Archive for June, 2006
June 28th, 2006
Here we go again, the vehicles are stacking up and after the bravado statement of, “We are weaning ourselves off of incentives and offering value pricing” the summer sell off is underway. General Motors is set to offer six years interest free on most of its 2006 inventory after stating that the sales for this year are down and business is slow. With the up and coming 2007 model year just around the corner we dare not be caught with excess vehicles, is the general concensus. Even existing 2007 models fail to beat the cut, with 3 years interest free being offered.
Last years offering was to offer the unprecedented, employees discount for everyone. By that token, this years sales are off by 30 percent compared with the same time last year. Even with the push to market of the 2007 Tahoe and Surburban with the new engine configuration for better fuel economy, sales are still floundering and market share is dropping at an alarming rate. The combined forces of the Asian counterparts, namely, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Corp. who are enjoying record sales leading to a bigger slice of the market. What does that tell us, sales cannot be made without the extortionate incentives and as we all know, is the death of profit for any company.
What is the answer we ask ourselves, well for one, the obsession with large vehicles is not doing GM’s business case much good. In these times of $3.00+ gasoline prices, Joe on the street has had plenty of time to get use to the idea that it’s here to stay and I cannot see the price dropping very much in the very near future. The CAFE standard (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) has been increased in excess of 10 percent for light trucks for the model years 2008-11 to 24 mpg from todays standard of 21.6 mpg. What this means in real terms is, lighter trucks to get the better fuel economy hence maybe a shift in the safety aspect or a down sizing of the vehicle to get a better power to weight ratio for improved milage.
Either way the setting is looking rather bleak. What about Ethanol you may well ask. OK, yes this is good, E85 is made from U.S. grown corn 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline but wait, where is the infrastructure. Yes, we have approximately 750 filling station from about 170,000 total nationwide. GM that certainly satisfies the alternative fuel problem.
So, back to the point, premium mid/small cars are needed with an emphasis on fit and finish that oozes quality. No sharp edges on tail lights, spend the extra bucks to make the tooling that allows a small radius to finish off the edges on the lamps, just like the Asian and Europeans do. The same goes for the interior treatment, no sharp razor edges. I don’t want to have to tell my children not to stick their fingers around the tail lamps or play in the pockets for fear of sharp edges. Ensure real quality and not perceived quality.
Once that is achieved, then the playing field becomes smaller and then maybe a REAL chance of getting off the incentive bandwagon and making a profit.
What product type do you feel is needed in the portfolio that will make the likes of Ford and GM become more competitive again?
June 24th, 2006
You may not be aware but as from July 1st 2006 legislation by the European Union has banned several compounds that are currently used in circuit board manufacturing. The main culprit being lead, used in the soldering of circuitry. In Europe, the RoHS, Restriction of Hazardous Substances, will ban the placing on the EU market of any new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than the agreed levels of lead, cadmium and mercury.
What this means in terms to a design studio is, all new computer equipment installed will have less of a tolerance to the sulphur content of the clay accounting for a sooner than later break down of the computer circuit boards due to sulphur contaminant. Although this has not officially been confirmed it is suspect at two studios using sulphur containing clays, they have already reported computer failures shortly after installation. If this is indeed the case then we will find that computer warrantees will be invalid in the studio environment until the modeling clay used is totally sulphur free. The fact that Europe has taken this environmental stand it is only a matter of time before it becomes worldwide.
Ovens that have been retro fitted with a filtration system will still not contain the airborne sulphur that is attacking the now sensitive circuitry. Most of the clay suppliers are aware of this situation and do offer a sulphur free clay although the acceptancy of this product within the studios is still to be embraced. Suppliers such as Eberhard Faber have their version of sulphur free clay and you will find that the melting point for this clay to be 5-10 degrees C lower(41-50F) than the traditional sulphur based clay. Even with the aspect of being lighter in weight and more environmentally friendly the fact is these clays have not had as much research as the traditional sulphur based clays. Sulphur free research is probably 5-10 years in the making where the traditional clays have had decades of research to refer to. The bottom line is, consistency may become an issue.
Chavant a company that has over 100 years of experience in producing clay modeling products has its own variety of sulphur free clay called Y2-klay. This has a working temperature of 135 degrees F (57C), resistant to shrinking and cracking because of the higher wax content, easy to mill and does not stick to the milling cutter as bad as the traditional clays. Chavant has been pro-active in its research to provide a clay that is sulphur free and probably is the leader in as far as consistency for this type of product. Even so with todays climate within the petroleum companies, the reliability of by-products that are used to make the waxes is at risk causing never ending research to formulate a consistent blend for each batch of clay. The demand for these raw materials is such, that it is not guaranteed to be available when needed for the next run. These are the hurdles that todays clay suppliers have to face.
With the emergence of China and India as automotive hot spots, the use of certain ingredients will be in demand, possibly causing a run and shortage of key compounds in the production of clay and more than lightly an increase in cost in the near future. With the continual battle to gain market share by the automotive companies the use of automotive clays can only increase with each company trying to develop designs to draw in the fickle public, this in turn will no doubt put pressure on the already stretched clay suppliers for an increase in output.
June 2nd, 2006
Over the last few months there has been considerable discussion as to what splines are best, well actually since the Christmas break. This all stems from the clay being that much harder than I can remember, I don’t quite know if the formula has changed slightly due to the fact that the majority of the studios are milling most of their full size models from the get go but it is taking its toll on the wooden splines. Like most people in the industry my splines are on the old side having been made years ago from laminated beech or maple to ensure some sort of stability in the various climates around the world.
I have numerous types of splines ranging from solid wood that have been ripped on the table saw and planed and sanded to a smooth finish, to laminated that are also planed and sanded. I also have plexiglass splines as well which work equally as good as the wooden ones.
With the plexiglass spline, unless it is of a dark material it is often difficult to see if there are any holes in the surface when looking under the spline because of the clear color. You have to rely on the marks made by the spline instead, like I said the more desirable plexiglass is of the darker variety.
Of late the material of choice has become carbon fiber, with its superior strength and light weight it is easier to carry from job to job especially if you are a contract modeler. The difference being, it is not so easy to make and buying carbon fiber splines from the few tool suppliers that carry them is extremely expensive. The drive to find a better spline to deal with the harder clay is interesting, but what I find hard to understand is the clay difference especially as it is the same brand and type. Is it the lack of oils due to the oil prices or is it being driven by the automotive companies and their desire to mill the models. The clay is also proving difficult to stick to itself, a problem that did not exist six months ago. Anyway that is another discussion.
Another method of making splines that I have seen is with Formica. This thin man made material was used to cover counter tops and with a thickness of 1/32″ or 1.0 mm, it is laminated together to produce the thicknesses you require. For best results vac bagging to a surface plate gave a uniform thickness with flatness. It would be interesting to see by a modelers standpoint as to what he or she uses on a regular basis.
