Research in the Automotive Industry

Author(s):  
C E Rossi

Industrial research as a source of technological innovation has acquired a central role in companies in the 1980s. Large manufacturing companies have been developing research systems made of structures co-ordinated with and complementary to one another, in an effort to achieve a rapid and proper flow of innovation. This paper discusses the research system of the Fiat Group, with special attention being paid to the inter-disciplinary, integrated research project developed by the Fiat Research Centre in co-operation with the ‘Progetto Finalizzato Trasporti’ drawn up by Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche (CNR). Such a project implies the design and development of a research car aimed at becoming a reference for future projects for the energy saving cars to be produced in the 1990s.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6787
Author(s):  
Jože M. Rožanec ◽  
Blaž Kažič ◽  
Maja Škrjanc ◽  
Blaž Fortuna ◽  
Dunja Mladenić

Demand forecasting is a crucial component of demand management, directly impacting manufacturing companies’ planning, revenues, and actors through the supply chain. We evaluate 21 baseline, statistical, and machine learning algorithms to forecast smooth and erratic demand on a real-world use case scenario. The products’ data were obtained from a European original equipment manufacturer targeting the global automotive industry market. Our research shows that global machine learning models achieve superior performance than local models. We show that forecast errors from global models can be constrained by pooling product data based on the past demand magnitude. We also propose a set of metrics and criteria for a comprehensive understanding of demand forecasting models’ performance.


1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-242
Author(s):  
Manabu Eto

Japan has a long history of systematically organizing and carrying out joint research projects between industrial, government and academic institutions. Even competing industries have cooperated in these research projects, and such cooperation has greatly helped Japan's economic progress. The country's technological progress has equalled in some areas and surpassed in others that of countries in the West, and, with the continued advancement of big business, Japan has arrived at a stage at which it can continue its technological progress on its own. This is causing great changes in the meaning and impact of cooperative research endeavours. In this paper the author discusses the problems and possible solutions involved in developing the current cooperative research systems into efficient systems which meet the needs of this new generation of research. He also outlines the potential influence of these changes on the procedures and policies in the current research system, and on user interaction and the results achieved. The paper also constructs a model of a cooperative research system which can meet the country's current requirements.


Author(s):  
Andrea Quinlan

Feminist methodologies and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) have often been considered opposing theoretical and intellectual traditions. This chapter imagines a conversation between these seemingly divergent fields and considers the theoretical and methodological challenges that ANT and particular branches of feminist thought raise for the other. This chapter examines an empirical project that calls for an engagement with both ANT and feminist methodologies. Through the lens of this empirical project, four methodological questions are considered, which an alliance between ANT and feminist methodologies would raise for any research project: 1) Where do we start our analysis? 2) Which actors should we follow? 3) What can we see when we begin to follow the actors? 4) What about politics? The potential places where ANT and feminist methodologies can meet and mutually shape research on scientific practice and technological innovation are explored. In doing so, this chapter moves towards envisioning new intersections between feminist methodologies and ANT.


Author(s):  
Vonia Engel ◽  
Teresa Noronha ◽  
Cidonea Machado Deponti

This chapter is the result of an interuniversity exchange doctoral research project carried out in the Algarve region, Portugal, in 2017. Its objective was to discuss the economic trajectory of Portugal and its implications for those political strategies encouraging technological innovation. The empirical research used interviews and the analytical results were based on the path dependence theory. The outcomes of this study point to the dependence of the Algarve region from external investments.


Author(s):  
Bruno Mendes da Silva ◽  
Mirian Nogueira Tavares ◽  
Vítor Reia-Baptista

Based on the triad film-interactivity-experimentation, the applied research project The Forking Paths, developed at the Arts and Communication Research Centre (CIAC), endeavours to find alternative narrative forms in the field of Cinema and, more specifically, in the subfield of Interactive Cinema. The films in The Forking Paths invest in the relationship between the spectator and the film narrative, which is intended to be more active and engaged, and at same time they propose a research on the development of audio-visual language. The project is consubstantiated at an online platform that aims to foster the creation and web hosting of Interactive Cinema in its different variables.


Author(s):  
J J Plunkett ◽  
B G Dale

As part of a research project on the determination and use of quality-related costs, case study work has been carried out at four manufacturing companies. This paper presents the major findings from each case study. A measure of the status of quality costing is that it is not featured in the quality manuals at any of the four companies. The aspects of quality which will need to be developed if the subject is to be raised to the level enjoyed by other major business parameters are outlined.


1987 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-22
Author(s):  
Marietta Baba ◽  
Ann Sheldon ◽  
Thomas Miesse

It is widely acknowledged that university research and information exchange between academic and industrial science play vital roles in technological innovation, yet little is known about the process of university-industry linkage and its economic results. In 1982, the National Science Foundation's Division of Industrial Science and Technological Innovation (NSF/ISTI) began sponsorship of a major research project exploring the process of information exchange between academia and the business world, as well as the relationship of such linkage to the complex process of technological innovation. From 1982 to 1985, the Productivity Improvement Research Section of NSF/ISTI provided approximately $400,000 to support a feasibility study and a two-phase research project focusing on university-industry linkages in the State of Michigan (Grant #ISI-8313945).


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