what does my new car smell of? - grupo antolin

Quality:

Zerocomplaints

What does my new car smell of?

History of car design in Spain

Summer 2006 · nº 46

news grupo antolin · summer 20062

pag. 3 in first person

pag. 4 cover Objective: Zero complaints

pag. 8 designing the future History of car design in Spain

pag. 12 report What does my new car smell of?

pag. 15 special feature Are you secure?

pag. 16 the photo CYD 2005 Report Presentation

pag. 18 the major figures LEARNING: A mutual benefit

pag. 20 in brief News in brief

pag. 28 health Recommendations for avoiding food poisoning during the summer

pag. 30 on the way Michigan

NEWS Published by Grupo Antolin

Grupo Antolin is an international company at the cutting edge of design and production ofcomponents for car interiors for theautomobile industry.Present in 21 countries, it has aworkforce of more than 10, 400employees.

D. Legal: M-18594-2006

EDITORIAL BOARDGrupo AntolinHuman Resources DepartmentCarretera Madrid Irún, km. 244,8E 09007 BURGOS - SPAINTel. 34 947 47 77 00Fax: 34 947 47 79 48www.grupoantolin.com

EDITORIAL OFFICEDepartment of Human Resources Leticia Fernández· [email protected]

DESIGNGermán Delgado· [email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHYRafa Sáiz

PRINTED BYCOIMANC/ Marqués de Portugalete, 16E 28027 MADRID - ESPAÑATel. 34 91 742 12 03Fax: 34 91 742 67 81 Summary

summer 2006 · news grupo antolin 3

Go get ‘em!

Thirty-two teams representing the whole planet and only one winner. The 2006 World Cupkicks off. The interest and social impact sparked off by a sporting event like football isunquestionable. Nerves, hopes, effort, tension, every kind of feeling comes to the fore themoment our side is about to score the winning goal. The winner’s success is due to theirfunctioning as a real team.

A real team is not only formed by the players and the technical group of physical trainers andcoaches; behind them is an entire organisation, without whose good management it wouldbe impossible to attain such a wonderful triumph.

With this sporting reality in mind, there is no doubt that a work team, whatever the field orprofessional activity we are involved in, is managed in the same way as might be the case fora football club. Concepts such as leadership, motivation, team building, communication,planning,... are present in all our “moves”.

Clients, suppliers, share-holders competitors... we all have a role to play, making us all players,whether we belong to the regular first team or not, and part of the game. Proposinginnovative solutions to the clients in today’s market demands being surrounded byprofessionals specialising in different fields of knowledge. So over the years our company hasbeen putting together a multicultural human resource team, in which several nationalities areworking together on the same project. The sum of all this knowledge is what has provided uswith constant help to always obtain the best response.

Just like a coach, “business trainers” are involved in the permanent quest for the elementsthat will make each person discover ways within themselves to improve their work, and byextension, the performance of our organisation. For this reason, we have the task of offeringthem our support and conferring on them the importance they deserve in such a way thateverybody - both technical team and players - can play to win.

Irrespective of the position we play on the field, we are all players forming part of a great teamand can be passed the ball at any time. At that moment, concentrate, do your level best.And... go get ‘em!

...in

firs

t per

son

ZeroQuality of use:

Objective

Complaints


COVER

Just like hundreds of millions of other people on the planet,we are car users but at the same time, in carrying out ourprofessional activity in the sector, we are also generators ofquality with respect to such items, through the componentsor systems we supply.


I n our initial facet as consumers wemake use of the car, but there aretimes when we suffer from the

problems that emerge with such use.We complain about parts that need tobe replaced either during or outside theguarantee period, or else about flawsin performance, such as for instance,irritating noises, tiny problems involvingaesthetics or adjustments, etc.

Any of these instances can cause usdissatisfaction, albeit on a different scale,and this will probably evolve into a lackof confidence in the vehicle and themake when the time comes to purchasea new model. And, as far as GrupoAntolin is concerned, this may lead to aloss of faith on the part of the customerin those manufacturers of componentswith a high rate of failure, or to apotential loss of market share, whichbasically amounts to the same thing.

Currently, for a manufacturer ofcomponents such as Grupo, the onlyinformation of any relevance is that ofcomplaints made during the guaranteeperiod because that is what ourcustomers tell us. And that is only one ofthe problems that our parts might have.Car manufacturers are extending theirguarantee periods either because of thedemands of consumer legislation or as away of standing out amidst thecompetition. This extension is automaticallypassed on to manufacturers of carcomponents, who are beginning to sufferfrom problems in their balance sheet thatare the result of changing the periodcovered by the guarantee from one to threeor even five years.

Whenever there seems to be an acuteproblem, ie. affecting over 20% ofproduction, the manufacturers launchcampaigns to replace or repair thecomponents affected even where thesedo not necessarily imply any safetyproblems. For instance, in the year 2004 inthe USA, 462 campaigns were launched

affecting a total of 4,353,000 vehicles. Thecost of these campaigns is very highbecause, added to the replacement of thepart, we have to allow for costs in labourin the workshops plus managerial costs(written messages, logistics and transport,etc.). Just imagine the situation for amanufacturer of car components affectedby a campaign for a vehicle with aproduction turnover of 1000 units per daywith the period affected being 3 monthsfor a part that costs 10 euros. The totalamount of the guarantee could come toas much as 7 million euros, that is to say,the turnover for more than 3 years, or toput it another way, they would place theproduct and the production plant in acompletely negative situation as far asprofits were concerned. Vehicles have anestimated life of 10 years or 300,000 km.However, unfortunately, not all vehiclesmanage to reach this objective. Accordingto figures in the US, after 3 years, a car hashad an average of 2.37 breakdowns.

If we project these figures beyond theguarantee periods, they are substantiallybigger. If anything, these failuresgenerate more dissatisfaction in the finalcustomer because they are not coveredby the guarantee period offered by themanufacturer. The high sales turnoverfor spare parts should alert us to the factthat our parts are not responding asmight be expected.

Finally, during the life of the vehicle, flawsappear in some of the parts that, while notnecessarily making them any less effective,will give rise to dissatisfaction andsometimes even mistrust on the part of theuser. Mechanical noises, materials thatbecome worn out over time or because ofuse, certain parts becoming loose, etc -these are some of the examples that mightoccur and of which manufacturers of theparts involved often have no knowledge.

With this in mind, some manufacturersof vehicles ask their customers to fill inquestionnaires on their satisfaction,

Our challengeis two-fold: onthe one hand,thedevelopmentof sturdycomponentsthat satisfy allreal conditionsof use, and onthe otherhand, to avoidand detect anylapses inquality in timethat mightarise duringproductionand have anegativeeffect on thereliability ofthe product.


drawing attention to the weaknesses ofeach vehicle that might not be reflectedin guarantees but are nonethelessunpopular with the vehicle owner.There are firms that specialise in marketstudies related to :

· Market analysis

· Assessment of the competition

· Quality studies

· Studies of customer satisfaction

· Studies of brand image, etc.

Vehicle manufacturers pay very specialattention to such studies and invest theirefforts in increasing their results for newmodels.

With respect to our responsibility for the

supply of reliable components in the timeallotted, our mission is two-fold:

Design: the designs of our products andprocesses should be sturdy enough toprevent there being any sign of a flaw orwear and tear. For this reason, it is ofparamount importance to learn frompast mistakes (feedback on experiences -lessons learned) and to work onpreventing these from happening again,and of course to provide a blanketvalidation to cover as many modes ofoperation as possible beyond thespecifications of the customer, as andwhen appropriate.

Production: Our productive systemsshould guarantee that the productobtained meets the establishedrequirements. It is extremely importantto make sure that our processes do notslip in terms of quality and that we can

“Our Image forthe Customer isthe Quality of ourparts”

“The Quality ofour products iscreated by us allworkingtogether”

176

167

154

147

133

133

119

118


guarantee that our suppliers will likewiserespect our demands concerning theparts they supply to our company.

To sum up, the demand for quality onthe market is very high inasmuch as theend user is more sensitive to flaws in

the parts and the manufacturers offerlonger periods of guarantee. There aremany arguments for buying a vehicle(price, aesthetics, equipment, features,prestige value of the company name,etc.), but the main argument forsatisfaction of use is reliability, that is to

say, the absence of flaws during the lifeof the vehicle.

