Company: Kenworth Truck Company
Company Description: Kenworth Truck Company, a division of PACCAR Inc, is a leading manufacturer of heavy and medium duty trucks. Kenworth is the recipient of the 2003 J.D. Power and Associates award for Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Pickup and Delivery Segment Class 8 Trucks. Kenworth operates two U.S. manufacturing facilities and has a dealer network of nearly 250 locations in the U.S.
Nomination Category: Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Product Development Organization

Nomination Title: Kenworth Product Development Organization

Tell the story about what this nominated functional organization achieved in 2003 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

The Kenworth Product Development Organization plays an essential role by
developing trucks and product enhancements that can help customers run
successful businesses. Kenworth’s success at providing quality products with low
life-cycle costs is one reason that Kenworth trucks are recognized as the leading
products in the heavy-duty truck market. 

Kenworth products are highly customized to meet a variety of customer
applications. The Product Development Organization creates the infrastructure
needed for customized product.  One way Kenworth does so is through creation of
a “Book of Knowledge” for each project. These “books” are an effective way of
collecting knowledge and passing it to the next product development team for use
on future projects.

Kenworth’s Product Development Organization faces numerous ongoing obstacles
and design challenges. The obstacles include new and changing government
regulations, evolving customer requirements, and coordination of development
activities with counterparts across the country and overseas. Despite such
obstacles, the Organization developed solutions and helped introduce the
lightweight, AG400 Series air-ride suspension; Extended Day Cab; and Low
Voltage Disconnect system in 2003.

A mechanical challenge was to produce the next generation suspension with a
smooth ride, reduced maintenance and added driver comfort. In its design, the
Organization incorporated parallelogram geometry which maintains driveline angle,
lessens the chance of vibration, and creates an even smoother ride while being
lightweight yet durable.

As a result, Kenworth unveiled its AG400 Series suspension that accomplished
these objectives. As one Kenworth customer with the new suspension stated, “I
accidentally left a can of pop on the floor of the sleeper and it didn’t tip over even
after driving all day.” Now that’s smooth.

A styling and body design challenge was to offer more leg room, headroom and
storage space in non-sleeper day cabs, and provide a cost-effective option to
increase resale value of used Kenworth AeroCab® sleeper trucks.

The Organization, which invested nearly 10,000 engineering hours in the project,
developed an Extended Day Cab and AeroCab conversion kit that met all goals.
The new product added about 8% more interior cubic volume. Cab length
increased 6 inches and height 5 inches. Seat recline now reaches up to 21
degrees, and over two cubic feet of storage space was added.

An electronics challenge was to help truckers avoid the frustration, expense and
time lost resulting from a dead or depleted battery. The Organization eliminated
the need for jumpstarts by making Low Voltage Disconnect standard on large
Kenworth sleepers. When battery voltage reaches a critical shut-off point, the
system disconnects selected electrical loads from the batteries to ensure enough
juice remains to successfully start the engine.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

NOTE: Other material for this nomination -- P.R. photos, news clippings and
brochures -- were submitted offline. In addition a website link for this nomination
has been set up at:
http://www.epaccar.com/stevie10/default.htm

KENWORTH NEWS RELEASES – AG400 SERIES AIR-RIDE SUSPENSION

Kenworth Announces New Lightweight AG400 Series Air Ride Suspension for
Heavy Duty Truck Models
http://www.kenworth.com/6500_arc_pre_mor.asp?file=1307

Kenworth Offers Brochure on New Lightweight Air Suspensions For Class 8 Models
http://www.kenworth.com/6500_arc_pre_mor.asp?file=1386

KENWORTH NEWS RELEASES – EXTENDED DAY CAB

Kenworth Shows Pre-Production T800 Extended Day Cab Dump Truck at World of
Concrete Show
http://www.kenworth.com/6500_arc_pre_mor.asp?file=1241

Kenworth To Introduce Extended Day Cab Offering More Room for T600, T800 and
W900
http://www.kenworth.com/6500_arc_pre_mor.asp?file=1308

Kenworth To Offer Extended Day Cab Conversion Kit For AeroCab Sleepers
http://www.kenworth.com/6500_arc_pre_mor.asp?file=1309

Kenworth’s New Extended Day Cab a Big Hit with Artmeier Trucking
http://www.kenworth.com/6500_arc_pre_mor.asp?file=1398

Craig Scheckla Takes Delivery of Kenworth’s First Production Extended Day Cab
http://www.kenworth.com/6100_pre_mor.asp?file=1450

KENWORTH NEWS RELEASES – LOW VOLTAGE DISCONNECT

Kenworth Makes Low Voltage Disconnect System Standard on Large Sleepers
http://www.kenworth.com/6500_arc_pre_mor.asp?file=1300 

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated functional organization:

Jim Bechtold is Chief Engineer for Kenworth Truck Company, a division of
PACCAR.  He has served in that position for the past seven years at Kenworth's
headquarters. In this role, Bechtold leads the Kenworth product development
organization. Before taking his current post, Mr. Bechtold was General Manager of
PACCAR Technical Center for five years in Mount Vernon, Wash. He has also
held positions in Engineering and Quality since starting at PACCAR in 1975. His
education includes an MBA from Seattle University and a B.S. degree in
Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. He is a registered Professional
Engineer.