Automotive Circle International

Participants of the Automotive Circle International conference on "Doors and Closures in Car Body Engineering" choose this year's most convincing OEM hang-on-part engineering development.

At this year's conference on "Doors and Closures in Car Body Engineering", which took place in Bad Nauheim, Germany, on 16 and 17 November, the Automotive Circle International for the first time bestowed the Doors and Closures Innovations Award for the most convincing OEM engineering achievement in the development and production of an automotive series hang-on part.

During the conference, all series parts presented were explained in detail by their OEM developers and were also displayed and could be inspected by the participants, both as raw car body component parts and within the complete vehicle. Judging each presention according to five technical criteria (development concept, material concept, production concept, customer value and information content of the presentation), the conference participants themselves (150 engineering experts from 17 nations) determined the winner of this year's Doors and Closures Innovation Award.

In this way, the first place in the resulting ranking was awarded to BMW AG, for their presentation of the door system of the new BMW 5 Series sedan. BMW convinced the auditorium with an aluminium shell construction, which, in line with the production concept of the BMW 5 Series, is designed to meet the requirements of a true large volume series production. Accordingly, especially the door's material and production concept scored very high among the delegates. In total, BMW's presentation reached 38,95 out of 50 possible points in the Award's ranking.

The Automotive Circle International conference on "Doors and Closures in Car Body Engineering" annually focuses on specific and recent engineering solutions pertaining to automotive modules and hang-on parts. The conference features most recent door and closure developments from current series cars by leading international OEM, including their physical presentation on site as well as trailblazing developments from important system suppliers and research institutes.

With more than 150 international delegates from over 17 countries, this year´s conference achieved a record attendance. With approximately 60 % of the audience representing 17 different automotive OEM, and another 30% important system suppliers, the conference set about to benchmark the current state of the art in automotive hang-on-part development and production, in this year with a particular emphasis on door engineering, featuring a number of current OEM series car door projects, prototype studies and demonstrators.

The next conference on "Doors and Closures in Car Body Engineering" will take place from 16-17 November 2011 again in Bad Nauheim/Germany. The conference programme 2011 as well as the conference application form will be published in the beginning of August 2011.

Participating companies:
(as of: 03.11.2010)

Adam Opel GmbH, Rüsselsheim, De
Alcan Specialty Sheet, Biesheim, FR
Aleris Aluminium Duffel BVBA, Duffel, BE
Aleris Aluminium Koblenz GmbH, Koblenz, DE
ArcelorMittal, Montataire, FR
Audi AG, Ingolstadt, DE
Audi AG, Neckarsulm, DE
Austria Metall AG, Ranshofen, AT
Auto-Entwicklungsring Sachsen GmbH, Zwickau, DE
Automotive Circle International, Hannover, DE
Autotech Engineering, A.I.E., Amorebieta, ES
B & W Fahrzeugentwicklung GmbH, Oebisfelde, DE
Bayerisches Laserzentrum GmbH, Erlangen, DE
Bertrandt Technikum GmbH, Ehningen, DE
BMW AG, München, DE
Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG, Hallstadt, DE
Centro Ricerche Fiat S.C.p.A., Trento, IT
Cosma Engineering Europe AG, Oberwaltersdorf, AT
Daimler AG, Sindelfingen,DE
Daimler AG, Ulm, DE
Dow Deutschland, Schwalbach, DE
DURA Automotive Body & Glass Systems GmbH, Plettenberg, DE
DURA Automotive Karosseriekomponenten GmbH, Plettenberg. DE
EDAG GmbH & Co. KG, Fulda, DE
EDAG GmbH & Co. KGaA, Fulda, DE
FES GmbH Fahrzeug-Entwicklung Sachsen, Zwickau, DE
Flanders´ DRIVE bvba, Lommel, BE
Ford-Werke GmbH, Köln, DE
Fraunhofer IWU, Chemnitz, DE
Hirotec Europe GmbH, Leonberg, Germany
Honda Engineering Co. Ltd., Tochigi-Pref, JP
Honda Engineering Europe Ltd., Swindon, GB
Honda R&D Americas, Raymond, US
Honda R&D Co. Ltd., Tochigi-Pref, JP
Hyundai Motor Company, KR
Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, DE
Jaguar Land Rover Cars, Lighthorne, GB
Jaguar LandRover, Gaydon, GB
Kobe Steel, Kobe, JP
Koniker S. Coop, Aretxabaleta, ES
KraussMaffei Technologies GmbH, München, DE
Laserline GmbH, Mülheim-Kärlich, DE
MA Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Treuen, DE
Magna Cosma Europe, Sailauf, DE
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Gurgaon, IN
MBtech Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, Sindelfingen, DE
Nishikawa Standard Company, Novi, US
Porsche AG, Weissach, DE
PROFIL Verbindungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Friedrichsdorf, DE
PSA Peugeot Citroen, Velizy-Villacoublay, FR
Renault SAS, Guyancourt, FR
Rio Tinto Alcan, Voreppe cedex, FR
RLE International GmbH, Köln, DE
SAIC Motor Technical Center, Shanghai, CN
SCA Schucker, Bretten-Gölshausen, DE
Scansonic IPT GmbH, Berlin, DE
Scansonic MI GmbH, Berlin, DE
Sika Schweiz AG, Zürich, CH
Skoda Auto a.s., Mlada Boleslav, CZ
Tata Motors, Coventry, GB
ThyssenKrupp Drauz Nothelfer GmbH, Lockweiler, DE
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG, Duisburg, DE
TOX Pressotechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Weingarten, DE
Toyota Motor Europe, Zaventem, BE
TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik, Fluorn-Winzeln, DE
voestalpine Polynorm GmbH & Co. KG, Schwäbisch Gmünd, DE
Volkswagen AG, Hannover, DE
Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, DE
Volvo Car Corporation, Göteborg, SE
Volvo Cars, Olofström, SE