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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 2016.PDF
• .'-I:.-' IS''•.-!:.'* Sunraycer puts Hughes-GM co-operation in motion Motors, believe that military and commercial technologies can work together. The merging of defence and commercial "dual-track" technologies is the key to industrial competitiveness and leadership in both civil and military areas, says Currie. General Motors can become the foremost US developer of technology, vowed Roger Smith, the company's chairman, upon acqui sition of Hughes Aircraft for $5-2 billion in 1985. "GM must enter the next century as a technology leader rather than a smokestack industry," he said. FREE EXCHANGE GM and Hughes are exchanging dual-track (or dual-purpose) military-civil technologies freely in products, processes, and manu facturing in 150 projects. By definition, dual- purpose technology is that used in both commercial and military products, stemming from a single R&D base. Such use can double productivity and halve the time it takes to develop and field prod ucts, says John Swihart, president of the US Aerospace Industries Association's National Center for Advanced Technologies. GM's acquisition strategy reflected a care ful reading of the hazards in joining two totally different business cultures, says Currie. Following the acquisition, GM created Delco Electronics, in which it centred its automotive electronics operations. Delco and Hughes Aircraft were then combined to form GM Hughes Electronics (GMHE). In 1988 GMHE reported sales of $11-2 billion, comprising Delco's $3-8 billion and $7-4 billion for Hughes Aircraft. "We expected Hughes Aircraft to have many technology synergies with GM, but we are pleasantly surprised to find more than we expected," says Robert Schultz, GM executive vice-president and president of GHME. One unexpected gain for GM is in the implementation of Hughes' "top down" systems engineering approach, new to the automotive industry. Historically, auto mobiles were designed by specialists putting components together in a vehicle, then driving it. "We are implementing Hughes' systems engineering approach throughout the General Motors product development process," says Schultz. Hughes sold the concept and helped establish GM's new Systems Engineering Center (SEC) in Detroit. Now 20 Hughes systems engineers work at SEC and at five satellite locations. "Systems engineering shortens the product development cycle by putting the tools and disciplines in place to do the job right the first time," says Schultz. Use of systems engineering will initially shorten GM's present 50-to-60-month time to market, with future reductions likely, Currie says. Hughes, for its part, is revising its own engineering procedures. "We are redefining our whole product-design engineering mission. Our new body-stabilised HS601 spacecraft for Japan is being done in a frac tion of the time with a fraction of the errors of past satellite projects," he says. Co-operation has brought manufacturing gains. "Hughes helped us implement our plant systems capability at our new highly automated Truck and Bus Group assembly plant," comments Schultz. "We found that Hughes had exceptional technology for real time data processing of sensor signals on the plant floor." The new 2-2 million ft2 plant at Fort Wayne, Indiana, is the first of three plants to use GM's manufacturing automation protocol (MAP). MAP supports communications between 800 manufacturing host computers, cell controls, robots, and other automated control devices. Hughes debugged the MAP hardware and software and got it up and running. In the past, Hughes has had trouble transi tioning products it developed into pro duction, Currie admits. The GM-Hughes connection put top GM manufacturing experts in place at high levels within Hughes' corporate office, Radar Systems Group (RSG), and Missile Systems Group (MSG). The first Hughes automotive product, a headup display (HUD), has been developed jointly by Hughes and Delco. Based on Hughes' military HUDs, it will be in GM cars by 1993-94. A central fund of tens of millions of dollars in "seed money" is the mechanism that enables bridging of the two different cultures of GM's automotive and Hughes' aerospace electronics. "The central fund enables us to get together at GM's senior working levels without invading anybody's turf, without threatening anybody's budgets," Currie says. If a programme works out, funding is taken over by the GM operating divisions. Some of the 150 Hughes projects are now supported by contracts from either a GM automotive division or components group. Hughes-GM projects are managed by a small corporate office, headed by Hughes staff vice-president, GM programmes, Gerald Slocum, a 35-year Hughes veteran. As the corporate interface with GM, Slocum manages the transfer of Hughes technologies and expertise into GM components and vehicle companies, and research and staff organisations. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER Slocum's staff includes technology transfer co-ordinaters at each of the four Hughes groups. Dual-track projects are worked by Slocum's GM-Hughes programme offices, established so far by the Radar Systems and Missile Systems Groups. "We try to understand what GM's prob lems, issues, and needs are in automotive products, design processes, and manu facturing," says Slocum. "Then we try to see what activities are going on at Hughes, either in technology or expertise, that might help." The RSG automotive programme office is headed by Dr Harry King, whose staff handles about half of the GM-Hughes projects. The RSG GM office operates as a separate profit centre. "Our contracts with the GM organisation range in price from about $5,000 to $100,000," he says. King's staff handles 40 GM-Hughes projects yearly, of which about 20 are active at any one time. Transferring technologies between the different cultures of automotive and aero space electronics poses no special problems, King observes. The main difference is in budget drivers, he says. GM automotive groups have a manpower budget, but not a money budget. In aerospace, the pacing budget item is money, King notes. "Within an aerospace company, only if I can get the money can I draw upon resources," he points out. "At GM the gover nor is people. The money comes later. That frustrates the GM people I work with, because I can't commit Hughes resources until an account is opened." Hughes engineers find automotive oper ating conditions more complicated than the spacecraft or aircraft environment. "The auto motive electronics requirements are equal to or more severe than aerospace's standard Mil Specs. They are less severe in storage requirements—but equal in almost all oper- 50 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 24 June 1989
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