Dana & the quadruple win.

One of the best ways for automotive suppliers to be competitive is by taking imaginative approaches to resource utilization. This is what Dana Corp. (Toledo, OH) will be doing for Land Rover for a forthcoming mid-sized vehicle. According to Bill Carroll, president of Dana's Automotive Systems Group, the company has been selected to provide frames for the vehicle. The frames were co-designed by Dana and Land Rover. These frames will be fabricated using Dana's patented Robo-Clamp process, which is a cost-effective approach that's especially useful for producing long-parts like frame rails. But Dana won't actually be making the rails.

Ordinarily, a company like Dana would set up a facility in the U.K. to supply Land Rover with the rails, But rather than doing that, the company has established a partnership with GKN Sankey Ltd., which has available space in its facility in Telford, Shropshire, U.K, which currently produces frames for the Land Rover Discovery. The 50-50 joint venture operation will be dedicated to assembling the frames for Land Rover. The hydroforming of the frame rails, however, will be performed by a third party, which has invested in the Robo-Clamp equipment. This company will pay Dana a licensing fee for the use of the process. All of which means: The customer will get a strong frame. Dana gets a good contract. GKN Sankey gets a contract and fills some unused space in a facility. And the unnamed third party gets work, too. Sounds like a quadruple win.