AutoForm News
July 01, 2004:
First North American UserMeeting (NAUM 2004)
June 14 - 15, 2004 in Frankenmuth, Michigan
The North American UserMeeting (NAUM 2004) was held in the scenic
town of Frankenmuth, Michigan for AutoForm customers in North
America. This was the first AutoForm UserMeeting in North America,
reflecting the large number of AutoForm users that now exist
in the region. There was an overwhelming response to this event
with over 80 attendees from the United States, Canada, Mexico,
Latin America and even Europe and Korea.
The first day started with a keynote speech delivered by AutoForm’s
President on AutoForm’s decade-long history, the vision
for the future of simulation tools, and the company’s continued
focus on technological innovation in sheet metal forming.
This was followed by a unique "Executive Round-Table Discussion" where
Senior Managers and Executives from General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler,
Magna, Northland Tool and AutoForm shared their views on a variety
of topics related to simulation, global competition, supplier
relations, implementation challenges and customer expectations.
Customers and AutoForm developers alike were able to see the “big
picture” perspective from automotive OEMs and key suppliers
on the current benefits of simulation technology and next-generation
requirements.
Nine user presentations followed, which described a broad range
of AutoForm applications in companies of different sizes. The
presentations were very informative, in many cases providing
practical examples of problems encountered and how they were
solved. Several presenters also emphasized the importance of
AutoForm in the success and profitability of their business.
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Sheet Metal Forming Simulation in Product Development
Dr. Ching-Kuo Hsiung, General Motors Corporation
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Product & Process Engineering at Honda using AutoForm: An Overview & Case Study
Rick Carlisle & Jon Varner, Honda Engineering North America
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Progressive Die Processing using AutoForm
Mark McQueen, 3DM Tool, LLC
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AutoForm at Synergis
Gregg Miller, Synergis Technologies Group
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Maturing of Product through FEA Validation
Richard Urban, Ford Motor Company
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AutoForm Implementation at ATS – An Overview and Case Studies
Brian Eling, Advanced Tooling Systems
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Product Feasibility and Process Design for Front Rail using AutoForm-Hydro
Jiyu Chen, SeverStal North America
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Using Technology as Accelerator to Profitability
Tom Ferrara, Northland Tool Corporation
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AutoForm at MFD – An Overnight Success
Matt Oliver, General Motors Corporation
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Attendees voted on the best presenter and this award went to
Mr. Tom Ferrara of Northland Tool Corporation. A raffle drawing
was also held with some very nice prizes for the lucky winners.
Dinner and a comedy show concluded the first day.
The second day consisted of seven AutoForm presentations of
version 4.0 new features and new modules (AutoForm-Sigma, AutoForm-ProjectManager,
AutoForm-ReportManager, etc.), given by product managers and
other specialists from AutoForm’s software development
centers in Germany and Switzerland. Version 4.0 product demonstrations
were also shown, and the UserMeeting ended with a general discussion
and software development requests.
We would like to thank all those involved in making the UserMeeting
an overwhelming success, from participants in the Executive Round-Table
to our customers who made presentations, by sharing their experiences
with others in the AutoForm user community. We look forward to
similar success at future UserMeetings in North America. The
entire set of proceedings of NAUM 2004 is available upon request
to AutoForm Engineering USA.
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