New SEMA Garage Propels Aftermarket Industry To Future Technologies

The expansion of superior driver help programs (ADA
ADA
S) and recognition of electrical automobiles means new alternatives for the $50 billion aftermarket trade. That, in massive, half, led to the opening Thursday of a brand new 45,000 sq. foot product improvement heart exterior Detroit, constructed by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) which represents over 3,000 corporations manufacturing car equipment, customization, look and luxury merchandise.

The SEMA Storage in Plymouth, Mich., is the group’s second such facility, though greater than 3 times the dimensions of the 12,000 square-foot storage in Diamond Bar, Calif.

“The quantity of engineers in Michigan is unbelievable, automotive engineers. So accessing that mind belief right here, accessing the take a look at programs obtainable right here, and wished to be close to the automakers,” stated SEMA president and CEO Mike Spagnola who gave Forbes.com a non-public tour of the brand new SEMA Storage forward of Thursday evening’s deliberate grand opening ceremony.

He additionally identified the comfort of comparatively shut take a look at tracks on the M1 Concourse in Pontiac and Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti.

SEMA members have entry to the power’s emissions testing and dyno labs, workspaces, instruments and even a kitchen.

However the important thing addition is the 5,000 sq. foot ADAS expertise heart, developed to assist unlock new mysteries for aftermarket product producers.

“With the aftermarket, and actually no person has performed it but, is to grasp what occurs to all these programs when a car is modified,” defined Spagnola. “When you consider placing a bigger set of tires on a car, lifting, reducing it, these form of issues, what occurs to all these programs and security programs?”

Strolling by way of one of many ADAS labs, Spagnola identified various operations geared toward answering these questions together with taking a look at ADAS calibration, braking, lane change departure expertise and “what occurs for those who raise a truck two inches?”

The ADAS tech heart presents SEMA members static calibration of on-board car ADAS programs (radars and cameras) together with what it describes as “OEM-quality tools and procedures” enabling them to troubleshoot software program and {hardware} points.

One other lab is designed to reflect what an auto producer would possibly see in its personal lab so “We are able to evaluate what the OE (automaker) sees and what the aftermarket sees. If somebody within the discipline has a problem we must always be capable to replicate it,” Spagnola defined.

If ADAS is one “frontier” the SEMA Storage hopes to sort out, the second, Spagnola stated, is the onslaught of latest electrical automobiles hitting the market over the following few years.

“It is electrical car conversion,” he stated. “Taking a ’69 Camaro and placing in an electrical motor, battery pack, wire harnesses. So we’re working actually onerous to develop that market and discover out all these widget makers. We see that as an enormous alternative to unite these suppliers of all these completely different parts with builders who do these conversions.”

For the aftermarket trade, an actual secret is working with automakers earlier than their new merchandise attain showrooms to allow them to develop, and have obtainable, their very own choices as quickly as the primary clients take possession.

That is one other operate of the SEMA Storage and the way it was used along with the launch of the Ford Bronco.

“We had that Bronco six months upfront,” stated Spagnola. “Ford labored with us, so the aftermarket may develop merchandise so when that car hit the market the merchandise had been able to go.”

Demand for this latest SEMA Storage is already sturdy as aftermarket corporations look to remain on tempo with automakers. There’s already a backlog of appointments for members, Spagnola stated and the beginning engineering employees of 9 may develop to about 35.

Plus, SEMA purchased new workplaces in Indianapolis and expects to “ultimately do storage work there,” Spagnola stated.

For SEMA, with services like its SEMA Garages, conducting the analysis and testing with a purpose to create aftermarket merchandise in sync with future applied sciences, lest they languish as missed alternative after ideas.