Each of us in our various differentactivities contributes to building theQuality of our products. We are all theQuality Guardians.

200

185

170

155

140

125

110

95

80

Prob

lem

s pe

r 10

0 ve

hicl

esPr

oble

ms

per

100

vehi

cles

Survey on breakdowns in 3 months per 100 vehicles manufactured

Survey on breakdowns in 3 years per 100 vehicles manufactured

Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2005

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

448

382

355

273

269

237

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

IQS (Initial Quality Study)

VDA (Vehicle Dependability Study)


DESIGNING THE FUTURE

History of

car design in Spain

1861-1919

Our starting point is 1861,when Pedro Ribera, an engi-neer from Valladolid, travelledfrom this city in Castile toMadrid transporting passen-gers in a device of his own de-sign and creation that was driv-en by steam and known as"Castilla“. The “Castilla” hada carbon consumption rate ofaround 47 Kg/hr at 10CV anda maximum speed of about 15Km/hr.

In 1899 Mr. Bonet y Dalmau, aneminent Catalan industrialist,visited the Universal Paris Ex-po and saw the potential ofDaimler’s explosion engine. Hepurchased 3 engines and whenhe returned to Barcelona, hedesigned and built a tricycleto ride around the capital.However, it was never Bonet’s

intention to build any moreand thus it soon passed intooblivion.

It is in this same year that MrEmilio La Cuadra sets up acompany devoted to buildingelectrically-driven cars. How-ever, the unreliability of thistype of propulsion leads LaCuadra to build propulsion en-gines designed by Marc Birkigt.

La Anglada, which might beconsidered to be the first Span-ish plant to manufacture carswith an explosion engine, wasset up in 1901 in Puerto deSanta María in Cadiz. It hada large catalogue for that era,with five different types of mo-torisation.

Throughout those years, manyattempts were made to cre-ate new makes but productionwas really limited to only a fewmodels, built by manufacturerssuch as Castro, Fénix, Ultra-

móvil, Sanford, Bons,Hormiguer, Ardiurme, TriautoSanchís, Iberia, Seat Catalonia,Salamanca and Victoria.

During the short-lived existence of such makes andthanks to Damián Mateu, together with a group of Cata-lan industrialists and the Swissengineer, Marc Birkigt, in1904, the Hispano Suiza com-pany made its appearance,consolidating to become oneof the most important car-makers in the world. Rightfrom the word ‘go’, the quali-ty and level of development oftheir designs, along with theirenormous audacity and deter-mination, were typical of alarge company. Not only was itan important factory, but also a real social phenomenon,contributing greatly to the de-velopment and prestige ofSpain. King Alfonso XIII wasa great ambassador for themake, since he came to ownmore than 30 models. Suchwas his passion that HispanoSuiza even christened theirT45 model “Alfonso XIII.”

As was common for manufac-turers in those days, an excel-lent industry developed aroundthe production of the car body-

work in Spain. One of the mostoutstanding was Roqueta,along with Fiol, Capella,Abadal, Lucas, Forcada, MateoMarrugat and J. Molist.

Together with Hispano Suiza,Elizalde was the top Spanishcar firm prior to 1936. Although they were only ac-tive between 1913 and 1928,they achieved a great repu-tation both in and outside thecountry at that time.

Elizalde developed a mechan-ical solution that was not fol-lowed up by any other compa-ny: a cylinder head made ofbronze. An alloy with an ex-pansion coefficient that wassimilar to that of a block ofsteel and with a dissipation ca-pacity for heat that was fargreater than the smelting ma-terials in use in those times.

Year 1913 sees the birth ofAbadal, a make that comes in-

Ever since the origins of the car in Spain, design has been linkedto its history and evolution.

DIM - DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Bonet (1899)

Castilla (1861)

Hispano Suiza H6B Torpedo (1927)


to being thanks to the enthusi-asm of a very extraordinary“sportsman” and industrial-ist, Francisco Abadal, whomight be seen as being one ofthe pioneers of the world ofdesign in Spain. Abadal wasHispano Suiza’s first salesrepresentative and he reallysent it on its way, both throughadvertising in the newspapersand also on account of hissports feats, which encouragedhim to create his own brand.

Although he could not afford toset up his own factory, once hehad designed his vehicles, hereached an agreement with theBelgian company, “Societé desAutomobiles Imperia”, whocreated the mechanical compo-nents, while Abadal dealt withthe design and construction ofthe bodywork, which stood outfor its excellent design.

1920-1959The decade of the twenties wasa peak period for car compa-nies, who, even if they were notoverly successful, displayed theingenuity and creativity of theircreators. Together with thesenew “design engineers”, thecreative skill of coachbuilderscontinued for makes such asHispano-Suiza or Elizalde,

which now had their ownworkshops and craftsmen.

A person that stands out dur-ing this period is Wilfredo P. Ri-cart, who, in harnessing his en-thusiasm for competing withhis entrepreneurial spirit, is toremain active until the end ofthe fifties. In 1920 he formed apartnership and set up the“Compañía de Motores Ricarty Pérez”, with which he wouldcreate two racing vehicles ofhis own design two years later.In 1926 he starts his own com-pany under the name of “Ri-cart” and one year later, hepresents his Tipus 266 model atthe Paris motor show. In 1928he enters into a partnershipwith España, to develop vehi-cles with a new design, and thenew company then becomesknown as “Ricart-España”.However, in 1930 they areforced to close due to financialdifficulties.

By the early thirties the car in-dustry has all but disappearedexcept for Hispano-Suiza,which is to continue creatingbig luxury cars until it is collec-tivised during the Civil War, sub-sequently passing into thehands of the regime to startproduction of the first Pegasos,along with the odyssey of “Na-cional-Pescara”, the latter be-ing created for the design anddevelopment of racing cars thatwere to triumph over the likes

of Mercedes, Bugatti and AlfaRomeo on at least one occa-sion. Unfortunately, this makedid not have a very long life either, and disappeared with-out marketing a single model.

During the post-war periodthere were several firms thattried to open up a niche forthemselves in the car industry,but none of them lasted long,owing to the serious problems

the country was going through.It was at this time when the so-called “micro-cars” first startedto make their appearance, be-ing easier to afford than a carbut still quite expensive for theaverage man in the street.These represent the indigenouscar design of those years inmakes such as David, Clúa orBiscuter amongst others.

It was Wilfredo P. Ricart, pro-duction manager at the nation-al company, Pegaso, devotedto the manufacture of lorriesand buses, that created an ap-prentice-workshop in the lateforties for specialisation in themechanical development ofmore complex parts for busesand lorries. The idea was to cre-ate high-quality sports cars asa practical exercise for such de-velopment. That is to say, anentire R+D department withdesign included. The cars cre-ated, which were greatly ap-

preciated in North America,were then sold abroad to payfor the expenses incurred bythe college.

Between the years 1951 and1955, up to 200 Pegasos werebuilt, with their bodywork be-ing designed at the college it-self, or outsourced to some ofthe large coachbuilders such asTouring, Saoutchik or theSpanish Serra. According topublic declarations appearingin a US car magazine in 1959,Ricart was thinking of develop-ing a new 6-seater Pegaso thatwould be “compact, neither assmall as a European car nor asbig as an American sedan”.However, their plans were mys-

Abadal (1914) Ricart 266 (1926)

Spider Serra Pegaso SSP (1951)

Micro - Auto Bambi by Aleu (1954)

Nacional Pescara (1929)

ELIZALDE model 48 (1921)


teriously scotched in 1957 andthe production of sports ver-sions of the Pegaso wasbrought to a standstill.

The great exponent of designin the fifties and sixties was Pe-dro Serra. The son of a coach-builder, he inherited the profes-sion from his father to trans-port Spanish design to thehighest plane, receiving praisefrom all over the world. Duringthe fifties he designed thebodywork for prestigiousmakes like Pegaso, SEAT andRolls Royce, and also for micro-cars such as the Clúa and theBiscuter.

It is also during this decadethat the INI decides to set upa factory to build private mo-tor cars to compensate for thelack of this type of vehicle.Hence, SEAT is created, whichstarts to produce cars undera Fiat licence.

