AMS Automotive Evolution North America 2024

North American vehicle makers and suppliers have been able to successfully leverage their experience, expertise and extensive production networks to transition to electric vehicle and powertrain manufacturing. No one will say this is an easy task or that it is complete yet, and to reach this point OEMs and tier suppliers have made huge investments throughout the production and supply value chain, demonstrating agility and resilience in the process.

However, as the pace of change in the automotive industry shows no sign of slowing, and as electric vehicle demand fluctuates, manufacturers must continue to be resilient and innovative as they rebalance EV and ICE production operations, optimising the continued growth of EVs alongside ICE output.

Following on from AMS events’ return to Detroit last year, we are back with another great conference, which will offer insights and networking opportunities with manufacturing engineers, plant leaders, production system and technology leaders who will share case studies and best practice on reducing cost and time in key operations, upgrading factories and layouts, integrating digital tools for efficiency, implementing lightweight and innovative materials and architectures, automation opportunities and data-driven insights.

AMS Evolution North America will showcase strategies, technologies and partnerships that will support this lean and flexible transformation. Through keynotes, workshops and detailed insight from automotive OEMs and suppliers including General Motors, Ford, BorgWarner and many more, the conference will delve into smart and digital manufacturing, collaborative culture, sustainability goals and talent development.

Here are few of the industry experts speaking at this year’s event but stay tuned for more announcements over the coming weeks.

There will be a lot of focus on the digitalisation of production operations, so we are very pleased to have a strong line up of speakers in this field.

Suraj Visvesh is the Digitalisation and IIOT Co-Op at Volvo Group with further experience gained at Rockwell Automation. He leads on smart manufacturing initiatives in the automotive sector.

Joining us from ZF’s Gray Court transmissions facility is Engineering Supervisor and Smart Factory Coordinator, Fernando Bera. With 30 years of experience with automotive and pharmaceutical companies, Fernando’s many accomplishments include Industry 4.0 projects implementation, operation cost reductions, sustainability projects and digital transformation.

Marc Dugas is a Technical Battery Production Specialist and has over two decades of manufacturing and process engineering experience, Marc serves as a technical specialist at Ford Motor Company and has successfully implemented Stafford Beer’s POSIWID approach, launching efficient engine assembly systems worldwide. Presently, Marc is revolutionising battery pack and cell to pack assembly processes, setting new benchmarks for Ford’s electrified future.

Brian Breuhan is General Motor’s Global Manufacturing Optimization Strategist. Brian has over 20 years of experience working in mechanical design, project engineering and project management within the automotive engineering/manufacturing industry. Brian has held various professional leadership roles for non-profits, including, Executive Board Member for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Metro Detroit, Industry 4.0 Advisory Council for Automation Alley and a member of the Industrial Advisory Board for Wayne State University.

BorgWarner’s Trent Randles is a Manufacturing Engineering Manager. During his career Trent has led multiple digital transformation initiatives involving Digital Twins, Augmented Reality, and Cyber-Physical Production Systems. In his current role he continues to promote digital technology advancement through educating others, coaching his team, and developing key partnerships.

Across the sessions, with comment, insight and analysis from industry experts, we will be looking in-depth at key topic areas including:

• Factory development and automation integration: A big part of the shift to EVs has seen the need for existing facilities to be redeveloped and upgraded, with the production footprint being optimised in some cases to integrate both EV and ICE manufacturing, as well as repurposing plants to produce battery pack assemblies and electric powertrain components. Here, automation can play a key role in the optimisation of processes and operations in brown field sites.

• Digitalisation and flexibility: The process of integrating digital systems is ongoing, but rapid development and a growing understanding of how and where these tools can be deployed is providing invaluable support in speeding new product introduction and production line integration.

• Sustainability: This is now a key consideration in all parts of the production process. OEMs and tier suppliers are not only building this into their respective long-term strategies but also making this an important part of operations. Sustainability projects can range from Capex intensive, network wide initiatives, such as sourcing or producing renewable energy, right through to the simplest of factory floor waste reduction projects, but properly implemented, all make a difference.

• Lean, competitive and resilient: With the automotive industry facing its toughest challenges in decades, these attributes are vital. An area where this industry excels is in being innovative, developing solutions across all areas of production to make it efficient, flexible and competitive.

To be part of some great discussions across the panels and networking opportunities with fellow industry experts, we would be delighted for you to join us at the Henry Hotel, Dearborn, MI on October 30-31, 2024.

Find out more and register here