New Auto Consortium Targets Material Challenges

Granta Design announced the launch of the Automotive Material Intelligence Consortium (AutoMatIC). This new industry collaboration will bring together OEMs and suppliers in the automotive and off-highway vehicle sectors to develop best practice for materials information and its use. According to Granta, it will help these members as they aim to increase engineering productivity, lower costs, improve product performance, lower risk associated with materials supply and regulations on restricted substances, and make the most of investments in simulation and PLM.

The AutoMatIC project will further enhance materials information technology for automotive applications. According to Granta, competitive advantage "will accrue to member organizations, as they will be able to adopt and apply these tools with maximum speed and effect as well as benefiting from sharing experiences and networking with other members at regular consortium meetings."

The consortium will begin an initial three-year phase in June. Founding members will be announced before the first meeting later this year and are expected to include leading OEMs and suppliers from the U.S. and Europe. The project is open to any organization in the relevant sectors interested in applying materials information technology.

In supporting the work of the consortium, Granta will provide members with access to technology, data, and project work including: software to manage corporate materials data; innovative tools to integrate materials data into CAD, PLM, and simulation; leading reference data sources on automotive steels, lightweight alloys, polymers, and composites; and the outcomes of collaborations in areas such as data generation for steel and composite crash models, and restricted substance reporting.

"The AutoMatIC project will build on established technology for material intelligence in automotive organizations," said Patrick Coulter, COO at Granta Design. "It also applies the proven consortium model, which has enabled close collaboration with industry to develop software and information resources that have a practical impact in materials engineering, simulation, product design, and development.

For more information, visit Granta Design.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.