Innovation has long been a key to business success, and for nearly just as long it has been a concept that company executives polish up for annual reports and then let sit at the bottom of an always growing In Box.
But when a generation of the best and brightest have made becoming “disruptors” their dream job, innovation is no longer part of a success plan, it is THE plan. The challenge for established industries, such as commercial transportation equipment manufacturing, is keeping up with the new pace of change.
Of course, those already at the top generally would prefer to stay there. Still, it’s noteworthy when an industry leader such as Wabash National Corp—whose sheer scale means it has considerably more invested in a legacy structure for doing business than most—reimagines the way it brings products to market, and realigns its organization around innovation.
As CEO Brent Yeagy announced last fall, Wabash has consolidated its product and technology research, development and discovery efforts, and centralized those resources to form a new Wabash Product Innovation Group.
And on the company’s recent earnings call, Yeagy again emphasized the importance of the refocus.
“Our vision is what and how we fulfill our purpose. Our vision is to be the innovation leader of engineered solutions for the transportation, logistics and distribution industries,” he said. “We believe this vision appropriately captures our foundation as innovators and is also broad enough to define where we will grow, yet specific enough to show where we will win. Our mission is how we intend to act now.”
Heading up the effort is Robert Lane, now vice president of Product Innovation. Trailer/Body BUILDERS had the opportunity to sit down with Lane at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show shortly before the innovation group was announced.
Appropriately, the interview took place beside the Wabash Solutions Lab display, which featured interactive presentations of a range of new and developing technology that underlies Wabash products, including hands-on samples of molded structural composite (MSC) panels and DuraPlate Cell Core.
“Technology is going so fast right now. If you’d told me seven years ago that we’d be using carbon fiber on a semi-trailer, I’d have laughed at you,” Lane said. “It just was too expensive. But now here we are: We’ve got carbon fiber that is significantly helping the design of our composite trailers.”
Along with alternative materials, Lane points to battery technology as a key driver to significant developments in commercial vehicles.
“Battery technology continues to improve, and we’ve seen the hydrogen fuel cells [at NACV],” he said. “I don’t know if that’s the direction that things will go, and I don’t think we can sit here today and say, ‘this is what it’s going to be like,’ but it’s going to be different.”
Weight savings
Weight continues to be a “significant driver” in product development at Wabash—but, as Lane suggested, perhaps not for the seemingly obvious reasons such as fuel savings or additional payload.
Instead, based on the trends displayed at industry events such as the NACV Show, electrification is here, Lane explains.
“Everyone is talking about electric. So if I add 1,000 pounds of batteries to the combination unit, I need to remove it somewhere,” he said. “We’ll continue to attack the weight on the trailer where we can, and we’re going to be ready for electrification really to take over.”
Weight, along with improved thermal efficiency, also drives the ongoing development of MSC technology for refrigerated units.
Wabash National’s Cold Chain truck bodies with MSC technology have been hitting the road with pilot customers since the company introduced the new product in October 2015. In April 2017, Wabash National opened a facility in Little Falls, Minnesota, for the production of MSC panels for refrigerated truck bodies and 53’ trailers.
“We’re still early in the stages of a launch. We’re building about one trailer a day and we will continue to improve the product,” Lane said. “We’ve got trailers that have been out for more than 15 months that are still holding our thermal values very, very well—better than a conventional unit.
“So we’re where we should be and we continue to improve the product, and that’s where we’re going to be for a while. We believe that longevity is going to be there but, unfortunately, you have to prove longevity by lasting longer.”
The learning curve for composites may be steep, but that gives Wabash a competitive advantage for the near future: Simply, product development is a deliberate process with no shortcuts. Wabash has taken 600 pounds out of the trailer in the past year—and made it stronger, Lane notes.
“Our goal to be 1,000 pounds lighter is realistic. It’s very spec dependent, but we’re where we want to be,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, and when we make modifications we have to test them—it’s a slow but very important part of the process.”
Lane is quick to point out the opportunities for composites in the truck body segment well.
“We believe we can make a big impact, for all the same reasons,” he said. “And it’s much easier from a structural standpoint because the truck body has a chassis underneath and that carries the majority of the load. So for us, it’s just removing enough material from the truck body to really make it fit for the chassis. Now we’re customizing it to fit in that marketplace.”
