The merger of Arvin Industries, Inc. and Meritor Automotive, Inc., creates ArvinMeritor, Inc. (NYSE: ARM), and provides numerous technological and service benefits for the company’s worldwide light vehicle, commercial truck and aftermarket customers. ArvinMeritor brings together a combination of innovation, capabilities and resources to establish a more significant global enterprise.
Through a larger, more diversified product, service and market portfolio, the new company offers imaginative solutions and services for OEMs, new vehicle and aftermarket end-users.
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Corner Module Components and Engineering Come Together
ArvinMeritor has formed a new Light Vehicle Systems (LVS) corner module assembly group to integrate its complete line of undercarriage components and to market the corner module to light vehicle OEM customers. The new group’s goal is to be an industry-leading Tier One supplier of coil springs, shock absorbers, struts, stabilizer bars and torsion bars.
The group brings together technological expertise and highly engineered products from the Arvin Ride & Motion Control Division (ARMC); Arvin’s joint venture Arvin-Kayaba (A-K); and from the Meritor Suspension Systems Company (MSSC), a joint venture between Meritor and Mitsubishi Steel Manufacturing Co. of Japan.
The combination of ARMC and MSSC positions the new ArvinMeritor’s LVS business to supply more than 60 percent of the content of a front-corner module to OEM customers. The business expects corner modules to account for more than 50 percent of its corner module and assembly group’s business by 2005. The company currently provides OEM customers with upper-corner modules that include shock absorbers or struts, coil springs, spring seats, isolators, bearings and top mounts. It also provides OEMs with full corner modules that include the upper corner plus, knuckles and spindles, hubs and studs, bearings and seals, discs and calipers, or drum brake assemblies and brake hoses.
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By GlobalDataWith modularization, OEM customers expect suppliers like ArvinMeritor to be involved partners in their total business process. The new module and assembly group enables ArvinMeritor to leverage its current assembly facilities in North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific to supply corner module assemblies to customers’ locations worldwide. This global capability facilitates communication and logistics, as well as allows active participation in an OEM customer’s just-in-time, sequenced vehicle assembly process.
“We are positioned to combine our global expertise in upper-corner design and production with the capabilities of the leading manufacturer of coil springs. The synergies relating to our technologies and components strengthen our ability to provide a complete corner module to our customers,” said Robert Carlstedt, vice president and general manager, Suspension System Engineering, ArvinMeritor Ride & Motion Control Products.
Modules are groups of components and subsystems arranged in close physical proximity to each other within a vehicle, and which, when integrated into a single unit, provide a wide range of manufacturing and performance benefits to OEMs. Those benefits include increased cost savings, fewer components, reduced inventory, enhanced reliability and less assembly time.
“The synergistic combination joins two premier original equipment suppliers with highly complementary products, leading market positions, strong management teams, and excellent design, engineering, production and testing technologies,” said Robert Patrician, president, ArvinMeritor Suspension Systems Company.
Addressing Tougher Truck Emissions Standards
New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposals, aimed at reducing heavy truck and bus emissions, present a significant opportunity for ArvinMeritor Exhaust Systems to transfer its proven emissions-reduction and acoustics technologies from the light vehicle markets to the commercial vehicle side.
The EPA’s new regulations call for significant reductions in fuel sulfur, nitrogen oxide and non-methane hydrocarbon levels in heavy commercial trucks over the next 10 years. Developing new systems to meet these more stringent emission standards is a major area of potential growth for ArvinMeritor.
“Our merger links Meritor’s strong and long-standing understanding of the global commercial vehicle industry and our many customer relationships with Arvin’s proven emissions-management technology, creating an expertise unrivaled among commercial heavy-duty exhaust suppliers,” said Wes Vance, president, ArvinMeritor Exhaust Systems. “With our product and engineering expertise, we have a significant opportunity to take a leadership role at the very time market forces are demanding new levels of emissions performance.”
According to Vance, Exhaust Systems has proven its expertise to balance engineering for enhanced performance and noise reduction against the packaging and weight restrictions of heavy-duty trucks. The new company already has a variety of technologies that produce weight and performance improvements, which will help the OEM customers in achieving the new emissions standards.
“Any supplier can meet the emissions standards, but then diesel mileage becomes a problem,” said Vance. “And, any supplier can meet the sound requirements, but then weight increases. Our proven specialty is overcoming both of these obstacles.”
In addition to new systems, retrofit emissions systems for existing vehicles in Europe offer another substantial business opportunity. All heavy-duty trucks in Europe must meet Stage IV restrictions by 2006.
To begin the process, ArvinMeritor has scheduled meetings with major customers to best determine how to quickly deliver solutions for their new emissions needs.
Aftermarket E-Commerce
ArvinMeritor’s new online replacement parts catalog and ordering system, which is expected to launch during the fourth quarter, will significantly speed turnaround for the company’s Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket distributors and OEM service customers. Later, it also will handle replacement parts ordering for the company’s light vehicle aftermarket customers.
The new ArvinMeritor aftermarket global e-commerce Web site will initially catalog Meritor and Euclid brand parts. It is an enhancement of the industry-leading Xpressway(TM) CD, an electronic catalog featuring details and photos of more than 100,000 ArvinMeritor Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket products.
While anyone can browse the online parts catalog, only authorized, established U.S. parts outlets with valid ID, password and customer profile on record, can place orders during the first phase of the program. Services include stock orders or emergency orders for customers who need repair parts within 24 hours.
Customers who order through the ArvinMeritor system will benefit from Web access to parts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The system uses real-time links to distribution centers, where customers can check the price and availability of products before they order. Once an online order is submitted, the system allocates the parts for that specific customer and releases the parts for shipment. Later, customers can check the status of these orders, and track the shipment of these orders through links to freight carrier Web sites.
Developers of the Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket system also are creating subsequent stages of the system, which will integrate ArvinMeritor Light Vehicle Aftermarket products, offering more ordering options for OEM customers and access for Canadian customers.
The company also recently introduced its Light Vehicle Aftermarket business-to- business (B2B), Web-enabled product interchange. To make it even easier to do business with ArvinMeritor, the recently launched online service provides aftermarket customers with instant access to real-time order status information. With a “click,” customers can check on the status of a specific order; get invoice details; review accounts receivable information and product application data; and access competitive product interchange capabilities.
Roll Coater
ArvinMeritor’s Roll Coater business is actively pursuing new opportunities in the light vehicle aperture (roofs and doors), commercial trailer products, and bus and coach markets. As a result, the business sees an immediate opportunity to capture new sales for this innovative process that is now available for vehicle body applications. This natural path to market for the new company did not exist to this extent, prior to the merger.
ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier $7.5-billion global transportation industry supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components, serving light vehicle, commercial truck, trailer and specialty original equipment manufacturers and related aftermarkets. In addition, the company is the leader in coil coating applications, including those for the transportation, appliance, construction and furniture industries. The company is headquartered in Troy, Mich., and employs 36,500 people at more than 120 facilities in 25 countries. ArvinMeritor’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ARM. For more information on ArvinMeritor, visit the company’s worldwide Web site at: www.arvinmeritorinc.com .
