Brave new world: fast-track manufacturing techniques are shaking up how products are being produced. A good example of this involves the one-of-a-kind hummer H2. The H2 assembly plant in Indiana got rolling in warp speed-in less than two years. Here's the story of the real muscle behind this tough-as-nails vehicle. (Real-World Engineering).

Product Design & Development, March, 2003 by Eisenberg, Bart

As the "grandson" of the U.S. Army's Humvee high-mobility vehicle, the Hummer H2 is better known for its muscle and maneuverability than for its velocity. But manufacturer AM General broke a speed barrier of a different sort when it constructed its H2 assembly plant in Mishawaka, IN. Just 18 months after the concept car drawings were approved, two years after AM General sold General Motors the Hummer brand name, the first H2s rolled off the line. By industry standards, that's warp speed.

"It's unheard of. It just doesn't happen," says Rick Smith, vice president of operations and special projects at AM General and the point man for the assembly plant's design. Traditionally, automotive development goes through stages. With the H2, much of the preliminary...

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