Supply chain
Speaking of truck bodies, Lane explains the importance of having a wide variety of products as the market evolves to serve e-commerce.
“I do believe you’re going to see the distribution model significantly change in the next 10 years—significantly. We already see it,” he said, and pointed to the nearby Supreme refrigerated upfit of a Sprinter van, part of the “From First to Final Mile” theme of the exhibit.
“That’s a growing market. How many times do you see an Amazon van in your neighborhood now? In my neighborhood it’s three, four times a day,” Lane said. “That’s a marketplace that didn’t exist five years ago, 10 years ago.”
And connectivity is critical to an on-demand marketplace.
“There’s no doubt that connectivity is going to continue to increase,” he said. “The digitized supply chain is becoming a reality, and the trailer is going to have to be part of the digitalized supply chain.”
The challenge is that there are several approaches to this connected supply chain, and even more telematics providers. Trailer manufacturers will have to build flexibility into their solutions to be compatible with whichever system the fleet customer chooses.
“We work with all the leading providers. We’re going to continue to be open to the technologies out there—we’re just not dictating what has to happen in the field,” Lane said. “Everybody’s sort of feeling out what direction it goes. What I would like to see is a more standard platform across the industry, and I think where we’re heading in that direction—we’re going to have to. Right now, there’s just no standard. We’re just letting the customer spec what they want.”
Manufacturing technology
Innovation also is taking place behind the scenes, in the manufacturing process.
“I was really fortunate recently to visit a national laboratory where they really focus on additive manufacturing, and the improvements in that technology are significant,” Lane said. “I believe that you will see additive manufacturing make a big difference, and in tooling already it’s starting to make an impact.”
And artificial intelligence “definitely” will have a place in manufacturing.
“There’s so much data on the shop floor. We’re already starting to leverage and analyze the data—and that’s going to accelerate,” he said. “Even though facilities may be quite old, the technology is there for us to grab the data and continue to make improvements in how we build and how we manufacture.”
He also noted the way 3-D modeling has become “a core competency” in design and manufacturing, along with finite element analysis (FEA).
“It allows us to make modifications, continue to improve the product, and know when we go to test it, that it’s going to work,” Lane said. “We’ve saved a significant amount of time and money on our latest designs, because you’re able to put it in the computer first and have a real good confidence that our expertise is going to be right when we actually manufacture.”
And combined with AI, it’s a powerful set of tools that won’t replace engineers—but will make the job “much, much easier.”
Similarly, personal connectivity is reshaping the workplace.
“We have to be flexible. Your workforce of tomorrow is not going to be centralized in one location,” Lane said. “Already on my team, I’ve got engineers in four different locations besides Lafayette; we’re able to collaborate and be very productive. And it’s going to be harder to tell someone they have to move to Lafayette IN if they live in Nashville TN.
“It’s that mindset of accepting that we’re going to be able to function that way, and then being successful with it. You put your engineers where you need them, when you need them, as long as they can communicate and collaborate.”
As well, the expectations of the broader next-gen industrial labor pool will be quite different from those of their pre-digital predecessors.
“[CEO] Brent [Yeagy] is very focused on our workforce, and how we treat them,” Lane said. “Being flexible, to really give them that work-life balance, is something we’re going to have to do to get the skilled labor that we’re going to need.”
Crystal ball?
The ramp-up in the pace of change is particularly striking in the commercial vehicle industry, Lane concludes.
“It’s an industry that’s not averse to change, though it’s hesitant to change—but we’re starting to see that mentality change because technology is evolving very rapidly,” Lane said. “The electrification, the connectivity that is the theme of this show? Twenty-one years ago when I started, there’s no way.”
And that leaves him hesitant to predict the future.
“I’m skeptical of autonomous [vehicle technology], but it will move faster than we think—and eventually it’s got to happen. Maybe in 10 years we’ll see a significant impact,” Lane said. “It’s going to be difficult in the city; maybe city to city, or distribution center to distribution center.
“How will it change what we do? We don’t know yet. When my career’s over—shortly,” he quipped, “—it will be significantly different than it is today.”
