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Profiles in stamping: John Boughton

In his own words

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) US LLC Frame Engineer John Boughton has been designing and engineering body-in-white (BIW) for 42 years and performing chassis frame engineering design for 10 years. He will retire at the end of 2015.

Editor’s Note: If you admire the front frames of the 2013 RAM® 3500, 2014 RAM 2500, and 2014 RAM 3500 chassis cab frames and suspect you’ll like the next-generation frame, you have FCA US LLC Frame Engineer John Boughton and the Jeep® engineering team to thank. Better do so soon, though, because Boughton is retiring at the end of this year after working for 42 years designing and engineering body-in-white (BIW), followed by 10 years working in chassis frame engineering design. Boughton described his role in the automotive stamping industry and relays nuggets of lessons learned from his life’s work.

My role as a frame engineer is exactly what it says: I have the responsibility of designing and engineering the front frame assemblies. Previously I designed and “commonized” the front frames for the 2013 RAM 3500, 2014 RAM 2500, and 2014 RAM 3500 chassis cab frames.

Two notable subjects that have to be addressed at the start of a frame design are best practices and lessons learned. Obviously, the older members of the group have experience to pass on to the newer members (or the kids, as I call them). We made some mistakes along the way, and we try to hand the lessons learned down to the next generation to help them. So I try to relay best practices for ways to stamp, weld, and assemble the frame. I’ve found it very rewarding to mentor the new guys.

First you need to understand the project—what the functional objectives are for the frame along with the hard points.

Design the Architecture. Virtually everything hangs on or is attached to the frame, so “packaging” is critically important right from the outset. Packaging is where you literally fit everything into a confined space. There are limitations to clear moving parts like engine roll, powertrain, suspension components, steering, exhaust systems, and so forth. Then you need to route all your fuel lines, brake lines, and wiring harness without causing problems for other components:

  • Body mounts
  • Engine and transmission mounts
  • Suspension springs, control arms, and shock absorbers
  • Steering gear and electrohydraulic control unit (EHCU) pumps
  • Auxiliary pumps
  • Fuel tank and lines
  • Exhaust catalytic converters, pipes, mufflers, sensors, and modules
  • Brake EHCU modules and lines
  • Cooling modules, hoses, and lines
  • Belt start generato​r​ (BSG) and cooling lines
  • Electrical harnesses
  • Bumpers
  • Skid plates
  • Tow hooks
  • Mopar® accessories
  • Numerous options that need attachment points

Bill of Material Composition. Part of my job is to create and manage the bill of materials (BOM). This is something I feel must be done extremely accurately. To do so, two things must go hand in hand: The CAD model is master, and the BOM has to reflect the CAD model exactly in every detail.

The frame engineer has to write the source package, which is a document that contains all the necessary information for the frame supplier to build the frame, along with parts descriptions, standards, and test and development plans. It’s important to get this right, as this is what the supplier bases the cost of his production quote on.

Material Selection. Material selection is extremely important when the frame is being designed. As we in the industry move toward 2025, everybody—without exception—is challenged with how to get weight out of the vehicle. 35-KSI steel, which used to be the default material, isn’t used very much nowadays as we’re all moving to using ultrahigh-strength steel (UHSS) and advanced high-strength steels (AHSS).

Assembly. Assembling the frame is always a challenge—understanding all the necessary joints; welding techniques; and individual, subassembly, and full-frame assembly tolerances. So it’s essential to have a good knowledge of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).

Performance Analysis. The design is analyzed for durability, noise, vibration, harshness (NVH), and crash performance in the early stages. The frame has to perform much better than the previous frame models that it is replacing.

Normally, stamping parts from UHSS and AHSS brings a definite improvement in durability. NVH is a different matter, because the thinner materials are lighter, and this has an adverse effect on NVH. So we are constantly massaging the design to make improvements in this area too.

Crash analysis is so comprehensive nowadays. I find it really fascinating how accurate we have become with our predictions, by putting the correct material properties into the program at the start. With experience, we have learned to design little features at certain points to manage the energy in the impact to minimize injury to all the vehicle occupants; this is key.

Managing Mules. Mules are the very early development vehicles. I tend to get as much new stuff onto a mule as possible. Typically, these are last year’s model with all sorts of modifications to simulate the new design. These are used a lot for data collection.

Making Prototypes. The first set of prototypes using the new design usually are used for powertrain development. Some will be for durability testing, early crash testing, brake development, exhaust development, and so on.

The second-phase prototypes are more mature vehicles. These provide more accurate feedback to the engineers.

Preproduction. At this point all the tooling for all the stamping and assembly is well underway. This is where the really big money is spent, so the frame engineer has to be sure of all of the facts. A change at this point of the program requires that an engineer writes an official change notice. Financial planning and approvals that accompany this must be carefully addressed by senior management.

There are a lot of extra steps that help to consolidate the frame design—component scorecards, design/validation systems, torque development, design failure mode and effect analysis, and tracking. 

Interfacing with all of the groups related to these steps is probably the most time-consuming part of my job—lots of meetings to sort out packaging issues. It takes a lot of time, patience, and understanding.

Start of Production. Finally we reach the SOP. We have to support product launch at the assembly plant for a period of time afterward. Then it’s time to start all over again on a new model.

Do you have an interesting story to tell about your career in stamping or know someone who does? Send your two-paragraph proposal explaining what is significant and interesting to me at kateb@thefabricator.com.

About the Author

Kate Bachman

Contributing editor

815-381-1302

Kate Bachman is a contributing editor for The FABRICATOR editor. Bachman has more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor in the manufacturing and other industries.