Special Coverage
Management Briefing Seminars
TRAVERSE CITY, MI – The Auto/Steel Partnership presents Center for Automotive Research Chairman Dave Cole with its prestigious Founder’s Award at the Management Briefing Seminars here for his role in the creation of the Auto/Steel Partnership two decades ago.
Roger Heimbuch, executive director of the Auto/Steel Partnership, says the award recognizes Cole’s vision and leadership in the mid-1980s in helping to bring the automotive and steel industries together to address common issues that could strengthen both industries.
“Dave was instrumental in conceiving the Auto/Steel partnership by getting the auto and steel industries on the same side of the table to address problems rather than cast blame on each other,” Heimbuch says.
“Dave was a catalyst in laying the foundation for the partnership,” adds Ron Krupitzer, vice president-automotive applications, American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Formed in 1987, the Auto/Steel Partnership is a consortium of the AISI Automotive Applications Committee, Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. and is dedicated to ensuring steel remain competitive against alternative materials.
Through the Auto/Steel Partnership, auto makers and steel companies have worked to drive improvements through projects focused on new steels, manufacturing processes and design challenges such as mass reduction with steel.
