Early Sourcing and Involvement of Steel Companies on the 1989 Cadillac DeVille and Fleetwood Programs

The Flint Automotive Division (FAD) introduced the new 1989 Cadillac DeVille and Fleetwood vehicles in September of 1988. The concepts of early sourcing and early involvement of steel companies were applied to these products during the design and development phase. Our experiences indicate that the dynamic application of these concepts coupled with simultaneous engineering has the potential of reducing costs, design changes, timing delays and production start-up problems for sheet metal stampings. This paper will give details on the advantages as well as guidelines for the implementation of early steel company sourcing and involvement in new car programs.