1960-2006

It is in the year 1960 when Eduardo Barreiros, one of theleaders of the car industry inSpain, starts to think aboutbuilding cars. The Galician builta business empire based on thebuilding industry and subse-quent transformation into ahuge company manufacturingheavy goods vehicles, knownas Barreiros Diesel. He obtainedlicences to produce the Simca1000 and the Dodge Dart,which allowed Dodge vehiclesof Spanish design such as theDodge Dart Diesel and GT of1969 to be created on top ofa traditional chassis. The headof Design for these projectswas Mario Gamarra. And it isat the 1969 Barcelona motorshow that the prototype de-signed by Pedro Serra for theDodge Spectro was presented.

In 1972 Serra launches theDodge 3700 Boulevard, whichwould later come to be knownas the Dodge Serra Coupé, andwas the first model to bebrought out with a fibreworkbody by this designer. The chas-sis on the Dodge Boulevard wasdeveloped by the Frenchman,Liprandi, who worked in col-laboration with Paco Sanjuánin Seville creating the LinceNevada and the Marbella, andalso the single-seaters for For-mula IV racing. The Guepardoalso took part in this race, and

was designed by Jaume Xifré,who had already previously de-signed another prototype, theCampeador (the Raider), forwhich several orders wereplaced but the project wasthwarted by a fire at the factory.

The year 1984 sees the presen-tation of the Ibiza, the first carcompletely designed by SEAT,following its split with Fiat, withthe aid of Italdesign-Giugiaroand Karmann in the bodyworkand Porsche in the engines. Itwas an extremely roomy car forits segment of the market.

In 1986 the Madrid designer,Francisco Podadera, drew upa project for the Ibiza Raider,a coupé version created sepa-rately from SEAT. The prototypewas developed in Teruel by Carro-cerías Barber e Hijos and was fi-nally rechristened as AníbalF100 with production beingtransferred to Motril (Granada).

At the end of the 80s and ear-ly 90s, Seat proceeds to forgeahead with its creative im-pulse with the concepts ProtoT, Proto TL and Proto C. Withthese prototypes the sportsconcept is explored in a small-size car and a berlin with apanoramic roof, laying thefoundations for the secondgeneration of the Ibiza andToledo.

SEAT 1400 A Sport Spider Serra Aníbal F100 (1986)

Seat Proto C (1990)

Clúa 500 designed by Serra (1956) Dodge Dart GT (1969)


In 1996 UROVESA, a compa-ny from Galicia that had beenmaking off-road vehicles since1981 proposes making a light4x4 vehicle for military purpos-es, with European technolo-gy, capable of competing withAmerican Hummers. Two yearslater, the URO VAMTAC comesout in military and civilian ver-sions, with a formidable angu-lar exterior,with greater off-

road aptitude than the Hum-mer H1.

From 1999 onwards, the Mur-cian town of San José de la Vegadesigns and produces the Co-marth, a two-seater sports carwith polyester bodywork andFord engines. In the year 2000the S1-50 was presented andthen in 2001, the model derivedfrom this, known as the X-Tamy.

Between the years 2000 and2002, Mazel presented threeprototypes for what might

have been Hispano Suiza hadit not disappeared. The HS21was a two-seater sports con-cept in the same vein as theone pursued by Bugatti with itsVeyron. The K8 is a large berlinthat combines luxury withtechnology without forsakingthe retro look of the originalHispano Suizas. Finally, a racingprototype, the HS21 GTS, wasalso presented.

In 2003, after producing vehi-cles licensed by Land Rover andSuzuki in Linares (Jaén), Metalur-gia Santa Ana launches theSantana Aníbal, an off-road ve-hicle that, while still retaining alarge part of its British inheri-tance, has a large amount of itsown design particularly withregard to the calander. And the

same thing would happen in2005 with the Santana300/350 based on the SuzukiVitara.

The beginning of 2004 sees thepresentation of the two-seaterracing car known as the Tra-montana, designed by theteam led by Josep Rubau, nearBarcelona. This is an exclusivetwo-seater made to order, with

great potential for customisa-tion, including the possibility ofobtaining shoes and helmet tomatch the vehicle. It has a 720-CV-power engine, which en-ables it to go from zero to onehundred in 4 seconds. Produc-tion is limited to 12 units a yearwith the starting price for eachone set at 610,000 euros.

TheFutureFollowing this short review of ourautomobile inheritance, it mightbe possible to think that it was alljust an illusion, but nothing couldbe further from the truth. Just asin the eighties, having a vocationto design cars in Spain was likehaving a vocation in the mid-nineties to be a bull-fighter inSwitzerland. Master degrees inthe Design of Heavy Goods Ve-hicles were set up at severalpoints around the country suchas Valencia, Barcelona or Madrid.Nowadays, apart from SEAT, theVW Group, Volvo and Renaulthave also set up design centresin Spain. There are many Span-ish designers amongst the ranksof the various makes’ design de-partments. At the same time, theimpulse in R+D has meant thatsuppliers also have their own de-partments. Furthermore, privateinitiatives are constantly beinglaunched, such as that ofEgosprint Automotive Engineer-ing, which has set itself the ob-jective of a sports car with3kg./CV and a maximum price of40,000 euros.

Car design in our country hasbeen through good times andbad, but there is something thatadversity has never stopped usdoing and which is sure to pre-vail in future, a requirement thatanyone that hopes to designcars should comply with: todream and to make dreamscome true.

URO V.A.M.T.A.C (2004).

Santana Aníbal (2004)

HS 21 (Mazel 2001)

Comarth X-tamy (2004)

Tramontana (2006)


REPORT

H owever, it is obvious that a sub-jective factor is also present inthe perception of smell, depend-

ing on the sensitivity and preferences ofthe subject. Depending on their nature,concentration and the environmentalconditions (temperature, humidity) inwhich they are found, the smell canhave a greater or lesser intensity and agreater or lesser degree of pleasantness.

What are VOCs?

By definition, a VOC (which meansVolatile Organic Compound* in English),is an organic compound that is capable

of evaporating easily at low tempera-tures.

Within the family of volatile organic com-pounds, there are three important groups:

Solvents, such as acetone, ethyl acetate, “BTEXS” (Benzyne, Toluene,Ethylbenzyne, Xylene, Styrene)....

Monomers:such as formaldehyde (acomponent of POM), MMA (methylmethacrylate)...

Modifiers of the properties of theproduct: such as plasticizers (phthalates,DOP, DIBP), softeners (dicarboxylate es-ters), flame retardant elements (phos-phates)

What sort of problemsare caused by VOCs?

Volatile organic compounds are the causeof some of the problems we can find inour car, such as for example:

Fogging: Condensation on the win-dows of the vehicle of volatile products (windows that are “steamedup”). This can affect the safety of thedriver/passengers.

Odour: Bad odour inside the vehiclecaused by the emission of VOCs. Theselead to discomfort in the user.

Presence of harmful substances: Pro-

Enrique Fernández Salvador GRUPO ANTOLIN INGENIERIA

Cristina Balboa GRUPO ANTOLIN INGENIERIA

Juan Carlos Esteban GRUPO ANTOLIN INGENIERIA

Marisol Allende GRUPO ANTOLIN INGENIERIA

How often have we got into a car and noticed that peculiar smell associated with “a newcar”? What is the reason for this smell? To a large extent, the cause of a smell (any type ofsmell) can be put down to certain chemical compounds that evaporate easily, known to usby the generic name of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC).

What does my new car

smell of?


Gas chromatograph equipment

Thermodesorption / dynamic Headspace: VDA 278

Examples of equipment for determining VOCs

Short Path Thermal Desorption SystemDesorption tube

Glass wool plug

Glass wool plugHeaterblocks

Injectionport

To MS Detector

GCcolumn

Solid sample

UV-Visible Spectrophotometer

longed or continuous exposure affects thehealth of the passengers.

Are VOCs harmful?

With respect to finished parts in the ve-hicle, VOCs are considered to be potential-ly “dangerous” substances with harmfuleffects on the health of the occupants ofthe vehicle, whenever they go above thepermissible limits of concentration.

Where are VOCsgenerated?

