PARAGON
04-05-2005, 01:29 PM
<Table>
<TR>
<TD><FONT class=featurehead_print>Dana Shields Take the Heat</FONT>
<FONT
class=hilighttext_print>By Tom Murphy</FONT>
<FONT
class=basicbold_print>WardsAuto.com,Feb 10 2005 </FONT>
Heat
shields are growing in sophistication and now provide a tidy business unit for
Dana.
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
DETROIT – Dana Corp. is well known for its axles and pickup truck frames, but
it is a smaller, lesser known component that has generated surprisingly strong
results for the Toledo, OH, supplier as of late.</P>
Dana is doing well with heat shields, which have evolved into something more
advanced than a simple 1-piece steel stamping.</P><LINK
href="http://subscribers.wardsauto.com/files/1004/main/styles/storyelements.css"
type=text/css rel=stylesheet>
<DIV class=storyimagecut-right style="WIDTH: 175px">http://subscribers.wardsauto.com/microsites/images/editorial/dana_hummer_heat_shield_05.gif
<P class=storycut>Dana’s heat shield for Hummer H3 is sophisticated 3-piece
assembly.</P></DIV>
Heat shields are used to protect underhood components placed precariously
close to others that operate at extremely high temperatures, such as an exhaust
manifold. Catalytic converters in exhaust systems also are covered with heat
shields to protect them from debris and slush under the vehicle.</P>
Dana calls its latest iteration the thermal-acoustical protective shield
(TAPS), which appears on the ’06 Hummer H3.</P>
For the H3, Dana’s TAPS is a unique 3-piece design, consisting of an outer
steel stamping and inner layers of Mylar (an extremely strong polyester film)
and a deadening material.</P>
Dana produces heat shields in Europe, North America, Brazil and Japan, and
the company’s sales of the component have shot from zero to $100 million
annually within five years, says Mike Laisure, president-Automotive Systems
Group.</P>
“This is one of those interesting, quiet businesses,” Laisure tells
journalists here recently. “You wake up five years later, and all of a sudden
you have this nice little niche. You say, ‘What’s going on?’ You do the analysis
and say, ‘Well, that really makes sense.’”</P>
As engine compartments become more cramped – especially with the growing
popularity of V-8 engines – packaging space is at a premium, and the
proliferation of electronics underhood requires more protection from heat than
ever before. The trend correlates directly to a healthy market for heat shields,
Laisure says.</P>
The components will continue to grow in sophistication. One concept Dana is
considering allows for coolant to be routed through the shield for additional
protection from heat.</P>
Further in the future, Dana is contemplating a 5-layer heat shield to help
with noise, vibration and harshness, says Chuck Heine, president-Technology
Development.</P>
In the Hummer application, TAPS was designed to transfer heat from the
exhaust manifold to a close-coupled catalytic converter, speeding up lightoff
and reducing emissions.</P>
An attractive benefit of these new-generation heat shields is a noticeable
reduction in warranty costs.</P>
“Our customers are telling us with TAPS, it’s helping to quiet down their
engines so the customers inside the cockpit aren’t hearing as many noises,”
Heine says. “It’s actually reducing some of their engine warranty, and they’re
attributing that to the fact of just containing the noise inside the engine
compartment. We would have never thought of that as a benefit years
ago.”</P></TD></TR></Table>
<TR>
<TD><FONT class=featurehead_print>Dana Shields Take the Heat</FONT>
<FONT
class=hilighttext_print>By Tom Murphy</FONT>
<FONT
class=basicbold_print>WardsAuto.com,Feb 10 2005 </FONT>
Heat
shields are growing in sophistication and now provide a tidy business unit for
Dana.
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
DETROIT – Dana Corp. is well known for its axles and pickup truck frames, but
it is a smaller, lesser known component that has generated surprisingly strong
results for the Toledo, OH, supplier as of late.</P>
Dana is doing well with heat shields, which have evolved into something more
advanced than a simple 1-piece steel stamping.</P><LINK
href="http://subscribers.wardsauto.com/files/1004/main/styles/storyelements.css"
type=text/css rel=stylesheet>
<DIV class=storyimagecut-right style="WIDTH: 175px">http://subscribers.wardsauto.com/microsites/images/editorial/dana_hummer_heat_shield_05.gif
<P class=storycut>Dana’s heat shield for Hummer H3 is sophisticated 3-piece
assembly.</P></DIV>
Heat shields are used to protect underhood components placed precariously
close to others that operate at extremely high temperatures, such as an exhaust
manifold. Catalytic converters in exhaust systems also are covered with heat
shields to protect them from debris and slush under the vehicle.</P>
Dana calls its latest iteration the thermal-acoustical protective shield
(TAPS), which appears on the ’06 Hummer H3.</P>
For the H3, Dana’s TAPS is a unique 3-piece design, consisting of an outer
steel stamping and inner layers of Mylar (an extremely strong polyester film)
and a deadening material.</P>
Dana produces heat shields in Europe, North America, Brazil and Japan, and
the company’s sales of the component have shot from zero to $100 million
annually within five years, says Mike Laisure, president-Automotive Systems
Group.</P>
“This is one of those interesting, quiet businesses,” Laisure tells
journalists here recently. “You wake up five years later, and all of a sudden
you have this nice little niche. You say, ‘What’s going on?’ You do the analysis
and say, ‘Well, that really makes sense.’”</P>
As engine compartments become more cramped – especially with the growing
popularity of V-8 engines – packaging space is at a premium, and the
proliferation of electronics underhood requires more protection from heat than
ever before. The trend correlates directly to a healthy market for heat shields,
Laisure says.</P>
The components will continue to grow in sophistication. One concept Dana is
considering allows for coolant to be routed through the shield for additional
protection from heat.</P>
Further in the future, Dana is contemplating a 5-layer heat shield to help
with noise, vibration and harshness, says Chuck Heine, president-Technology
Development.</P>
In the Hummer application, TAPS was designed to transfer heat from the
exhaust manifold to a close-coupled catalytic converter, speeding up lightoff
and reducing emissions.</P>
An attractive benefit of these new-generation heat shields is a noticeable
reduction in warranty costs.</P>
“Our customers are telling us with TAPS, it’s helping to quiet down their
engines so the customers inside the cockpit aren’t hearing as many noises,”
Heine says. “It’s actually reducing some of their engine warranty, and they’re
attributing that to the fact of just containing the noise inside the engine
compartment. We would have never thought of that as a benefit years
ago.”</P></TD></TR></Table>