boost phase. ABL will play a key role in the nation's tiered, multi-service theater missile defense architecture. It will protect civilian and key military assets from attack by missiles such as the Scuds used by Iraq during the Persian Gulf War.

Boeing is responsible for battle management, overall integration of the ABL and attachment of the turret to the nose of the modified 747-400F freighter. The optics and control of the laser beam that fires through the turret's window are the responsibility of Lockheed Martin. TRW is designing and producing the weapon system's powerful laser.

John Deere Selects EAI's Factory Design and Layout Software

AMES, Iowa — Engineering Animation, Inc. announced that its factory layout and design software was selected by John Deere for use in the company's industrial engineering and facilities engineering groups. Under the agreement, John Deere has purchased FactoryPLAN, FactoryFLOW, FactoryCAD and Factory Drawing Manager to provide a method for designing a standard layout process for John Deere sites.

"EAI's next-generation factory design and layout system streamlines John Deere's processes, enabling users to easily produce factory layouts using symbols, overlays and descriptions based on industrial standards,” said Ken Vartanian, EAI vice president of North American sales. “EAI's FactoryCAD and FactoryFLOW software will drastically improve John Deere's manufacturing productivity by enabling John Deere manufacturing engineers to evaluate, compare and recommend alternative designs quickly and easily."

"John Deere's selection further demonstrates EAI's leadership in providing full-spectrum visualization solutions to the manufacturing industry, from product visualization and digital prototyping solutions to factory design and layout software."

"Traditionally, John Deere plants have each utilized their own individual factory layout design process, with no standard design methodology in place, resulting in engineers spending more time redrawing and designing industrial facilities," said Bruce Davis, senior engineer, Deere & Company.

"EAI's Factory product suite provides a quick way to streamline our factory layout methods at all sites to analyze and design new manufacturing layouts and to improve efficiency, productivity and output."

EAI's FactoryCAD allows users to speed up their drawing activities by providing hundreds of parametric and predrawn symbols that, when combined with layer controls, greatly simplify the tasks of creating and manipulating graphics. FactoryCAD also allows objects to be drawn in a traditional 2D plan mode, then converted to 3D for more realistic and accurate illustrations.

Designed for the qualitative and graphical evaluation of multiple layouts, EAI's FactoryPLAN is used to evaluate, recommend and compare alternative designs. EAI's FactoryFLOW helps designers determine the best possible alternative by providing quantitative reports that give accurate comparisons of travel intensities, distances and costs.

John Deere has also implemented EAI's Factory Drawing Manager to allow multiple users to quickly access any portion of their layout. This strategic move will enable engineers from various John Deere sites to maintain, view and edit large factory drawings in real time.

EAI has a long standing partnership with Deere, with its Factory suite of software already implemented at many sites such as: Deere Corporate, Moline; Deere Harvester (combine, seeder and cylinder production sites), Moline and East Moline; Deere Waterloo (Donald Street, Foundry and project engineering sites), and Deere, Ottumwa.

Nematron Announces Major Contract, Enters Into OEM Agreement With Schneider Automation

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Nematron Corp. signed a multi-million dollar contract to supply its Industrial Control Computers (ICCs) to Schneider Automation under a private label OEM agreement. Under this agreement, Nematron will supply a series of Intel Pentium and Pentium II based open architecture industrial computers to this customer.

Nematron's state-of-the-art ICC series are industrial strength, NEMA 4 rated, flat panel computers based on Intel's Pentium, Pentium Pro, and Pentium II microprocessors, designed for PC-based automation and to enable the use of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system on the factory floor.

Built to thrive in harsh conditions of plant-floor applications, Nematron's ICCs offer several advantages, including a chassis design that is hinged and swings open for easy access to the rear chassis assembly. Nematron was recently awarded U.S. Patent #5,666,264 for this design. This allows for the extended life display backlight to be changed easily and in less than five minutes. The entire chassis can also be quickly exchanged with temporary replacement parts without tools.

Year 2000 Compliant Operating System Provides New Features for Increased Reliability, Stability and Performance

EAGAN, Minn. — Silicon Graphics/Cray Research announced UNICOS 10.0, the newest release of its UNIX-based operating system for its Cray vector supercomputers that provides Year 2000 compliance along with new features that deliver increased reliability, stability, data center quality and performance.

The Year 2000 compliance of UNICOS 10.0, a leading industry supercomputing operating system, is based on adherence to The Open Group's recommended guidelines for UNIX.

"Year 2000 compliance is an essential component of any new software release because of the critical nature of the Year 2000 issue for all organizations around the world," said Dan Hogberg, head of marketing for technical computing for Silicon Graphics/Cray Research. "With the release of UNICOS 10.0, we are delivering an operating system that not only meets the requirements for Year 2000 compliance, but also provides additional advanced features that continue to make the UNICOS operating system the worldwide high-performance UNIX leader."

Hogberg said that as of today, UNICOS 10.0 provides operating system Year 2000 compliance for all current CRAY T90, CRAY J90 and CRAY C90 supercomputers. Additionally, the company's next release of the UNICOS/mk operating system, scheduled for later this quarter, will support Year 2000 compliance for CRAY T3E supercomputers.

The new features now available with UNICOS 10.0 include improved resiliency for increased system reliability; enhanced subsystem accounting for better resource tracking, allowing increased system management of critical resources, and support for new peripherals, enabling use of new technologies that provide faster access and cheaper storage solutions.

Web-Based Recruiting Center to Level the Playing Field for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

ORLANDO, Fla. — SkillSet Software, Inc., a leader in collaborative recruiting applications, is teaming with Interliant, Inc., a leading network application service provider, to debut Employment Exchange. The application is a rentable, Web-based recruiting center that increases competitiveness for small and medium-sized businesses. With Employment Exchange, smaller companies with limited technology and system administration resources can level the playing field in competing for highly qualified employees against larger, more established businesses.

The Domino Instant! Host program will provide customers with immediate access to this Internet-based recruiting center. Employment Exchange will be demonstrated at Lotusphere in SkillSet's pedestal, number B31 and Interliant's pedestal, number A48.

As the first phase of SkillSet's and Interliant's agreement to provide a suite of rentable human-resources application packages, Employment Exchange will enable companies to quickly set up a Web site for posting open job positions and basic company information.

This will allow candidates to apply for jobs and submit their resumes online. By making it easier for applicants to identify and apply for open positions, SkillSet's Employment Exchange will enable organizations to fill job openings faster. Employment Exchange is scheduled for general availability in the second quarter of 1998.

"Our agreement with Interliant demonstrates SkillSet's strategy to provide competitive advantage in the recruitment arena to businesses of every size, across all industries,” said Dan White, president and CEO of SkillSet Software. “As smaller start-ups compete with larger, firmly entrenched companies, they are losing the battle in finding quality candidates to the big guys who have better, faster resources. SkillSet's new Web-based Employment Exchange empowers small and medium-sized companies to recruit like a larger enterprise — minimizing the time and costs associated with implementing new equipment and application software," Founded in 1993, SkillSet Software, Inc. is a leading provider of enterprise-wide, collaborative recruiting solutions that accelerate the hiring process for major companies, giving them a competitive advantage in a tight hiring market.

SkillSet's solutions are based on Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino. The company has a large installed base of users worldwide at corporations such as IBM, Chase Manhattan and Kaiser Permanente. Interliant, which is headquartered in Houston, provides advanced application hosting services. The company has a long history of delivering interactive group solutions over extended networks and hosts more than 10,000 interactive Lotus Notes and Domino applications for more than 2,000 corporations worldwide. Interliant is a Lotus 'Net Service Provider, Alliance Partner.

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

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