As well as the natural and anthro-pogenic sources of volatile compounds,volatile chemical products are producedduring the manufacturing process formany of the products in daily use suchas additives (catalysers, and plasticizers,for instance), reagents, or solvents.

Many of these products do not causethe consumer any type of discomfort,provided that the levels of concentrationin the final product are kept within acceptable limits.

How are VOCsdetected?

The methods for detecting VOCs, histori-cally, was summed up as follows:

· Spectroscopic techniques: UV-VISspectroscopy for formaldehyde

· Indirect techniques: fogging andodour

· Chromatography

Nowadays, these techniques have been im-proved and the limit for detection has beenreduced to concentrations of just a fewparts per million (ppm).

The equipment most commonly used by

our clients today is thermodesorptionequipment and Shed Chamber & 1m3

Chamber, for extracting volatile com-pounds from the headliner. After a processof reconcentrating the extract obtained us-ing this method, this is analysed accordingto gas chromatography or FID –FlameIonization Detector.

What is the attitude ofthe clients to problemsassociated withVOCs?

Client regulations with regard to volatileorganic compounds are changing and be-coming more and more restrictive, aimedat reducing the emissions of the vehiclethereby enhancing the quality of the air in-side the car.

The clients have various different regula-tions for regulating / restricting the presence of volatile compounds:

Toyota VW Opel Ford Renault BMW Isuzu Mercedes

Thermodesorption VDA278 PBVWL 709 (VDA278)

Shed Chamber & 1m3 Chamber TSM0510G D49 3046 (VDA276)

International TÜV

SHED GS97014-2

“Bag” Method TSM0508G ISC F00-001

“Bottle” (formaldehyde) PV3925 (VDA275) GME60271 (VDA275) VDA275 GS97014-3 (VDA275)

At the same time, there are official orga-nizations that generate lists of harmfulor dangerous volatile organic compounds.These lists are updated every so often, pro-viding a basis for drawing up a set of stan-dard regulations concerning volatile com-pounds for our clients. At the end of 2004,there were already over 50 volatile com-pounds listed under the headings “Harm-ful” and “Carcinogenic” (BIA List, 2004).

What is GA doing tocontrol/reduce VOCs?

Grupo Antolin, in collaboration with clientsand suppliers, is doing exhaustive workto remove/reduce the content of volatileproducts in headliners:

A new internal testing method has been developed enabling very low con-centrations of VOCs to be detected the-reby avoiding costly tests in external labo-ratories.

A ”VOC's Chart” has been drawn up (anexhaustive list of volatile compoundsfound in materials used by GA) of raw ma-terials and end products so as to find outwhere each type of volatile compound co-mes from and contact the suppliers in ca-se it is necessary to reduce or cancel pro-duction.

Furthermore, Grupo Antolín is studyingthe possibility of actively removing the vo-latile compounds generated inside the carinterior, by means of an ingenious integra-ted system in the headliner, namely the“purification console”

Entry of air + contaminants

Exit of purified airPhotocatalyzer

This research workhas been conductedwith the help of theUniversity ofAlicante and hasgiven rise, apartfrom the design ofthe console, to aproject for themeeting of the“Spanish CoalGroup” with thetitle:

“PHOTOCATALYSISWITH ULTRAVIOLETLIGHT FOROXIDIZATION OF LOWCONCENTRATIONS OFPROPENE”

PURIFICATION CONSOLE

The vehicle interior is a micro-environment in which thelevels of exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds may bevery high, in conditions of heavy traffic. On the other hand,certain habits such as smoking cause bad odours. The systemthat has been designed takes the air from inside the vehicleto an active material (photocatalyzer), which when lit upwith ultraviolet light oxidizes and removes volatilecompounds, thereby constantly regenerating the air insidethe vehicle, thus offering a continuous, pleasant feeling of aclean atmosphere, free from odour.

120

100

80

60

40

20

00 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

The light goes on

Concentration

Time (hours)

Photocatalyzer

(TiO2)

Ultraviolet LED



H enry Ford said, “real progress is thatwhich places technology withineveryone’s reach”, and that is ex-

actly what has happened. It is obvious thatthe introduction of new technologies helpsmake our daily activities easier and sim-plifies the way our work develops. Over thepast few years, we have been through awidespread process in which personal com-puters, Internet, intranet, email, fax, PDAs,photocopiers, mobile phones, scanners, etchave become part of our everyday lives,both at a personal and professional level.

Files, photos, data, mail, etc, the volumeof information we exchange with our col-leagues, clients, suppliers, external collab-orators, etc is growing larger and larger.And it is here that preventive measures andparticularly the awareness of us all as userswith respect to guaranteeing the securityof such information takes on such para-mount importance.

In order for our data and information to besecure, Grupo Antolin invests heavily in de-vices that will protect us from intruders,viruses, unwanted email, etc. However, noteverything can be protected by means ofequipment and software.

The way forward starts at home. Eachand every one of us must be responsi-ble for saving the information we gen-erate and use, as well as being aware ofthe risks we are exposed to, some ofwhich may be minimised by eliminatingour bad daily habits.

With this in mind, a series of actions arebeing embarked on, some from a tech-nical angle, others from the point of viewof concentration, amongst which the fol-lowing are highlighted:

· Preparation of a Manual of Best Prac-tices, with recommendations for small

changes in our work routine but with animportant impact on the minimisation ofsecurity risks;.

· Implementation of a new robust sys-tem of passwords leading to an in-crease in the level of security with regardto access to the net;

· Automatic blocking of sessions on-line when the user is not at his/her work-station.

· Widespread use of tools for non-mod-ification of documents. eg.: conver-sion of files to pdf format.

Not forgetting that each one of us shouldassume our share of responsibility in pro-tecting the information that is handledwithin the company, since this may be ofvital importance for the activity and busi-ness of our firm.

Security not only affects people, but also objects, intellectualproperty, the information we handle..., and is a form of securitythat should be preserved. All companies are aware that, as eachday goes by, more and more specific attention needs to be spenton the problem of data security.

Are you SECURE?

SPECIAL FEATURE

CYD 2005 ReportPresentation

THE PHOTO

Grupo Antolin, in its capacity as Patron ofthe Foundation for Knowledge and Devel-opment (Fundación para el Conocimiento yDesarrollo), and active collaborator in theUniversity–Business relationship, wishedto attend the presentation of the CYD 2005Report on “Spanish Universities’ contribu-tion to development”, on 21st June in theGreat Hall at the University of Burgos.

This report shows the result of theeffort made by the Foundation,which thanks to the willpower of agroup of national companies, has setitself up as a driving force for univer-sity-business relations with a sole ob-jective: the transformation of univer-sity knowledge into a value for all so-ciety.

The ceremony was attended by a largenumber of public figures from the busi-ness world, the university and govern-ment, who accompanied the President ofthe Foundation, Ana Patricia Botín,throughout the conference, enablingpeople to see first-hand how this creationof value is reaching the social environ-ment in which we have an active role.

Towards the integration of the society of knowledge


“W ell prepared youngstersthat, even so, would liketo complement their

theoretical training with the practicalexperience to be gained from working ina company”. Even if this sounds like a setphrase, more and more companies, awareof the potential of many of these young-sters, are searching for recruits amongstthe students doing their practicals at various educational establishments.

The students know that, besides the aca-demic knowledge they have acquired,which is generally accessible to all, whatis really going to make a difference andhelp them get selected for a job is theirwork experience along with their ownpersonal qualities.

A good combination in this respect, together with a successful job performance,

is what is going to make a difference intheir career and the competitiveness of thecompanies that hire them, which is why it isconsidered to be a key element in the man-agement of Human Resources today, set-ting a reference for the professional expec-tations of the students graduating from oureducational establishments.

The Motor industry is a source of innovationand technology that requires knowledge tobe constantly recycled, which demands per-manent cooperation between everyoneinvolved in the generation and applicationof such knowledge: scientists-educationalestablishments-company.

For over ten years now Grupo Antolín hasbeen wanting to form part of this processby adopting a firm commitment: to fosterthe practical training in aptitude and profes-sional skills of the students involved in gain-

ing work experience by offering them thesupport and guidance of teachers specialis-ing in the various different sections of thecompany, thereby enhancing their potentialfor entering the labour market.

