Idaho tech hits the road with automotive industry – Local firms find niches in cars, trucks, engines

Move over, Detroit.

Idaho is shouldering in on your automotive industry.

Sort of.

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman

Idaho doesn´t make the vehicles — its technology firms just help make them smarter.

Idaho technology businesses make everything from microchip sensors that automatically dim mirrors to back-up alarms for industrial vehicles to software that allows drivers to voice-activate their wireless devices.

With the vast automotive industry becoming more reliant on electronics, it´s not surprising that technology industries here are looking for a bigger piece of the action.

A number of Idaho companies have seen increases in sales to the automotive industry in recent years and expect that market to grow. From Micron Technology to AMI Semiconductor to ECCO to Extended Systems — each has a piece of the worldwide automotive market.

Western Electronics, a contract manufacturing company based in Meridian, has seen more business recently in the automotive market, and plans to pursue further sales in this area.

“We definitely see this as a growing market with electronic technology providing engine enhancements,” said Lyle Jordan, president and CEO of Western Electronics. “This market is huge where you can get more power with cleaner and less fuel consumption. This applies to trucks, cars and motorcycles (for) high performance or day-to-day performance.”

While Jordan wouldn´t disclose customer names for competitive reasons, he said his firm has contracts with a high-performance motorcycle business and a large truck engine business.

“We have started business with both these companies in the past six months,” said Jordan. “Currently, this new business is about 3 percent of our business, and we expect this will grow to be 8 percent — possibly higher — in 2004.”

Jordan said the two automotive market customers Western Electronics now has are anticipating their products expanding into cars.

“When this happens, their product demand will increase substantially,” he said.

Even at Micron Technology, known best for making memory chips for personal computers, the automotive market is a growth area, said Micron spokesman Dave Parker.

With electronics common throughout the engine, the braking system, and in the interior of the automobile, Micron has seen more opportunities in this area and even custom-makes an imaging sensor for one major automotive customer. That sensor is used in “electro chromatic” mirrors, explained Parker, and detects the level of light available. That information is sent to a microprocessor, which in turn tells the mirror whether to lighten or darken.

“Micron has interacted with this market for several years, and we are beginning to focus on it more and more as a core market segment, based on the growing number of automotive applications for our products,” Parker said.

At AMI Semiconductor in Pocatello, sales to the automotive industry represent 25 percent of its business. The firm designs, develops and manufactures custom chips used in a number of automotive parts, including safety devices, the power train and body electronics.

“We are a key provider to the global automotive industry and are proud of the relationships we have built with car manufacturers and automotive suppliers around the world,” said Arlen Wittrock, AMI spokesman. “It is our goal to grow this part of our business.”

Smarter cars

Imagine hands-free driving in an automobile.

Technology already exists that can keep a vehicle centered between the white lines and automatically keep a safe distance behind the next vehicle on the freeway.

And how about having a car that knows when your teen-ager is driving — through a specially programmed ignition key — and won´t let him go faster than 55 miles per hour?

Navigation systems, in-vehicle entertainment systems, even auto-pilot driving — the list of what´s coming goes on and on.

Joseph Ziomek, a consultant in automotive electronics, has seen it all, and says more is coming. “Technology companies, electronics companies, manufacturing companies — the automotive market is a growth industry for all of those areas,” said Ziomek, who is based in Florida and serves on several electronics committees for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. “It´s growing tremendously because of all the new content. Electronics is so pervasive that eventually it will be to the point of taking over the whole vehicle.”

That day isn´t too far away.

Currently, about 20 percent of the value of a vehicle is in its electronics content, said Ziomek. By 2010, that figure is expected to be between 30 and 40 percent, and by 2015 it could be up to 50 percent, he said.

“What´s happened over the past few years is the industry realized it can make dumb components, put electronics on it, and make them smart,” said Ziomek, who spent 17 years working for Ford Motor Co. “The mechanical folks saw they could customize the electrical stuff and not need so many components.”

For instance, take an antilock braking system. Ziomek explained that instead of a manufacturer needing to make 15 different systems for a variety of vehicles, it would only need to make a few systems — and then use software to calibrate for difference in vehicle weights or types.

“It becomes a savings for everyone,” Ziomek said. “The car is going to become easier to use, more convenient and safer — and all this will be done through electronics.”

Idaho technology

Even analytical software firm ProClarity Corp. has sales to the automotive industry, with customers ranging from Audi to Toyota to Pennzoil-QuakerState.

Their product, however, doesn´t end up in the vehicle. ProClarity makes analytical software that helps firms sort through masses of data, such as financial information, supply chain operations, or quality processes in manufacturing.

That is in sharp contrast to Extended Systems, another software firm that targets the automotive industry with specific technology called Bluetooth, a short-range wireless application.

This technology allows a driver to verbally “dial” a number, without having to remove her cell phone from a purse or briefcase. It´s the Bluetooth technology, embedded in the car, that picks up the verbal command and sends the information to the cell phone. The driver can then have a conversation — talking into thin air — and the Bluetooth software acts as a go-between for the driver and the cell phone.

“Future uses of Bluetooth in automobiles includes car diagnostics and increased use with other consumer devices, such as MP3 downloads,” said David Hofacker, Universal Mobile Connectivity business unit manager at Extended Systems.

DashSmart Inc., a recent start-up firm in the Treasure Valley, also attempts to make cell phone communication safe for motorists. The firm targets real estate professionals with a system that consists of a separate cell phone, PDA and a base that can be placed in the vehicle. The DashSmart product, made to be installed in vehicles, sends and receives data, provides access to the Multiple Listing Service and provides a hands-free option for cell phone use.

Another firm, 55 Brake Co., makes an electronic parking brake control system meant for trucks, buses and specialty equipment that use air brakes. The firm has about 40 of its units, which prevents movement in a parked vehicle, installed in school buses in seven states.

And, of course, two longtime Treasure Valley firms — Preco and ECCO — design and manufacture back-up alarms as well as lightbars and warning lights for industrial and service vehicles. ECCO also makes cameras that can be installed in the rear of large vehicles, with a monitor installed in the cab, so that the driver can see what is behind the vehicle.

Preco recently began making global positioning systems, which allow the vehicle owner to locate the vehicle from any Web-enabled device, as well as for navigation purposes.

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Julie Howard
[email protected] or 373-6618

http://www.idahostatesman.com/story.asp?ID=47456