Projects

Many of the projects to which STA Consultnats have contributed are still in the process of development; due to customer confidentiality we are unable to disclose certain information on this site, therfore this page remains under constant review, please check this page in the future for further updates. Some of the projects which have now been brought to the marketplace are briefly described below.

Meanwhile if you require more information regarding our current clients or projects delivered, please contact us via the e-mail link or phone numbers on our "Contact Us" page.

United Kingdon – Nissan Design Europe – "Juke" Scale Models

As part of the Nissan Sales and Marketing campaign for the new "Juke" range of vehicles (released in June 2010) Nissan commissioned the manufacture of 200, 30% scale models for display in each of its UK main dealerships.

The models were based on the orignal "Juke" styling model and manufactured from a GRP body shell with injection moulded "bolt on" items.

Each model was hand finished, painted and assembled to the exacting standards required by Nissan Design Europe, before being loaded into specially designed display cabinets for delivery to each of the UK Nissan dealerships.

The models were delivered to the dealerships ahead of the launch of "Juke" to promote awareness, create customer enthusiasm and promote vehicle sales.

Republic of Uzbekistan – GM Uzbekistan – Nexia N150

The aim of this project was to facelift one of our customers current vehicles, giving it a new look and a longer “Sales Life” within their major export market. In addition, the customer’s engineers would benefit from on the job training in the design, development and introduction of some major vehicle systems and components. For the exterior the project consisted of new front and rear bumpers and their associated impact absorbers, trunk lid assembly, front and rear lighting and radiator grille. The interior was a complete renewal of the instrument panel, driver control interface systems, ICE and door trim systems.

As well as overall project management of the facelift program, our role was to specify and coordinate the development team within the customer’s organisation, develop and agree the new interior and exterior vehicle styling, design all new and modified components, liaison with the tool makers and component manufacturers in Europe and Asia, introduce new quality systems and processes at all tier 1 suppliers and ensure the customers facilities were ready for the introduction of the new vehicle.

The project was coordinated from the customers headquarters in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), liaising closely with the design facility in Coventry (U.K). and the customers manufacturing facility in Asaka (Uzbekistan). The project involved close working relationships with all our customers internal departments from Legal and financial through manufacturing and production engineering to logistics and customs clearance.

The vehicle went into mass production in the spring of 2008 with a manufacturing target of 100,000 units per annum over an expected 5 year model life.

India – Tata Motors – Sumo and Telcoline (T.L.)

Tata Motors required a partner who could provide cost effective, high speed styling and design engineering for the facelift of their two Light Commercial Vehicles (the Sumo S.U.V. and the Telcoline Pickup).

Our role was to project manage the styling and design engineering phases of the program, coordinating styling activities in Coventry (U.K.), commercial activities in Mumbai (India) and engineering development in Pune (India).

Working with different teams in 3 locations and across 5 time zones required high standards of communication and data management, made possible by our innovative use of web a based communication and data transfer systems.

From concept to hand over of engineering data, we kept the customer effectively informed of all styling, engineering and commercial issues as well as design changes and problem resolutions, allowing our customer to complete a timely and successful launch of the two model lines.

Islamic Republic of Iran – Iran Khodro - Samand (X7)

At the start of our relationship with Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) they were already the largest automotive producer in Iran, with the objective of creation and management of factories to manufacture, sell and export various vehicles. We were asked to partner IKCO in their first major vehicle development project, namely to design, develop and manufacture the first Iranian National Car.

IKCO was, for many years, a semi knock down (SKD) assembler of older European models, the aim of the IKCO management was to have the ability to design and develop their own products allowing greater volumes of components to be localised; this in turn developing the local supplier base and reducing the hard currency spend of the group.

Our role was to lead the overall management of the project as well as acting as technical partners to all departments involved in the new vehicle program, at the same time as introducing a complete project management system for the development of new vehicles.

This project proved most challenging. At the time IKCO had only limited resource with experience in automotive development as well as having only a small R&D facility. As well as leading IKCO staff in the introduction of a facelift vehicle we were also involved in the facilitation of the R&D Centre, development of the local suppliers, introduction of quality systems and staff training both in Iran and the U.K. The project culminated in the successful launch of the "Iranian National Car" amid massive media interest.

Islamic Republic of Iran – Iran Khodro – Research and Development Centre

The existing R&D facilities consisted of a small workshop, several small offices and a group of engineers shared with the Product Engineering department. Our customer fully understood that a new, larger facility was required and gave us a brief which included liaison with the architect and contractors to ensure the new building would adequately house a functional and expandable research centre.

Also included in our brief was the design and facilitation of all workshops, offices, engineering and styling rooms as well as developing a new Management Information System with which to manage the new projects being introduced within the centre.

The R&D centre was opened in time to accept the first of many projects which have now been introduced by our customer; the centre currently has the best facilities for automotive research and development in Iran. The centre now has many state of the art machines and facilites and employs a staff of around 500 personnel working on internal and external projects.

Islamic Republic of Iran – Iran Khodro – State Limousine

As part of a larger program, this project was devised for 2 reasons.

Firstly to provide training in many of the aspects of prototype vehicle manufacturing required in an automotive R&D centre and secondly to provide vehicles required for dignitaries and guests visiting the Islamic Conference in Tehran. Our role was to project manage the entire process from conception to delivery.

An initial development prototype was manufactured to assess the customer’s current understanding of work scope definition, budget compilation, skill requirements, facility requirements, process needs and manufacturing ability. With the data gathered and a manufacturing plan agreed, the project was given the funding to produce a low volume batch run of saleable vehicles. A dedicated assembly facility was procured and a small assembly line installed allowing a sequenced and controlled manufacturing process to be developed and followed.

For our customer, the delivery of the vehicles on time and on budget was a major milestone, however in terms of development of the staff and processes required for the R&D centre, the results, although not immediately obvious, were of a much greater long term value.

United Kingdom - Scottish Co-operative/Vauxhall Motors – State Limousine

As a joint project with the Scottish Co-operative Funeral Service and Vauxhall Motors the completion of 22 state limousines was moved from the Vauxhall Special Vehicles workshops in Luton, to a manufacturing facility in Coventry.

Our role was to manage the project closure in Luton; transportation of the vehicles, parts and technical data; set up and facilitation of new workshops in Coventry; manufacture and procurement of the necessary BIW, trim and power-train components necessary for the conversion; build BIW shells and fully trim the vehicles to our customers specification; test and verify the vehicles for road use; ship vehicles to customers facilities in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The 22 vehicles were completed and delivered in 20 weeks using a team of 1 project manager (Jon Steane) and 15 technicians (1 press works, 5 BIW manufacturing, 2 BIW build, 2 trim, 1 power-train, 1 electrical, 1 paint, 1 test, 1 logistics).