This commitment, which started with theindividual cooperation of a few scientistsworking together with professionals fromfactories and schools in Burgos at thattime, has now become a firm commitmentand, given the multinational nature of ourcompany, is not restricted by borders.There are many companies in the groupthat have become places in which toexchange mutual knowledge and experi-ence. The possibility of bringing the realityof business enterprises closer to the realityof academic life is open to all nationalitiesthrough the provision of a wide variety ofprogrammes available in each country.Nowadays, having not only employees

THE MAJOR FIGURES


LearningA mutual benefit Our target is to be able to offer students thechance of experiencing their first contact with thelabour market and to work with professionalswilling to share their own knowledge andexperience with them. Their target is to be well-trained in aninternational context that makes them matureand evolve not only as professionals, but aspersons too. Practical exercises of this naturemay well be the best choice for both company and student.

from different cultures and countries, butalso people on sandwich courses from different parts of the world is considered tobe a source of mutual enrichment.

Aware of the benefits that this policymeans for both parties, the department orsection that at a certain time of the yearconsiders the possibility of having a stu-dent doing practicals, contacts the corre-sponding Department of HumanResources and together they jointly designthe contents, length, profile, require-ments, etc. for such an experience. Thiswill determine the origin of the recipientof the grant, and accordingly, we will con-tact different organisations, universities,private entities, international bodies, train-ing centres, professional associations, etc.so as to be able to adjust the practicalexperience to the student’s own charac-teristics, implementing such relations bymeans of cooperation agreements. Afterbeing accepted and introduced to thebasic system of working, from themoment they enter and throughout theirstay with us, the students will be assigneda tutor, who will be a professional in thesector in which the practical is to be car-ried out, and who will serve as their guidethroughout the whole process.

More than a hundred such students formpart of these agreements today, acquiringspecialized training and participating in theproject teams. Some of them begin theiractivity in the stage previous to obtainingtheir degree, either by doing practicals tocomplement their training or else to com-ply with the final academic requirement inthe form of a final-year dissertation. Otherscontinue their training with postgraduatescholarships of up to two years in length.

And there are some that complete thistraining process early, entering the labourmarket in other companies in our group.Only a small percentage reach the end oftheir training period without any prospectsof an immediate job.

Our internal selection and recruitmentprocess to a certain extent feeds on thispool of youngsters, so that many of thepeople that have been learning with us arenow part of our staff, and these in turn arecharged with the important mission oftraining new generations of students thatare in the same situation as they werewhen they started their practicals.

To sum up, the benefits that are derivedfrom the Practical Programme by all par-ties involved serve to boost the success ofsuch collaborative efforts. On one hand,the company increases its researchcapacity and has a young team availablethat is well prepared to carry out its activi-ty, contributing to the use of innovationamongst its human resources resulting inincreased competitiveness. On the otherhand, the academic institutions enhancethe quality of the training offered to thestudents, providing added value to thecompanies and to society as a whole.And, finally, the students receiving thegrants, who, apart from gaining a realperspective of professional businessactivities, also complete the final stage oftheir training with the practical applica-tion of their knowledge, acquiring spe-cialised training that is technologically-speaking at the cutting edge, and pro-moting their own personal skills to fostercommunication, interpersonal relationsor teamwork, which will help smooththeir entrance into the job market.


“Participation is good andactive, because I have beentreated the same way aseveryone else, with themasking your opinion andcounting on you for themeetings and work options,and being able to makesuggestions within the contextof the workteam”.

Practical student,Data Systems Department

“Thank you for letting us teach you what we once learntfrom others”.

Human Team from Grupo Antolin

“I have always had all theresources I needed to carry outmy duties, and even wherethey weren’t originallyavailable, my tutor has beenable to supply them”.

Practical student,Door Products Department

“Both, my tutor and all theother people I had to work forhave gone out of their way tohelp me make the most of thisopportunity by not onlyshowing me exactly what I hadto do all the time but also why Ihad to do it that particular way”.

Practical student,Roof Products Department

More and more students are deciding to make initial contact with the

business world and receive training at a human and technical level at any of

our companies located all over the world. This generates large amounts of

information that needs to be managed efficiently so as to allow us to use it

in a faster, more dynamic and flexible way. With this in mind, the Human

Resource Department, along with the Date Systems Department at Central

Office, has developed a tool located in our Intranet that contains

personalised information about each student –CV of the student,

cooperation agreement, training objectives, tutorial programme, tutor-

student practical progress report and vice versa, help options, etc. Soon, this

tool will be available for all the companies that request it.

IN BRIEF

News in Brief

As part of rolling out GrupoAntolin’s Production Systemfrom 27th to 31st March,training sessions were organ-ised with the participation of theFloor Managers and Heads ofImprovement Operations/SPCoordinators from the Group’scompanies.

These sessions basically hadtwo objectives: to provide am-ple knowledge of the System’slines of work in our Group andto train the Heads of the var-ious companies on a globallevel.

The course was opened byJosé Manuel Temiño, whostressed the need for “gettingback to basics” as astrategy/tool for improve-ment. Marie-Hélène Antolinthen welcomed the partici-pants and presented the top-

ics that would be dealt withthroughout the week, beforehanding over to the otherspeakers.

One of the high points of thetraining activities was the vis-it to the Renault installations(Motor plant) in Valladolid on28th March. During the visit,

the Company presented thebases for the Renault Produc-tion System, in such a waythat the course participantshad the opportunity to ob-serve first-hand how the Sys-tem was applied in the manu-facturing process, as con-ceived by Renault.

The course was brought to aclose by José Antolin, whostressed the high level of com-petence of the car industryand the need to be ever moreinnovative and effective. Healso encouraged the partici-pants to collaborate with theD.E.O.M. team in the develop-ment and implantation of thetools that form part of SP-G.A.

Training sessions:“GETTING BACK TO BASICS”

Initial prototype samplesforsunroofC-170

As of next year, Mexicansunroofs will protect thenew FOCUS model fromthe sun.

Grupo Antolin Silao is involvedin making the new C-170Sunroof for the FOCUS mod-el belonging to our client,FORD, for which mass produc-tion will start rolling in June2007.

We are now sending the initialprototype samples for valida-tion to the Grupo Antolin-Wayne plant in the USA, whowill be charged with makingthe modular ragtop. Estimat-ed turnover for production isapproximately 217,000 vehi-cles, which means about434,000 vehicles a year. Withthis new project, Grupo An-tolin Silao totals 3.5 millionsunroofs a year.

Renault presentation general view



On 20th May, the TRIMTECteam, whose members comefrom various departments inthe company, conquered theSILVER MEDAL for BeachVolley in the Jogos Das Indús-trias 2006 (Inter-companyGames).

The aim of this championshipis to foster harmony and aspirit of fraternity amongst thecompanies in the area,

through competition in vari-ous sporting events.

The Games form part of anevent promoted throughoutthe entire state of Sâo Paulo,which this year celebrates its58th edition, with the partic-ipation of 1997 companiesand approximately 110 thou-sand workers competing in 68cities.

Silver Medal involleyball for TRIMTEC

Madrid, internationalcar capital

From 24th May to 2nd June, Madrid once again became thecentre of attention. During the 10 days of the event, over a millionpeople attended the 6th edition of this Motor Show, which is draw-ing bigger crowds every year.

Forty-eight makes and around 193 companies from the sector,including a large number of representatives from the ancillaryautomobile industries gathered together for this event to pres-ent the most significant innovations in the motor world (14 glob-al, 3 European and around 90 national novelties).

This was the first time it was possible to see the new HyundaiSonata, the Seat Toledo with its 1.8 turbo engine, the new Dieselengine in the Kia Carens, the Audi A4 2.0 FSI and the newFord models, the new Transit Connect and the Tourneu Connectmini van. At the same time, the general public were able toenjoy the latest novelties that are shortly to be marketed inour country: sports models, off-roaders, mini vans, etc. Nei-ther was there any lack of prototypes of models for those with apreference for futuristic designs.

Running parallel with the exhibition, the Madrid Fair organ-ised a wide range of activities so that the general public wouldnot merely be a spectator but able to participate in a broad,varied programme of events. M

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The King of Spain Mr. Juan Carlos, and the rallies championCarlos Sainz at the exhibition

Some members of the winning team

ConferenceonInnovationat PSA(France)

On 31st March, an exhibitionwas held by Grupo Antolin atPSA’s Armand Peugeot Forumin Poissy.

