Browse Topic: Suppliers
Ground combat vehicles traditionally remain in service for decades, yet their rigid architectures make them costly to upgrade and slow to adapt to evolving threats. While the Department of War's 2025 Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) mandate aims to address this challenge, implementation barriers persist inconsistent vendor interpretations, physical and logical interoperability gaps, and IP complexities hinder progress. This paper proposes a reformed MOSA framework for ground vehicle Portfolio Acquisition Executives that redefines the government's role from system architect to ecosystem governor. The framework comprises four pillars: tiered standards balancing mandatory physical integration with vendor innovation, digital validation pipelines accelerating compliance verification, dynamic IP rights preventing vendor lock-in, and strategic portfolio management aligning investments with ground vehicle capability priorities. Special emphasis addresses integrating AI capabilities. This reformed approach enables rapid fielding of advanced ground vehicle capabilities at commercial innovation speed.
The impending formal adoption of SAE J1939-91C creates an urgent need for rigorous, repeatable validation methods that extend beyond functional conformance. This paper presents a structured validation and benchmarking framework, with a focus on performance characterization across dynamic vehicle configurations. Building on prior work in secure network formation, rekeying, and Golden Tester concepts, we define a minimal, transport-agnostic set of cryptographic and protocol test vectors for deterministic validation of secure message authentication, alongside simulation-based methods for evaluating network formation and rekey behavior. The framework integrates performance metrics such as secure message latency, rekey time and throughput, while also introducing cybersecurity-specific diagnostics and logging requirements for gateway module implementation. Security validation scenarios are mapped to explicit detection and response benchmarks. The resulting methodology provides OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and research organizations with a practical, reproducible approach to validating J1939-91C implementations, supporting both development-phase evaluation and ongoing lifecycle assurance.
Defense acquisition often struggles to match the pace of private investment, slowing the transition of mature commercial technologies into military use. This paper examines how aligning government acquisition with venture-oriented business models can increase industry participation, accelerate fielding, and reduce government program office risk. Using autonomous construction as a case study, it highlights how commercial investment has advanced autonomy while traditional procurement limits adoption. The paper outlines approaches such as non-traditional partnerships, phased acquisition, and performance-linked revenue structures to improve flexibility, leverage private capital, and expand the Defense Industrial Base while speeding operational capability delivery. Citation: Mazzara, M., San Nicolas, A., Gadea, J., Himmel, M., Kruger, J., Gill, C., & Simon, A., Soylemezoglu, A., Netchaev, A., Nottage, D., Klein, J. “Mobilizing Innovation: Venture Capital Alignment for Defense with Autonomous Construction Case Study” In Proceedings of the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS), NDIA Michigan Chapter, Novi, MI, August 11–13, 2026.
The persistent rate of accidents and fatalities involving legacy tactical military vehicles underscores a critical need for Enhanced Situational Awareness (ESA) technologies. However, the prohibitive cost and lengthy development cycles associated with full MIL-STD ruggedization often prevent these safety systems from reaching the in-service non-combat vehicles with limited driver visibility. This paper suggests a strategic shift in procurement policy: The adoption of relaxed ruggedization standards for vehicles operating in non-combat, administrative, and training roles. By deriving requirements from high-stress commercial sectors— such as heavy mining, steel production, and NASCAR racing—the military can utilize electronics designed for "extreme industrial" rather than "battlefield" environments. The principal objectives of this relaxation is cost reduction, lowering the barrier to entry and increasing the likelihood of ESA deployment across the legacy fleet. Furthermore, this approach aligns with Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) principles by enabling the integration of non-proprietary commercial devices. Utilizing these accessible technologies on legacy platforms creates a real-world testbed to evaluate technological advances rapidly. These insights can then inform and accelerate the development of future MIL-STD systems for combat vehicles, effectively shortening the traditional development life cycle while prioritizing the immediate enhanced protection of service member lives.
