Light Truck Frame Development through Simultaneous Engineering

New relationships are being developed between original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers. Early supplier involvement, long-term relationships and simultaneous engineering are commonplace in today's new vehicle development.

Simultaneous engineering is the synthesis of the product design, analysis, development, test, process, reliability and manufacturing functions. It results in a synergy between the OEM and their first tier supply base and, in turn, second tier suppliers.

The scope of this paper is the development and implementation of the new frame designs for the General Motors 1988 GMT 400 product line.