The exhibition itself, along withvarious technical conferencesthat took place during thatday, provided an opportunityto show our most relevant linesof innovation, and to presentsome of our current productsto a large audience at PSA.

This exhibition has strength-ened the confidence of Peu-geot Citroën in our Group andhas enabled us to be in a po-sition to extend our collabo-ration with this client.

We would like to take this op-portunity to offer our thanksand congratulations for theirexcellent work to the staff thatcollaborated from Grupo An-tolin-France, Grupo Antolin-Loire, Grupo Antolin-Vosges,Grupo Antolin-PGA and fromour main offices in Burgos.

The new technical display de-signed for the North Americanterritory is coming out. Morethan 300 attendees gatheredtogether at the exhibition heldat Jeep Truck in Detroit andDaimlerChrysler TechnicalCenter in Auburn Hills on23rd. and 25th. of May.Apart from seeing our capabil-ities, they had the opportunityto attend to the different con-ferences on innovation.

Since the last quarter of 2005,Grupo Antolin North Americaand staff from the Headquar-ters has been designing atechnical display that show-cases our products. This exhib-it will be displayed in our Tech-nical Center to show cus-tomers our products as well astaken on the road to variousOEM customers for on-sighttechnology fairs.The expecta-tion is that this display will beused to “sell our capabilitiesvisually” to our customers. Itis one thing to say what wedo…but another to actuallyshow products and manufac-turing capabilities.

All the efforts of the individ-uals involved both here inNorth America along with

that of our colleagues fromSpain have finally shown greatresults! Grupo Antolin NorthAmerica held a TechnologyFair to showcase our capabil-ities and products to DaimlerChrysler.

The technology fair displayedoverhead systems, fabrics,LED lighting, panoramic roofsystems, overhead consoles,door modules including doorhardware modules as well asdoor trim modules, windowregulators, electronics andseating systems. Our NorthAmerican technical/commer-cial staff was supported by ourInnovation team from Burgosto ensure proper support ofthe event.

The first show was at JeepTruck in Detroit on Tuesday,May 23rd. We had approxi-mately 85 attendees fromJeep Truck Engineering visitour technology fair.

The second show was held atWorld Headquarters/Chrysler

Technical Center located inAuburn Hills on Thursday, May25th. We had approximately225 attendees from all disci-plines of Chrysler’s organization

The feedback from attendeeswas very positive and therewas extensive interest in ourproducts and capabilities inboth cases. They were educat-ed on all that we had to of-fer and impressed by our vastarray of products.

The event proved to be agreat success and opportu-nity to have Grupo Antolinrecognized as a leader in bothinterior and exterior compo-nents with emphasis in our in-novative thinking, engineer-ing, products and manufac-turing capabilities.

We hope that the excellentjob done by the North Amer-ican and European Territoriesworking together will be re-warded with greater recog-nition on the part of Daim-lerChrysler, along with thestaging of further shows sothat we can make ourselvesknown to other clients in theUSA. Next stop: Toyota.


Technical Exhibit at DaimlerChrysler


From next October onwards,professionals from Grupo An-tolin and expert Universityteachers will bring together sci-entific and academic vision ina 2-year training programme,involving the real application ofthese disciplines. In this way,they will endow the subjectsthey are working on with asense of continuity and providethe students with more practi-cal and specific training, help-ing them meet the current de-mands of this sector perfectly.

One of the main lines of coop-eration between the univer-sity and business companies istraining. This programmeforms part of an intense Planof Collaboration set up be-tween the University of Bur-gos and the Ancillary Sector ofAuto Parts. This relationship,which is encouraged by bothparties and has had some veryinteresting outcomes, such asthe creation of an R+D+i cen-

tre to provide the Companieswith Engineering support, orthe recent creation of theTechnological Park of Burgos,is now strengthened with thefuture organisation of theMaster In Auto Parts Technol-ogy at the Escuela Politécni-ca Superior de Burgos (Post-graduate Polytechnical Col-lege of Burgos).

Addressed to Engineeringpost-graduates, it seeks tobuild on the knowledge andexperience of these studentsin a real way, to meet the spe-cific needs of the auto partsancillary sector, by means oftwelve subjects taken over thecourse of two years, related tonew innovation technologiesranging from graphic designto the new focus of quality us-ing new tools such as 6 sigma.The studies culminate with aperiod of practicals supervisedby our company and conduct-ed on our premises.

Anyonefor PaddleTennis?

During the months of May andJune, we held a Paddle Ten-nis Championship for col-leagues at the Main Office andthe Burgos factories.

Around 70 people took part inthis tournament in the men’s,women’s and mixed doubles,organised by Iñigo Ortúñezand Marcelo Sanz, our col-leagues from the Roof Prod-ucts Department. Apart fromthe sports aspect, the tour-nament was also high in socialvalue. Off court, there werea lot of people that came upto watch the matches andcheer the players on as theyenjoyed the music andclutched drinks that provid-ed some respite from the pre-vailing heat.

At the end of many, wonder-ful matches, the winners

were: Angelo Semeria andSerafín Manso in the men’sdoubles, Laura Vivas andMaite González in thewomen’s and Sofía Setién andMarcelo Sanz in the mixeddoubles. However, all the dou-bles pairs should be congrat-ulated on their game andabove all, for the wonderfulatmosphere that reigned overthe tournament, and left mostpeople wishing for more.There are even some thatare calling for a winterchampionship!

The perfect finish to thesedays full of matches was pro-vided by the prize-giving cer-emony with various rafflesand a dinner on the 22nd.

We would like to take the op-portunity to thank everyonethat made the event possiblefor their collaboration, sincewithout their help, it wouldnever have come off. Wehope that this is the first ofmany tournaments tocome.

Master in Auto PartsTechnology


AmericanDTMtravels toEurope

DaimlerChrysler have an-nounced their return to the oldcontinent, and will do so withthe Dodge Caliber, the first ve-hicle to be equipped with aDTM of the 3 that are expect-ed to be manufactured inBelvidere.

The US manufacturer, Dodge,which forms an integral partof the Daimler-Chrysler con-sortium, kicks off its penetra-tion in Europe with its newCaliber model. The Caliber,which went from being a pro-totype at the 2005 GenevaMotor Show to become ageneral production model inless than 12 months, is fittedwith one of the DTMs pro-duced at our plant inBelvidere. This is where GrupoAntolin Illinois mounts andarranges the sequence fordoor modules that are sub-sequently sent to the plantowned by Chrysler in thesame town.

Daimler Chrysler’s C Platformis composed of three differentvehicles. For the moment, thePM-49 Caliber is already onthe market, but be warned,because the launching of theother two is just around thecorner.

A FILM AWARD

Yoshiharu Ashikaga, the son ofone of our colleagues at GAJapan, never imagined that thetrain in his drawing would leadhim to meet the most popularstars in Hollywood.

Aboard the “bullet” train,Shinkansen, in less than 3hours after he left Tokyo, hearrived at Universal StudiosJapan, the biggest theme parkdevoted to the film industry, inthe town of Osaka.

For a few days he enjoyed thelead role in the films that hehad seen so many times onthe big screen. He took ET tothe moon on his bicycle,though not before going withhis family to a party that hadbeen organised by his friendsfrom Sesame Street. He neverthought that Shrek with his in-separable donkey would flyover their heads on a flame-

throwing dragon. Watch outor else you’ll get burnt!

The tour round Tinsel Townled him to meet first-hand themonstrous dinosaurs fromJurassic Park, but that wasnothing compared with themoment the great whiteshark, JAWS, almost hurledthem out of the boat. Thatwas really terrifying! Thanks toSnoopy and his friends, theyhad some really exciting ad-ventures and he still had to seeSpiderman, Terminator, thewaterworld show and a greatmany more things.

Although he had the opportu-nity to return to the future inthe fantastic car, he wouldnow like to return to the pastand re-live those memoriesthat he will cherish forevermore and never ever forget.


From Leverkusen to Cologne,the city that, since last April,has been home to the new in-stallations of Grupo AntolinLogistik Deutschland.

