WHAT GETS SHIPPED
Three pillars of the automotive practice.
SURFACES AND PRODUCTION CAD
Class A surfaces through production release
We take exterior and interior surfaces from theme sketch through Class A in CATIA ICEM and Alias, then carry them into production-intent CAD in CATIA V5 and V6 or Siemens NX. Sheet metal components are designed for stamping and forming and plastic parts for injection molding, with draft, wall thickness, rib and boss geometry and parting line planning worked through with your tooler before tooling is committed. The output is a fully toleranced release package a supplier can build from without a phone call.
SIMULATION AND VALIDATION
Crash, NVH, durability, and cost-out analysis
Crash and occupant protection, structural, NVH, durability and thermal analysis run in ANSYS, Abaqus and LS-DYNA, with certified Moldflow for molded parts and forming simulation for stampings. Occupant cases cover free motion head impact, seatbelt and child restraint anchorage, sled, knee bolster, steering control and airbag folding, against FMVSS, ECE, IIHS, RCAR and AMS protocols. Single-component structural FEA typically returns in one to two weeks from receipt of CAD and load cases.
PROTOTYPE, METROLOGY, PPAP
Hardware, dimensional evidence, and PPAP-format release
The Auburn Hills floor builds functional prototypes and first articles in FDM, SLA and SLS, cast urethane and silicone from RTV tooling, 3 and 5-axis CNC, fabricated metal, and rapid injection molds in PP, PC, ABS and Nylon. Metrology covers CMM, white light, optical and laser scanning, first-article inspection, fixture and tooling validation, and PPAP-format dimensional reporting with ballooned drawings, dimensional results and capability summaries on critical features.
HOW A PROGRAM RUNS
Four steps from brief to release.
Scope and NDA
A mutual NDA goes in place before substantive disclosure. An engineer reads your brief and asks about package constraints, performance criteria, target process, PLM requirements and timing, then returns a scoped SOW naming deliverables, CAD platform, revision plan and the honest timeline rather than the optimistic one.
Design and surface
Class A development in CATIA ICEM or Alias where surfaces are in play, then production-intent CAD in your platform. Material, process, assembly and supplier constraints are carried in the definition from the first geometry, and the model tree is built so your team can pick it up natively.
Analyze and iterate
Crash, structural, NVH, durability, forming and Moldflow studies run against your load cases and program criteria. Findings come back as reports with assumptions and margin summaries, and geometry that misses target goes straight back into native CAD by the same team, keeping the program on one timeline.
Build, measure, release
Prototype and first-article hardware from the Auburn Hills floor, scanned and compared to the released definition, then first-article and PPAP-format dimensional reporting. You receive a revision-controlled release package in native files, in your title block, ready for your PLM vault or a supplier RFQ.
THE SCOPE LINE
Mechanical engineering, on your platform.
ADAPT started in May 1998 on a Nissan engineering contract, and automotive has been the deepest part of the practice ever since. Brian and Annette Smith left LEAR to build a firm that ran Tier 1 discipline without Tier 1 overhead, and the work still looks like that today: Class A surfacing in CATIA ICEM and Alias, production CAD in CATIA V5 and V6 and Siemens NX, crash and structural and NVH simulation in ANSYS, Abaqus and LS-DYNA, and PPAP-format dimensional reports that a supplier quality engineer can sign without a follow-up call.
Automotive programs rarely arrive as clean, isolated assignments. A surface change moves packaging, a package change moves structure and attachment points, and a simulation result sends geometry back through CAD before the drawing and the dimensional plan can be released. We keep those mechanical workstreams connected under one program lead, so the team that owns the native model also runs the analysis loop, builds and scans the prototype, and assembles the release data. The engineer who modeled your part walks to the machine that builds it, which is why a fit problem found on Tuesday is a revised print on Wednesday.
We work on your platform instead of asking you to adopt ours. Deliverables come back native in CATIA, NX, SolidWorks, Creo or Inventor, in your title block format, revision controlled and ready for a Teamcenter, Windchill or Enovia vault, with GD&T to ASME Y14.5 and simulation written up as an engineering report carrying methodology, load cases, results and margin summaries.
The scope wall matters more in automotive than anywhere else, so we state it early. Our scope is mechanical only, with no electrical, no ECU or wiring, no controls software, no ADAS and no battery-cell work. We simulate crash and occupant protection against FMVSS, ECE, IIHS, RCAR and AMS cases and do not operate a physical crash lab. We design plastic parts to be moldable and run certified Moldflow on them, and we do not design the mold itself. When a program needs one of those things, you hear it in the first conversation rather than in month four.
We took our first automotive contract in 1998 and trained about 500 Nissan personnel that year. The reason customers call has not changed much since. Send the current CAD, the open issue list and the release date you are working toward, and I will have a senior engineer read the mechanical scope before we propose any work.
Brian Smith, Director of Engineering
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions and answers
Can ADAPT work inside our CATIA, NX, and PLM environment?
Yes, and that is the default. We deliver native files in CATIA V5 or V6, Siemens NX, SolidWorks, Creo or Inventor, in your title block format and drawing standard, revision controlled for a Teamcenter, Windchill or Enovia vault. Engineers we place check parts in and out of your vault, follow your change management process and attend your release reviews. We staff to your platform, not ours, and we do not ask customers to adopt our tools or workflows.
What is included in a PPAP-format dimensional package from ADAPT?
Ballooned drawings tied to the released revision, full dimensional results from CMM, optical, white light or laser measurement, and capability summaries on the features you flag as critical, plus IMDS support coordination. First-article inspection documentation is produced the same way, and the exact package is defined against your requirements and the released drawing revision. PPAP is a deliverable format we produce for your submission, not a certification ADAPT holds. Our quality system is ISO 9001:2015 certified.
Do you support EV and mixed-powertrain programs?
Yes, on the mechanical content. That means structural and packaging design, mass reduction, gauge and material studies, thermal and coupled thermal-structural analysis, durability, and enclosure and bracketry design across mixed powertrain portfolios. We do not do battery cells, power electronics, wiring, controls software, firmware or ADAS. Our scope is mechanical only, and on an electrified program that boundary is worth confirming before the SOW is written.
Do you perform physical crash testing, and are you IATF 16949 certified?
No to both, and both are worth knowing early. We simulate crash, occupant protection and structural performance in LS-DYNA, Abaqus and ANSYS against FMVSS, ECE, IIHS, RCAR and AMS cases, and we do not operate a physical test lab, so correlation testing goes to a qualified facility. IATF 16949 applies to high-volume automotive production organizations, and ADAPT is a mechanical engineering practice and prototype shop rather than a production supplier. We hold ISO 9001:2015 certification along with Design for Six Sigma.
TALK TO AN ENGINEER
Tell us what you are building.
Send the program brief. An engineer on our team will read it and respond within one business day. Not a sales coordinator. Not a routing form.