News Article

GKN Driveline reshapes Global Engineering - Design process

August 2006
GKN Driveline continues to invest in data management and information technology to maintain its position as a leading global supplier to the automotive and aerospace industries.

Globalization, especially within the automotive supply industry, has placed new demands on auto manufacturers and their suppliers, according to Jim Wilmes, GKN Driveline’s engineering technology manager.

Speaking at a recent automotive conference in Traverse City, Mich, Wilmes noted that computer systems, information management tools, engineering data-transfer protocols and purchasing methods vary greatly from company to company, from country to country, and even within large well-managed global companies.

“Globalization has added a considerable amount of complexity to our business,” Wilmes noted. “ At GKN Driveline, we realized early on that to grow and remain successful, the company needed to invest in data and information-management systems to develop new technology, manage new product launches and support our customers around the world.

“Today we control, share and manage engineering and design data while connecting program teams around the world for real-time collaboration and information sharing,” he said. “We also share data and business processes with our extended business partners.”

To obtain maximum benefits from information management and collaboration tools, GKN Driveline has focused on standardizing its business processes under a program called “Roadmap for Global Deployment”.

Partnering with Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), GKN Driveline has developed an engineering design and collaboration system that combines a variety of information technology solutions to manage data and automate key business processes. Other companies that have played a role in GKN Driveline’s program include Autoweb and Dassault Systemes.

GKN Driveline’s “roadmap” for information deployment now includes solutions for change management, virtual program management and product data management.

“Although the company has benefited significantly from its new business processes and systems,” Wilmes said, “the big payoffs are still coming. In particular, change management is just now rolling out in North America with full global deployment taking place next year. Over time, this new system will provide significant improvements.”

GKN Driveline’s global deployment system starts with understanding and defining key business processes, according to Wilmes. The next step calls for ‘modeling’ essential data streams based on standard definitions and usage.

“Information management solutions also are required to ensure that the right information flows to the right people at the right time”, he noted. “Process ‘automation’ tightens control over and improves ‘visibility’ throughout the network. Finally, we apply knowledge-management processes to enhance our design and testing capabilities and improve our decision-making ability”.

Wilmes said that the company’s global information technology program improves:

• Data management by providing secure access to important information along with a history of revisions to various data sets.
• Collaboration and teamwork by enabling cross-functional teams, sometimes including GKN Driveline’s customers and suppliers, to share information in a secure environment.
• Data re-use with templates that providing quick starts on new designs and programs.
• Visibility by allowing users to access key data with real-time tracking and status reporting.
• Overall quality, customer satisfaction and cost-management.

“We have discovered that our new systems provide us with better control and visibility of data, better audit trails, improved operational efficiency and improved customer response and satisfaction," Wilmes concluded.

Wilmes spoke on “Global Engineering Design & Collaboration” on Tuesday, Aug. 8 at the annual Automotive Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Michigan.

Notes to Editors
GKN Driveline is a global enterprise with 21,000 people working at more than 40 locations in over 30 countries. The company recorded sales of $3.8 billion in 2005. Recognized as the auto industry’s leader in the design and production of driveline components, GKN Driveline provides driveline solutions for the smallest front-wheel-drive vehicles up to the most sophisticated four-wheel-drive models. The company has a commanding share of the global market for CVJ (constant velocity joint) sideshafts and also is a leading global producer of all-wheel-drive PTUs (power transfer units) and torque management devices.

Company contact:
Paul Dinwiddy
GKN Driveline Headquarters
p: +44 1527 533 646
m: + 44 7801 077 523
e: paul.dinwiddy@gkndriveline.com

Media contact:
Americas
Don Haberek or Larry Weis
AutoCom Associates
t: + 1 248 647 8621
e: dhaberek@usautocom.com or lweis@usautocom.com


Europe
Simon Pearson
T : + 44 207 861 3158
M : + 44 7836 744 192
E : simon@s-pearson.com


Japan
Yoshinori Yamaguchi
Inoue Public Relations
T: + 81 03 5269 2301
E: yamaguchi@inoue-pr.com