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E/E Architecture for Commercial and Specialty Vehicles

As demands on the Electrical/Electronic Architecture systems of commercial and specialty vehicles increase, Delphi is poised to provide high value E/E systems.

Count on our E/E Architecture expertise

Construction and farm equipment. Boats and motorcycles. More and more, commercial and specialty vehicles like these are expected to deliver the same performance levels -- and creature comforts -- as those found in the family car or SUV. That includes more high-tech engine management systems to meet emissions and fuel economy regulations, enhanced active safety systems, and even more information and entertainment options. All on top of their primary tasks, whether it's delivering produce to market on time or simply providing a cruise on the lake.

Delphi, long known as an automotive industry leader in Electrical/Electronic (E/E) Architecture design and development, can help make it happen. By leveraging its expertise and applying its electrical and electronic production capabilities, Delphi can provide the same kinds of benefits to commercial and specialty vehicle manufacturers that other OEMs have come to expect.

"Our customers can count on Delphi to deliver quality, excellence, cost competitiveness, optimized designs, strong customer service and support, and flexible, low-volume manufacturing," said Paul Falete, customer business unit director, Commercial and Specialty Vehicles. "It all adds up to high-value system solutions that meet the unique needs of commercial and specialty vehicle manufacturers."

Working hard and playing hard

In any vehicle, the E/E Architecture represents the overall electrical and electronic system and subsystem design, physical and functional partitioning, and the physical layout of subsystems within a vehicle. An efficient E/E Architecture is necessary to support reliable delivery of power, signals, and data across the network.

The important difference between the E/E Architecture systems in average passenger cars or trucks and those found in commercial and specialty vehicles is the latter need to be more robust to stand up to extreme environments and longer operating hours. They also need to meet similar requirements relating to data networks, diagnostics, fault tolerance, physical and functional partitioning, power and signal networks, and energy management.

"When developing an E/E Architecture system, Delphi looks for ways to enhance the value of the overall vehicle," said Falete. "Commercial and specialty vehicle manufacturers are looking for systems that will provide their products with a competitive edge, and those can often be enhanced by an optimized E/E Architecture design."

Delphi can optimize an E/E Architecture system in a number of ways:

• Functionality: A broader platform coverage, additional feature accommodations, and improved diagnostics
• Mass: Electronics and functional integration, simplified wiring (smaller gauge size and connections), and more efficient use of materials
• Packaging space: Smaller, distributed electronics as well as innovative packaging schemes and smaller wire bundles
• Cost: Less material, efficient design, and lower labor requirements
• Reliability: Fewer interconnects, reliable data networks, easier installation, and less pinch, cut, and chafe

"Our total systems approach and our engineering and design expertise have yielded efficient results for our customers," said Nicholas Cassudakis, director of E/E systems in North America. "From concept to production, Delphi is committed to manufacturing world-class E/E Architecture systems for virtually any application imaginable."

Visionary Master Architect

Many commercial and specialty vehicle manufacturers already have working relationships with Delphi in other areas. For example, Delphi is a leading producer of automotive wiring in North America. Delphi has also attracted attention throughout the industry with its commitment to providing capable engineering and manufacturing teams specifically dedicated to E/E Architecture development and production.

"Delphi is one of the companies that has consistently raised the standards in manufacturing excellence for not only automotive manufacturers, but also for all industry manufacturers," said Cassudakis.

Delphi offers more than components -- it offers a four-phase E/E Architecture design delivery system -- an unrivaled technical "tool kit" with unique software that helps its engineers sort through literally thousands of alternative architectures to find the best few that merit additional consideration. It all begins by listening to the customer to establish needs, then generating a set of options. After all alternatives are closely analyzed and the best options are selected, the designs begin to take shape as the subsystem and component requirements are established. Delphi completes the process by creating and validating the final design.

"Delphi has an established business that has all the capabilities necessary to provide proven quality while being cost competitive," said Falete. "We are at our best when completely designing an effective E/E Architecture system rather than building to specification. We're excited about the expanded possibilities our full-service portfolio is providing to our global, diverse commercial and specialty vehicle customers."

For more information about Delphi's E/E architecture for commercial and specialty vehicles, please contact a Delphi representative at [1] 248.813.2334.

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