Industrial powertrain suppliers are being asked to provide more solutions for a greater array of clients than ever before. Thanks to shifting regulations, new technological developments and customer demand for greater efficiency and power at lower cost, companies like FPT Industrial have a herculean task to engineer the next generation of ICE and electrified powertrains. Truck & Off-Highway Engineering interviewed Daniele Pozzo, head of marketing and product portfolio for FPT Industrial at CONEXPO 2026. Pozzo discussed FPT's current powertrain development strategy, what trends the company is seeing in the markets of both on- and off-highway clients and what solutions customers are demanding for the various industries FPT serves.
Pharmaceutical and life sciences manufacturers are under growing pressure to compress development timelines, from discovery to commercialization, as demographic, technological and geopolitical trends increase the pace of innovation and disruption. In the face of these challenges, many pharmaceutical manufacturers are finding their traditional processes, which are often built on fragmented data and highly manual workflows, are insufficient.
Vehicle electrification and accelerated development cycles create a need for virtual Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) development tools which are fast, precise and, seamlessly interchangeable between development sites, suppliers and OEMs. Component-based Transfer Path Analysis (C-TPA), standardized in ISO 20270:2019, enables independent component characterization and integration with virtual models to predict sound and vibration in new assemblies, referred to as Virtual Prototype Assemblies (VPA). However, conventional measurements are labor-intensive, typically restricted to a small number of samples, and overlook production variability. This paper introduces a fully automated, ISO 20270-compliant C-TPA system for non-rigid test benches, featuring a pre-instrumented test fixture with multiple vibration shakers and sensors automatically linked to a data acquisition system for immediate processing. Components can be characterized within minutes, with blocked forces directly integrated into a VPA workflow, replacing time-intensive in-vehicle testing with a repeatable, operator-independent bench procedure. A case study on an automotive steering system demonstrates the method’s accuracy, repeatability, and efficiency, along with its ability to predict realistic interior sound pressure levels and capture production variability, enabling robust virtual NVH evaluation early in the development cycle.
In the two months since Microvision bought Luminar and acquired key tech and talent, the sensor company has been busy. In that time, they've merged key lidar units from each company and created a perception software stack to run it in a convincing demo of its ADAS and autonomous capabilities. The company is also pushing innovative lidar tech into the defense drone and antidrone markets, already working with a German defense supplier that works with NATO member countries.
ZF foresees hybrid powertrain technology becoming more popular for commercial transport in the coming years, and it's working earnestly to be a major player in that realm. The supplier unveiled the TraXon 2 Hybrid transmission to the North American commercial vehicle market at last year's ACT Expo and is now evaluating the technology in real-world conditions. The next-gen automated manual transmission (AMT) is optimized to improve fuel efficiency for plug-in and full hybrid heavy-duty trucks and coaches, as well as special applications such as medium- to heavy-duty mobile cranes.
Though the U.S. EPA has rolled back many emissions regulations surrounding the mobility industry, its HD rules remain intact, meaning manufacturers must hit the world's most stringent NOx requirement. It was clear at a panel of industry experts that the new rule was still causing confusion among operators and fleet owners. The EPA's new limits are set at 0.035 grams per horsepower-hour during normal operation, 0.050 grams at low load and 10.0 grams at idle. A panel immediately following revealed how companies have hit the tough target, which goes into effect in January of 2027.
Sustainability needs to be practical. That was a point Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America, made clear at CONEXPO 2026 in Las Vegas. “We're running a business, so we are focusing a lot on efficiency and uptime,” he said, referencing the up-to-10% improvement in fuel efficiency with the new VNL. “That helps our customers to run their operations at a better pace and a lower cost, but at the same time we have a very positive impact on the climate.” Voorhoeve also teased the launch of a new vocational truck. “We are strong in long haul. We are a leading sleeper manufacturer, very strong in regional haul, and we now have renewed focus on vocational,” he said. “In August we will launch a new truck specifically for the vocational segment that's built on the same platform as the VNL and VNR.” (See page 22 for our feature story on the new VNR.)
While many manufacturers are enjoying demand for their products and have innovations in the pipeline, their growth strategy can sometimes stall. The issue might be due to workforce shortages, which can evolve from temporary setbacks to long-term challenges. For a variety of industries, helping hands are often hard to find, and it’s an issue that’s been consistent in recent years. Given this, many companies are considering transitioning to automation, including through the use of collaborative robots or cobots, for short.