The transfer of commercial ac-tivities for modular roof sys-tems for General Motors to-gether with the Main Officesof our logistic company in Ger-many has made it possible forour clients, Ford and GM, tocome together, thereby facili-tating communication be-tween both parties and thusby extension, our business re-lations.

The Leverkusen offices had be-come outmoded and therewas no longer enough spacefor everyone, so that thechange also meant a signifi-cant improvement in theworking conditions of those ofus here, and a better image ofthe company towards the out-side world.

DONA TerritoryCommitteeMeeting

On May 11th, the management staff of theNorth American Territory gathered to discussthe final 2005 Territory results, initial 2006results and to complete the next phase of theValue, Vision and Mission exercise that wasstarted in October of 2005.

The morning session, led by Miguel AngelVicente, informed the Territory Committee ofthe final results of the Territory for 2005 andthe 2006 results through the month of April.The following session was led by RussGoemaere, Executive Vice President of Salesand Marketing and the Key AccountManagers. The Commercial team laid out thefoundation of the DONA Strategic Sales Plan.Each KAM discussed the opportunities thatexist within their respective customer groupsand current product trends. The last sessionof the morning was a Quality presentation ledby John Anderson, which defined the Qualityorganization in DONA and set the strategy ofthe Quality function for the future.

The afternoon session was a collaborative ef-fort shared by the DONA Executive Committeeand the DONA DEOM team to discuss the ini-tial results and future actions of the Values,Vision and Mission initiative. Mr. Thomas Isaacs,DONA DEOM Manager, led the team through

the results of the responses from the employ-ees throughout the Territory. Jose IgnacioBonel, Technical Director Seats, showed the Ter-ritory Managers the results of the SWOT Analy-sis done by the DONA Executive Committee.The final discussion about the future actionswas accomplished by each member of theDONA Executive Committee. The results of theSWOT Analysis of the Territory had produced37 Action Lines. Members of the ExecutiveCommittee have ownership of the Action Linesand will be responsible for developing the nec-essary strategy and direction to accomplisheach of the 37 action lines.

The Territory Committee meeting was conclud-ed with a presentation by Mr. Temiño. JoséManuel Temiño informed the DONA manage-ment of the global results of the company in2005 and defined the objectives for the Terri-tory for the next five years. As a wrap up to themeeting, the territory managers then had theunique opportunity to ask questions of ourGlobal CEO who provided the group with theanswers and some insight into the future of thegroup..

Newoffices forLogistikDeutschland

Next stop:Quality corner in GA Turnov

EuropeanKAMs visit GrupoAntolinVosges

On 19th April, Grupo AntolinVosges received a visit fromDamián Gordo and all theKAMs from Europe. Our ref-erence centre for sunroofs on aglobal scale showed huge inter-est in finding out about the pe-culiarities and challenges of thisproduct, which despite some-times only being sold as a merecomponent of our modularroofs, is a part that is extreme-ly complicated to make.

After welcoming all the partic-ipants, Damian Gordo set outthe future challenges thatawait all of our products as awhole and for the sunroof inparticular. A visit to our fac-tory enabled everyone to dis-cover in situ the variousprocesses currently availablealong with the different tech-nologies used before continu-ing with a more detailed pres-entation at the hands of theManager, Andre Bodar, andGillas Vigo, the Head of theTechnical Department.

This presentation, followed bythe one given by NunchaMarañon from Marketingon the market study corre-sponding to sunroofs, en-abled the sales representa-tives to decide which decisionsare the most adequate forconsolidating our position onthe market. Francisco Cevera,from Roof Products, then ex-plained our global strategy,highlighting the constructionof a new production plant forsunroofs in Poland. Thisshould all go towards en-abling us to attain the positionof leader, for which the glob-al business objectives werefirst spelt out to all the KAMs,before consulting each oneabout the specific objectivesand opportunities for devel-opment open to each client.

The day concluded with thesatisfaction of a job well done:demonstrating that our tech-nological skills, our leadershipin roof applications and ourknowledge of the market pro-vide us with the keys to con-quering the sunroof market,not only as a product integrat-ed in the roof sector, but alsoas a product in its own right.

As you know, the QUALI-TY CAMPAIGN has started.Its main goal is to secure the re-quired level of supplies to a cus-tomer. Therefore, we shouldjoin the campaign together andtry to satisfy our customer’sneeds with maximum effort;otherwise, we will not be ableto expand to other projects.

The Quality Corner will con-tribute to the solving of theproblem during the productaudit and further, to the solv-ing of problems with respectto a product that we supply toour customer. All projects areinvolved and the vital task forus all will be a gradual remedy-ing of all non-compliance.

The Quality Corner will regular-ly evaluate goals and precau-tions of the individual projects.A key factor will be an analy-sis of the non-compliance andits causes. Appointed personsresponsible for specific instances of non-compliancewill note down the problemson a so-called STOP CARD andwill monitor their evaluation.This Corner will also serve forpreventive measures.

I look forward to being active-ly involved in cooperating withyou!



Apart from the people specifically mentioned in these pages, we would like to thank the following for their collaboration: Alfred Richter (GA NorthAmerica), Troy Curran (GA North America), Ayako Maeshiba (GA Japan), José Antonio Lazcano (GA Silao), Regiane Claro (Trimtec),Frantisek Hejlík (GA Turnov), David Brunette (GA France), Martina Knauf (GA Logistik Deutschland), Paquita Herreros (GA Irausa), JoséAntonio Sancha (GA Irausa), Javier Pérez (GA Irausa), Estrella Ruiz (GA Irausa), Mónica Calzada (GA Irausa), Susana Sancho (GAIrausa), Olivier Maljean (GA Irausa), TQM Team (GA Irausa), Pablo Baroja (GA Irausa), Ricardo Manzanas (GA Ingenieria), IñigoOrtúñez (GA Ingenieria), Javier Moreno (GA Ingenieria), Pavel Horàk (GA Turnov), Victoria Ezquerro (GA Ingeniería), Virginia Morales(GA Ingenieria) and Alberto Sáez (GA Ingenieria).

Acknowledgements

SuccessfulR+Daudit atTanisOn 17th May, PSA conduct-ed an R+D Audit on doorpanels at Tanis, which tookplace at the R+D Centre atGrupo Antolin.

This audit turned out to behighly successful, not only be-cause of the result obtained-with an A for both Aptitudeand Performance-, but alsobecause R+D involvement atTanis was seen to be coherentwith PSA strategy.

The audit consisted of threeparts: the first was an assess-ment of Aptitude at Tanis, thesecond, the assessment ofPerformance in projects forPSA, and finally, a visit to ourinstallations.

Attention can be drawn tothe positive view professedby PSA regarding the workcarried out prior to the devel-opmental stages, with themwanting to continue, andeven anticipating more workwith respect to the initialdevelopments of the projects.

PSA also underlined the factthat the audit was well pre-pared by Tanis, with a largedegree of involvement by thetwo “maisons mères”.

Debut of the CENIT REVELATION programmeOPPORTUNITY, was the word chosen byJosé Antolin to launch the REVELATIONprogramme on 11th May in Grupo Antolin’sAuditorium.

This programme will open up new lines ofinnovative work on interior trim for the car,bringing the textile and car industries closer

together, as it will be recalled we mentionedin the previous Magazine.

The presentation was attended by the topmanagement from the various companies,technological institutes and universities whowere involved in the project and took anactive part in its development.

Daeki-Kietert at GrupoAntolinRepresentatives from the Ko-rean company, Daeki Automo-tive, visited our Main Office on

9th May, for a meeting with ourcompany’s Top Management.

Daeki, who in turn have anagreement with the Germancompany, Kietert, concentratemost of their activity on man-ufacturing door locks and arealso suppliers for the Hyundaigroup, which, as you know,is one of the car manufactur-

ers that has experienced mostgrowth in recent years. Thismeeting marks the startingpoint for the possible entryof our Group in the market fordoor modules made by theaforementioned Korean man-ufacturer, in an attempt fun-damentally to take advantageof the projects it is developingoutside Korea.

