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Auto Manufacturing- Next Generation Technologies

Projects that the NIST Advanced Technology Program has co-funded with automakers and their suppliers have produced major payoffs in next- generation technologies. These projects are led by for-profit companies but often involve universities as partners and frequently take the form of joint ventures between large and small companies or companies in different sectors that would otherwise find it difficult to collaborate.
car in auto assembly line

Next-generation auto technologies advanced with NIST co-funding include: robotic welding, ceramic coatings, and reinforced plastics as strong as steel.

One project dramatically improved the fit of a car body's 300 stamped parts. This may save consumers and automakers up to $650 million in annual maintenance costs.

(photo ©Photodisc)
drawing of machine tool spindle

A project to improve machine tool spindles-rotating shafts that hold cutting tools-reduced by half the time required for precision bores in engine blocks.

(graphic courtesy of National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, Inc.)


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date created:1/15/01
last updated: Apr. 05, 2010
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robotic arm working on car frame, simulation of factory setting

Auto Manufacturing main page

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More auto manufacturing info on the NIST web site