Business Alliance Formed to Enhance Passenger Safety

SUPERB Industries, Inc. and INDUS Concepts & Engineering LLC, have formed a business alliance to manufacture on a large scale the patented LATTICELL™ Knee Bolster Energy Absorber technology. "LATTICELL does for your knees what an airbag does for your upper body in the event of a frontal collision," said Mani Ayyakannu, PhD, President of INDUS and inventor of the technology.

LATTICELL does for your knees what an airbag does for your upper body in the event of a frontal collision

LATTICELL does for your knees what an airbag does for your upper body in the event of a frontal collision in a highly predictable manner - for various sizes of occupants

Our research determined that the Bihler technology was the most cost effective way to manufacture our LATTICELL™ system because of the modular nature of the tooling

When I contacted Bihler for a supplier with the machinery and technical expertise to be a high volume supplier to the automotive industry, they referred me to SUPERB Industries

Our expertise is to add value for our customers by engineering cost out of the manufacturing process

We are globally competitive and routinely ship millions of parts a month to China. In September 2007 we broke an all time record when we shipped 6.3 million in one month

LATTICELL™ was of interest to us because it is a good fit for our manufacturing capability. However, what captured my attention and commitment was the value and safety enhancement that it adds to the automobile

We have committed considerable engineering and manufacturing resources to LATTICELL™ because making the automobile safer is the right thing to do--I think all of us can relate to the importance of passenger safety because we all know people who have sustained injuries or worse in traffic accidents. Anything that makes the ride safer is a step in the right direction.

Sugarcreek, OH (PRWEB) April 7, 2008 -- SUPERB Industries, Inc. and INDUS Concepts & Engineering LLC, a Detroit based engineering company, announced this week that they have formed a business alliance to manufacture on a large scale the patented LATTICELL™ Knee Bolster Energy Absorber technology. Dubbed a quantum leap in occupant protection technology, "LATTICELL does for your knees what an airbag does for your upper body in the event of a frontal collision in a highly predictable manner - for various sizes of occupants," said Mani Ayyakannu, PhD, President of INDUS and inventor of the technology.

The product derives its name from "Lattice of Cells". Two LATTICELL™ energy absorber units, in conjunction with a custom designed reaction plate, provide protection for the vehicle driver. Similarly, two LATTICELL™ energy absorber units, in conjunction with a custom designed glove box assembly, provide front passenger protection.

The LATTICELL™ cellular design provides a wide range of enhanced occupant protection all the way from the 5th percentile female to the 95th percentile male. What that means is that it will provide different levels of energy absorption depending on the size of the occupant to provide optimal protection. Further, it is less sensitive than conventional bolsters to impact location and impact angle with minimal crush space requirements. Finally, its light weight design, superior tunability, and low piece cost make it especially attractive because it provides enhanced safety without negatively impacting cost or fuel efficiency due to added weight or energy consumption.

The LATTICELL™ technology won a 2006 SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Tech Award and has quickly gained wide acceptance by automotive safety engineers because of its enhanced performance and low cost. LATTICELL™ is in production on the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave and the Cadillac CTS models and has passed all the safety and crash tests on several additional OEM platforms for the 2010 model year. Additional vehicle platforms are in various stages of development for subsequent model years.

SUPERB Provides High Volume Low-Cost Manufacturing Expertise

SUPERB and INDUS have been working in concert on the LATTICELL for over a year. The initial contact came through a referral by world renowned machine tool manufacturer Otto Bihler Maschinenfabrik GmbH headquartered in Halblech, Germany with a US subsidiary in New Jersey. The Bihler stamping, forming, welding systems provide proven near net shape manufacturing technology that has helped manufacturers around the world maintain global competitiveness.

"Our research determined that the Bihler technology was the most cost effective way to manufacture our LATTICELL™ system because of the modular nature of the tooling" said Mani Ayyakannu of INDUS. "When I contacted Bihler for a supplier with the machinery and technical expertise to be a high volume supplier to the automotive industry, they referred me to SUPERB Industries". SUPERB's relationship with Bihler dates back twenty years when one of its founders worked for Bihler as an engineer.

SUPERB is not new to the automotive arena--an ISO9000-TS16949 certified manufacturer supplying over 60,000,000 metal and plastic components to Chrysler, Ford, Nissan, Jaguar, Mercedes and Toyota supply chain. "Our expertise is to add value for our customers by engineering cost out of the manufacturing process", said John Miller, President, of SUPERB. And add value they do. Located in the pastoral village of Sugarcreek in central Ohio, SUPERB boasts a customer list that extends to Europe, Mexico and China. "We are globally competitive and routinely ship millions of parts a month to China. In September 2007 we broke an all time record when we shipped 6.3 million in one month", stated Miller.

"LATTICELL™ was of interest to us because it is a good fit for our manufacturing capability. However, what captured my attention and commitment was the value and safety enhancement that it adds to the automobile," said Miller. "We have committed considerable engineering and manufacturing resources to LATTICELL™ because making the automobile safer is the right thing to do--I think all of us can relate to the importance of passenger safety because we all know people who have sustained injuries or worse in traffic accidents. Anything that makes the ride safer is a step in the right direction."

INDUS Provides Leading Edge Product Engineering and Innovation

Founded in 1998, INDUS is a structural product engineering and innovation company serving the needs of the North American automotive and structural products industries. From concept to production, INDUS has demonstrated expertise and a successful track record in providing innovative product design, computer-aided engineering (CAE) and validation support. Typical automotive applications developed include bumpers, knee bolsters, interior upper trim, instrument panel trim, instrument panel cross-car beams, body structures (BIW), door structures, vehicle frames, seating structures, consoles, steering columns, steering wheels, and load floors.

For further information, contact INDUS Concepts & Engineering, LLC at (248)-616-0980, www.indusconcepts.com or SUPERB Industries, Inc. at 330-852-0500, www.superbindustries.com.

###

Post Comment:
Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/U3F1YS1NYWduLVByb2YtSG9yci1TdW1tLVplcm8=

border font #748da7 helvetica none arial right color " rel="tag" target="tagwin">alt='' />

Bookmark -  Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl It | Spurl | RawSugar | Simpy | Shadows | Blink It | My Web