ABB Robotics is integrating NVIDIA Omniverse libraries into ABB Robotics’ RobotStudio ® to help manufacturers deploy physical AI in real-world robotics applications.
As satellites take on more onboard processing - from Earth imaging to autonomy - spacecraft computing designers are pushing for higher performance under tight thermal and radiation constraints. Here's how suppliers are approaching heat removal, radiation mitigation and production-scale space-grade computing for LEO and beyond.
Designing for photo-chemical etching (PCE) shouldn’t be viewed as a minor optimization exercise — making a part slightly thinner, shaving a little cost, or swapping one supplier for another. When PCE is used intelligently, it changes the fundamentals: what the component does, how it integrates into an assembly, how robustly it performs in the field, and how smoothly it scales from early samples to high-volume supply.
As medical manufacturing continues to evolve, conveyance systems are playing a more strategic role in how production environments are designed and optimized. Increasing demand for flexibility, higher throughput, and more compact footprints is pushing manufacturers to rethink traditional approaches to material movement. Today’s conveyor solutions are no longer just transport mechanisms — they are integral to enabling agile, scalable automation. Mark Dinges, technical product manager at Bosch Rexroth, shares insight into how these systems are adapting to shifting industry needs and influencing the way end users visualize and implement their processes.
Enterprises that develop complex products or systems often struggle to reuse technology efficiently across their portfolios. This challenge is especially prevalent in aerospace, transportation, energy, and defense industries, where preserving freedom of action is critical. In this context, freedom of action is defined as the ability to avoid vendor lock imposed by integrators or third parties, while enabling competition within clearly defined functional boundaries that establish effective market segments for system components. This paper presents eight best practices for Enterprise Reference Architecture (ERA) development to address this challenge and applies them to aviation functionality spanning both vertical lift and fixed wing platforms. Because complex systems can be modularized in many ways, a consistent set of guiding rules is required to produce an organized set of modules that are reusable across an enterprise portfolio. The best practices presented in this paper are intended to fulfill that role.
Metal-elastomer bonded components can suffer from manufacturing defects such as porosity and bond-line voids. Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods can replace or supplement existing destructive tests; however, implementation can be challenging for manufacturers due to the initial equipment cost, time required per test, and imaging quality. These criteria were used to evaluate shearography, high-resolution ultrasound testing (UT), 2D projection X-ray, computed tomography (CT), and acoustic emission (AE) testing, culminating in trade studies for different sample part types. Experimental work was performed on three samples of varying geometries and sizes with seeded defects, applying feasible NDE methods to each. Shearography succeeded in detecting void defects and flow fronts. X-ray and CT failed to detect flaws in 2 out of 3 part types due to energy and time constraints. UT could not reliably detect defects in parts with complex geometries because of scatter. Acoustic emission reliably detected a seeded knit-line defect.
Operators using a drone from the leading manufacturer in the U.S. can now conduct missions over people and vehicles much easier and with even greater confidence in their safety.
Recently, a cross-border collaborative team consisting of Sunwoda Mobility Energy Technology Co., Ltd (a globally leading battery manufacturer), Chery Automobile Co., Ltd (a world-renowned vehicle manufacturer), the State University of New York at Binghamton (including Professor M. Stanley Whittingham, a Nobel laureate), Semitronix Corporation (a globally renowned EDA company), the University of Delaware, and Advance Power jointly officially published their review article titled “Revolutionizing Batteries Based on Digital Twin through AI-Simulation Synergy for Design, Manufacturing, Operation, and Recycle” in the international academic journal National Science Open.
Researchers recently helped Skydio, the leading U.S. drone manufacturer, demonstrate compliance to the Federal Aviation Administration's rules for safe flights over people and vehicles. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA Operators using a drone from the leading manufacturer in the U.S. can now conduct missions over people and vehicles much easier and with even greater confidence in their safety. In January, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accepted a declaration of compliance for such flights for the parachute-equipped Skydio X10 drone from Skydio, a San Mateo, California-based company that supplies its drones to customers in public safety, utilities, and national security. The acceptance came as the result of working with Virginia Tech's Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) and Center for Injury Biomechanics to complete their FAA-approved means of compliance testing.
