Coni-Seal, the global manufacturer of aftermarket undercar automotive parts, and DSPCon Prognostics, the technology provider of high-performance data acquisition and analysis systems, have teamed to announce an initiative focused on bringing peace of mind to drivers and their families. The IntelligentParts Forecasting System, a joint effort of both companies, embeds sophisticated technology into any type of moving vehicle. The technology can predict potential points of failure and notify drivers before a situation becomes worse.
“This system is like a doctor that lives in your car,” said Coni-Seal CEO Frank Pagano. “It performs constant monitoring of your car’s vital signs, analyzes that information, and sends messages to those who rely on it. We’ve created algorithms that synthesize information from various points in the car, and can offer a prescription for maintenance, before the car becomes dangerous to operate.”
“As a father of children who drive, I want to make sure that the vehicle is as safe as possible,” said Al Brower, CEO of DSPCon Prognostics. “DSPCon, our parent company, initially developed this technology for use by the military in fighter jets and tanks. But the response from the automotive community has been enormous. Teaming with Coni-Seal is the perfect opportunity to offer aftermarket products that allow all drivers to know they’re as safe as possible before they step on the gas.”
The first products planned are hub bearing sensors that will monitor the bearings in a wheel, looking for wear that may signify a potential problem. Having been initially designed for military aircraft and NASA, these parts have the following characteristics:
• Incorporates new technologies, offering fast and powerful results;
• Flexible sensing technology can be incorporated into many form factors;
• Designed to operate in extreme temperatures;
• Priced appropriately for the automotive aftermarket;
• Designed to work around all types of rotating parts; and
• Easy to install and configure.
The companies plan to develop various system elements that monitor essential parts of a vehicle, and plan to work with other industry players to broaden the market for the system. Pagano continued, “We’re taking advantage of the communications revolution to keep drivers and the automobile owners both informed and safe. We’ve designed the system to use the owner’s choice of any type of popular communication method, such as in-car displays, MMS texting to cell phones, email, etc. They can even get messages within iTunes or over the car radio if they desire. But it is the content of the message that is essential: Your vehicle needs some service!”
Together with other aftermarket manufacturers, the companies will form the IntelligentParts Consortium, which plans to award certification marks to system components that work together. The member companies of the consortium will have access to a huge database of documents performance, and wear data about the critical parts of thousands of vehicle models.
Brower continued, “This peace-of-mind experience is a fresh welcome to an industry where safety at the consumer level is critical. Many agree that it’s better to know in advance when a ball-bearing is about to fail, than to wait for certain failure in the dead of winter. The system becomes more valuable to the consumer as more products on the vehicle provide feedback into the system.”
About CONI-SEAL
CONI-SEAL is an aftermarket producer of undercar automotive parts. We evaluate and address the needs of the partnerships we create with customers who demand the best level of technology available through excellence in materials, sourcing and engineering, and service.
CONI-SEAL employs more than 100 people including five in-house engineers equipped with state-of-the-art machinery. Also on staff is a dedicated customer service department prepared and trained to expedite all our customer’s needs. Coupled with pricing, quality and service, we maintain a strong marketing support team.
Through the years CONI-SEAL has been the proud recipient of many treasured awards. Some of the awards received were the CARQUEST Red Line Hydraulics Outstanding Order Fill Award (98.6%) for five consecutive years, the Frost & Sullivan 2005 Lean Manufacturing Leadership Award for cost-efficient production of hydraulic brake components for the North American aftermarket, the Pronto Award for Supplier of the Year, Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Award for fill rate, an Honorable Mention Award for Vendor of the Year from Federated, and the WITTGTJDR Award from AutoZone Mexico two years in a row.
We look forward to continuing our best efforts within the industry to gain recognition for outstanding service to our customers. CONI-SEAL remains totally committed to delivering the finest quality product available to the replacement market. Coni-Seal owns the trademark and website for IntelligentParts.
About DSPCon
New Jersey-based DSPCon is a leading systems integrator and full-service solution provider of high bandwidth, high-performance data acquisition, analysis and archiving systems for governmental agencies and commercial enterprises in the military, defense, aerospace, avionics, machinery, manufacturing and telecommunications industries. Certified to ISO9001:2008 quality standards, DSPCon solutions empower organizations to streamline test and development cycles and improve operational and production efficiencies by slashing the time between data acquisition and processed analytical results. Today, DSPCon products and services support a wide variety of mission-critical signal processing applications including acoustic, vibration, shock and rotating machinery analysis; sonar and radar processing; digital data recording and jet engine testing. With hundreds of deployed solutions and over a decade and a half of experience in digital signal processing, systems integration and software development, DSPCon continues to be at the fore-front in meeting the unique data acquisition needs of world-class organizations such as Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell and General Dynamics. For additional information, visit www.dspcon.com.