May_June_AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 9 2 2 going as far as making the ASF part of its brand for the A8. The value of being sec- ond to market would be considerably less, as Alcan was finding out. Alcan’s initial strategy had been to approach specialty manufacturers as partners to demonstrate their aluminum struc- tured vehicle (ASV) technology, but they had not found any takers. The tradition- al stamped unibody solution was best suited for higher volume—and niche carmakers were not especially inter- ested in working with Alcan on a totally new concept. ALCAN R&D BREAKS NEW GROUND Even so, Alcan’s in-house tech- nology development was progressing swiftly: Mike Kelly had taken over the automotive manufacturing aspects of the project and by the end of 1988 he had a robotic cell operating in Banbury, complete with structural adhesive ap- plication and RSW. The XJ220 must have been a nice distraction, but Alcan was still lacking a mass-market auto- motive partner. By early 1989, they had set their sights on Ford Motor Company. Early contacts were not promis- ing, with Ford’s answer along the lines of “we’ve looked at aluminum before and the costs are prohibitive.” In July 1989, Germaine Gibara, president of Al- can Automotive Systems, introduced Mike Kelly to Peter Beardmore, who was then the materials manager at Ford Sci- entific Research Laboratories (SRL) in Dearborn, Michigan. Following the in- troductions and what must have been a short presentation, Beardmore chal- lenged Kelly to demonstrate his auto- motive understanding. His assignment was to present a reasonable analy- sis showing how Alcan’s AVT approach could make an aluminum body struc- ture affordable. In August 1989, Kelly was back at SRL—alone—with a 12-page minimal- ist presentation titled, “Manufacturing Cost Study – Concept Development.” The report was a straightforward com- parison of the major variable cost com- ponents (stamping, assembly, and paint) for a traditional steel and alu- minum AVT body structure. It also in- cluded a detailed investment break- down for the body shop, showing how the use of adhesives allowed trade-offs that could support the cost of the dis- pensing equipment and potential body cure oven without adverse effects. To offset the cost of aluminum, the pa- per assumed Ford would recycle the stamping offal directly to the mill. The presentation was clearly the product of an industry veteran schooled in man- ufacturing concept cost studies: Peter Beardmore concurred, and Ford’s door had cracked open. By September, Ford researchers were in Banbury, in a tech- nical deep dive to understand the exact state of Alcan’s developments. Seven months of intense activity ensued to plan the detailed multidisciplinary pa- per study that would be the next step. FORD’S LIGHTWEIGHT TASK FORCE Management at Ford Research un- derstood they could not be the author of such a study; it would have to come from an organization closer to product development. Ford assembled a Light- weight Task Force driven by Chris Ma- gee, director of Advanced Vehicle Engineering. The goal of the task force was to determine the optimal high-volume solution for a lightweight body struc- ture. The manufacturing as- pect of the paper would be handled by an organization called “Alpha,” a multidisci- plinary matrix organization that included specialists from product development and manu- facturing on loan from their respective activities. Its mission was to investigate radical new solutions, whether product, materials, or manufacturing processes. The Lightweight Task Force start- ed work in April 1990. Alcan’s AVT was one of the proposals under study, along with high-strength steel structures, steel and aluminum space frames, and even composites. All studies were based on the design targets for the up- coming 1992 Taurus/Sable, codename DN5. Each study involved the design of an equivalent body structure, meeting the same styling, packaging, and struc- tural performance targets, with provi- sions for the same powertrains. Each concept would be judged on its over- all merits, including potential weight savings, differences in variable and in- vestment costs, and suitability to high volume production. The timing was ideal: On August 2, 1990, Iraq had invaded Kuwait, upset- ting the oil markets and by October, oil prices had tripled. Once again, the polit- ical situation in the Middle East brought fuel economy back into consideration, From left, Ford engineers Doug Dollison and Mike Danyo holding an AIV body in white. A typical AIV showing the discreet AIV logo on the trunk lid.