This year will mark my 20th year trying to understand the automotive industry as a journalist. A full understanding is, of course, an impossible task. The global scale, the endless levels of complexity, the billions of consumers and dollars and components. But it's been an enjoyable mission, one that has a 0% chance of becoming boring any time soon, even if I might want the ups and downs to stop being quite so dramatically high and low. As I write this in mid-March, the U.S. is still launching attacks at Iran with nothing but ever-changing threads of reasoning attached. The resulting chaos has shot gas prices in the U.S. back to what they were at this time of year in 2024, according to AAA, and governments from Japan to the UK are searching for ways to intervene and keep gas prices under some semblance of control. The Danish energy minister suggested people there avoid driving their cars unless it is “strictly necessary.” And yet, a fair number of analysts now find more things to worry about in the Middle East than they can point to areas of security. Without a doubt, the war's tendrils have already begun reaching into food production (apparently around fertilizer sourcing), health care (at least one apparent Iran-connected hack), and the auto industry, with initial supply chain questions revolving around aluminum and plastics, is the sense I'm getting. In the U.S., spot shipping rates have jumped almost 30% in recent weeks, which will only worsen the financial troubles OEMs and suppliers are facing in getting vehicles to customers.
Medical device manufacturers are operating in an environment defined by complexity, competition, and increasing expectations for quality. Rising production requirements, persistent labor shortages, and heightened regulatory oversight have transformed automation from a tactical improvement into a strategic necessity.
For over 60 years, Lane Automotive, Inc. has served the racing community as a premier global distributor of aftermarket performance automotive parts and accessories. Operating from its primary 416,000 square-foot facility located in Watervliet, MI, Lane Automotive stocks over 100,000 SKUs and offers more than 3.5 million parts from its expansive catalog. They also welcome customers to shop its vast product selection at their 10,000-square-foot onsite retail showroom.
This will be my last column for SAE Automotive Engineering after an 11-year run. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, just taking a monthly column off my plate to enable more time to spend with my grandson and focus on other passions. While I have been a forecaster for nearly four decades, writing a column for an external publication was always an important outlet for ideas. An opportunity to outline a trend, event, or development that would change the fortunes of our industry, specifically for suppliers. While OEMs get the headlines and the accolades, supporting the unsung supply base has been Job 1 in my book.
Supply chain disruptions are no longer abstract problems for economists to debate. For the medical device industry, they are a direct threat that hits engineers, designers, and manufacturers at the core of their operations. These issues are not just about a hospital running out of supplies; they are about a company’s inability to design, produce, and deliver life-saving technology to the market. This article explores how engineering and innovation are becoming the primary tools for building a more resilient and reliable medical device supply chain.
When original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) design and build systems, they frequently integrate technologies from third parties in areas outside their core expertise. These commercially available components are often complex and highly specialized, yet they must function as close to black box solutions as possible, allowing seamless integration without the need for additional programming, alignment, or engineering effort.
Over the past few Supplier Eye columns, we have explored the impact of weakened U.S. emissions legislation and the loss of global scale economies. In isolation, suppliers could devise a gameplan to accommodate either of these shifts. Together, though, a completely revised approach is necessary. The combination demands that suppliers re-evaluate all facets of market strategies. Given this increased U.S. isolation, is there a possibility that the next five years could be the golden age of our industry? A period where the U.S. takes a pause from the speed and technical requirements of the rest of the world's markets to focus on our internal market? Leave global considerations on the doorstep? It is not only a possibility but a likely reality into the next decade.
In an industry where failure is not an option and precision is paramount, aerospace manufacturers and suppliers are constantly seeking components and system solutions that deliver trusted reliability, performance, and compliance. Industry standards are a key part of achieving these high expectations, bringing together global leaders in the mobility industries to create defined, repeatable methods and consistent processes.
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