W ith the advent of summer, andthe ensuing increase in tempera-tures, problems also arise with

health associated with heat and linked tothe food we eat, which means precautionshave to be stepped up and we have to re-main always on the alert. Amongst otherconsequences, heat makes it easier to catchcertain contagious diseases through whatwe eat: food does not keep so well and thisfacilitates the growth of certain micro-or-ganisms that cause such poisoning.

Gastroenteritis is an infection and/or in-flammation of the stomach lining and theintestine, which occurs due to the rapid

multiplication of micro-organisms andmay be caused by a virus or by infectedfood or medicines. Normally, the signs areabdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea and/orvomiting, sometimes accompanied byshivering, excessive perspiration, cold, wetskin, dizziness, aching muscles, and/orstiffness in the joints. Beware becausesymptoms for gastroenteritis can also ap-pear that are associated with the incu-bation of other illnesses that have noth-ing to do with this condition, althoughthey have similar signs and symptoms.

In the event of suffering from food poi-soning, specialists recommend keeping

Handle foodWITH CARE

Recommendations for avoiding foodpoisoning during the summer

Maite SadornilMEDICAL DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS, GA DAPSA AND GA EUROTRIM

Year after year we hear and read the same advice: handle food withcare because contagious diseases passed on through food are morecommon at this time of year. Is it true that food poisoning increasesduring the summer months?

HEALTH



the body hydrated by drinking plenty ofwater and following a strict diet afterthe second or third day. Under no circum-stances should any antibiotics or remediesfor diarrhoea be taken unless indicated bythe doctor, who should be consulted ifthere is persistent pain or a very high tem-perature.

The main groups at risk of suffering tox-ic food poisoning are those populationsfound in the two extreme age groups(children and the elderly) and those pa-tients with chronic diseases that need totake medicine on a regular basis, suchas diabetics, those suffering from chronicbronchitis or immunodepression, etc. Thisis not because they have a greater facili-ty for contracting gastroenteritis, butrather that more careful treatment needsto be given, since its clinical evolutionmight be more complicated. In the eventof requiring treatment, this should not en-tail any interaction with the rest of the patient’s usual medication.

Advice for avoidingfood poisoning

Experts recommend that the precautionsto be taken are those that are usually ob-served for the purposes of prevention,which are summarised as follows:

· Keep food refrigerated during the sum-mer and avoid consuming anything thathas been left at room temperature.

· Be careful with food prepared in saucescontaining egg: consume bottled mayon-naise or, failing this, immediately after ithas been prepared.

· Be vigilant when consuming raw fishand seafood, and also ‘home-made’ icecream.

· Be careful about consuming meat thatis cooked rare (common in the case ofhamburgers).

· Cook food until the correct tempera-ture has been reached, which should behigh enough to kill any potentially harm-ful bacteria.

· Take care when drinking non-treatedwater, by boiling and chlorinating it bothfor drinking purposes and also to washfood that is to be eaten raw.

· Make sure your hands are clean when-ever you are going to handle food.

And...“if you are in anydoubt, throw it away.”

• Detroit

Lake Superior

Lake

Mic

higa

n

Lake Huron

ON THE WAY

Michigan

T he three largest income-produc-ing industries in Michigan are man-ufacturing, tourism and agriculture.

Michigan leads the nation in automo-bile manufacturing and is the home of theBig Three automakers: General MotorsCorp., DaimlerChrysler AG and Ford Mo-tor Co. Michigan also manufactures awide variety of other products. Theseinclude non-electric machinery, furni-ture and appliances, cereal, baby food,chemicals, pharmaceuticals and lumber.The number of workers in manufacturingjobs totals 885,040 (State Profile, 2005).

In spite of urban expansion into farmlands, the state still has about 53,000farms with a total of 10.1 million acres.The state ranks first nationally in the pro-duction of dry black beans, blueberries,pickling cucumbers, flowering hangingbaskets, impatiens and geraniums.

The tourist business is one of Michigan’slargest income producers. Travelers toand in Michigan spent about $17.5 bil-lion; among the best-known tourist at-tractions are:

· Detroit’s auto plants, · Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield

Village.

Escape on one of 10,000 inland lakes to fish, canoe, kayak or sail. Board a boat for asunset cruise. Find yourself sipping wine at one of our award winning wineries. Or spenda relaxing day on the links. Michigan is sizzling with a tremendous menu of things to seeand do all over the state. This summer plan a trip to Michigan to explore our twopeninsulas and four Great Lakes. Join us for a road trip along our 3,200 miles oflakeshore to unspoiled beaches and authentic beach towns.

CANADA

…a state on wheels


· Holland’s Tulip Festival and Windmill Island. · Isle Royale. · Sleeping Bear Dunes. · Soo Locks. · State Capitol. · Straits area, which features Fort Michili-

mackinac, the Mackinac Bridge andMackinac Island.

· Tahquamenon Falls.

Around the State…

There are plenty of things to do in Detroit.Tour the home of the Motown sound orvisit Greektown, one of Detroit's famousnightlife, restaurant and entertainmentdistricts. Stop by the new Campus Martiusin the heart of the city for summer long ac-tivities. Catch a baseball game at Com-erica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, orbrowse the many museums in Detroit'sCultural Center.

Find out how Motown spins its wheelsduring a tour of the River Rouge Ford Plantat The Henry Ford Museum, with a be-hind-the-scenes tour of the new DearbornTruck Plant's Final Assembly building.

Western Michigan

From St. Joseph to Frankfort, the westernside of the state has many beautiful touristlocations and hundreds of miles of sandybeaches on the shores of Lake Michigan.In western and northern Michigan, thereare many resorts that cater to those whoenjoy the outdoors for hiking, golfing anddownhill or cross-country skiing.

In Grand Rapids, discover the beauty andsplendor of Frederik Meijer Gardens &Sculpture Park. Additionally, visitors cancheck out the expanding Grand RapidsArts Museum, or visit the Oval Office at theGerald R. Ford Museum.

Holland, Michigan is home to the worldfamous Tulip Time festival each May,when more than six million tulips burstinto bloom as the town celebrates itsDutch heritage.

Northern Michigan

A five-mile bridge (8.6 km.), includingapproaches, connects the state’s lowerpeninsula to the upper peninsula. TheMackinac Bridge is the world's longestsuspension bridge between cable an-chorages.

Mackinac Island was a sacred tribal gath-ering place to Native Americans, whocalled it Michilimackinac, Land of theGreat Turtle, for the creature theythought it resembled. In 1895 it becameMichigan's first state park. The rich his-tory of French, British and American set-tlements is told at the restored 1780Fort Mackinac high on the bluff over-looking the straits and at five historicbuildings in town. Transportation toMackinac Island is limited to boats andby ferry or by plane. Modes of trans-portation on the island are limited tobicycles, horse-drawn carriages andwalking. No motorized vehicles are per-mitted on the island.

In Traverse City (and surrounding areas),there are many summer tourist activi-ties and locations to visit. The annualCherry Festival draws many visitors. TheSleeping Bear National Park is a populartourist attraction. The Sleeping BearDunes National Lakeshore encompassesa 60 km (35 mi.) stretch of Lake Michi-gan's eastern coastline, as well as Northand South Manitou Islands. The park wasestablished primarily for its outstandingnatural features, including forests, beach-es, dune formations, and ancient gla-cial phenomena.

Visit Canada

Not that there isn’t plenty to do in Michi-gan, but one of the great appeals of thestate is that you can be in another countryin just a few minutes. The eastern andnorthern borders of the state allow mul-tiple points of access into Canada. FromMichigan, visitors have an entrance intoanother country with many of its ownwonderful features.

Name Origin Derived from the Indianword Michigama, meaning great or

large lake.Area Michigan is the 10th largest state in

the Union (combined land and waterarea).

· 58,110 square miles of land · 1,305 square miles of inland water · 38,575 square miles of Great Lakes

water area· 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline

· 11,037 inland lakesPopulation According to the 2000

census, the population of Michigan is9,938,444 (8th in the Union).

Weather In winter the minimumtemperature ranges from 16ºF to 30ºFalthough a few days a year it can drop

below 0ºF. In summer, the minimumtemperature is about 60ºF where as the

maximum hovers around 82ºF,there only being a few days when it

climbs to above 90ºF.Currency US $ Dollars

Language English Useful links

· www.michigan.gov· www.visitdetroit.com


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