"We look at a truck as a working tool. No more. No less.
     "Therefore, it has to make our customers money. So we feel that our customers should be able to make more money with a Kenworth truck than any other tool available. And that includes purchase price, operating costs and resale numbers.
     "That's the simple logic behind everything we do at Kenworth. And it's the logic behind how we look at designing and building a truck for the future.
     "Ours is not an ivory tower approach where we let engineers decide what our customers need, build it and then try to feed it to prospective buyers. (Most often, customers don't like the menu.)
     "Instead, we believe that truck design should begin by asking our customers a huge number of questions centered around what they'd do if they were responsible for building a truck for the future.
     "And, we realize that the person buying the truck is neither the driver, the mechanic nor the owner. It is a combination of all three.
     "Thus, we define 'function' first and then shape the form to follow the function.
     "In a very real sense, fleet owners, owner/operators, maintenance managers and drivers designed the T2000.
     "We merely interpreted, engineered, tested and manufactured their ideas. And added a few of Kenworth's."

Are There Any Pressures On Truck Manufacturers To Innovate Faster?

 "Absolutely. The pressure to innovate-and even develop revolutionary products and methods-comes from all over our industry.
     "Owner/operators and small fleets have to be profitable?no matter what increased demands their own customers put on them. Yesterday's technologies just won't increase profits.
     "In addition, truck manufacturers now have more access to technologies from a whole variety of disciplines, as well as new methods that make innovation more practical and achievable.
     "Innovation is really no longer a choice. It's a requirement.
     "In fact, Kenworth, and other manufacturers, have incorporated more new technology into a truck in the past four years than we've seen in the past generation.
     "But it takes a revolution to get to a new product. We had squeezed out every drop of aerodynamics we could from the T600 platform. We just couldn't do any more with it.
     "We needed a new platform that would help us make a next step jump. One that would move us into a new age of styling, fuel economy and aerodynamics. But it had to be a brand new platform created with input from our customers.
     "But innovation has another side to it. In all this talk about how things are changing and how we need more new things, we should never overlook the fact that many core things don't change. Our customers' core concerns of the past remain the same core concerns today?weight, reliability and cost.
     "So the real challenge for innovation is to deal with these core concerns differently."

What's The Key To Innovation At Kenworth?

 "Listening well. By doing just that, we realized that we had to take a whole different approach to building a truck. Even in the way we looked at the function and form of the vehicle.
     "After all, the people who know the vehicle best are those who own it, maintain it and drive it. And those are the people we listened to carefully.
     "Of course, listening well also requires that you know the right questions to ask. And that requires constant attention to customer perceptions and market changes."

 How Early Do You Involve Customers In Truck Design?

 "Right at the beginning. For example, when we started thinking about the T2000 project, around May 1992, we went to our customer base and asked them where they felt we should make changes in our product line and why. We conducted significantly more focus groups at the beginning?and through the entire process?than we have ever conducted.
     "And once the design took shape, we built actual standing model prototypes and asked customers a whole bunch more questions. How does it look? What would you use it for and how would it help you do that job? How would a driver feel? Are there any ideas we've overlooked? We listened carefully."

Did Any of the Answers Surprise You?

 "I'm not sure 'surprise' is the right word. We found a lot of conflicting data in the market-which we expected, since our customer base differs dramatically. But once we looked at what they were saying and what they asked for, we discovered that there was one common theme or perception behind it:
     "Common sense, colored by a deep understanding of what a truck needs to do these days.
     "And pure, simple, sound business logic.
     "For example, many felt they needed to see more of the environment around them, so they could react faster to threatening conditions. Others wanted a larger ashtray. Still others said the position of the headlights really bothered motorists on the road. And some were concerned about always having to take their hands off the wheel to operate some of the controls.
     "It's amazing how common sense and logic can revolutionize engineering.
     "The things we learned from our listening exercise made us more focused on the execution of the design and more focused on the effects of our design ideas in real world applications."

Have You Listened Well?

 "From what we hear about the T2000 from our on-going customer sounding board, Kenworth and non-Kenworth fleet managers, drivers and owner/operators tell us 'you did some good listening.' And, the truck selling and buying community tells us 'this is the kind of logical solution we've been looking for'." "But we've also gotten some feedback that tells us we didn't listen quite so well in some areas.
     "It's important to realize that once you start listening, you can't stop.
     "And that's why we look at the T2000 as an 'evolution' of our technology rather than a product we're finished with. In fact, we'll probably make 100 to 150 minor product changes in the T2000 in the next 18 months."

You Mentioned Your Design Approach Was Revolutionary. Could You Explain That?

 "We created a cross-functional team for the T2000 project that also included people from the suppliers we selected as partners.
     "Then, rather than isolate each group in its own little area, we made sure everyone in the project worked closely with everyone else. We even put our team in its own facility and broke down all the mental and physical walls. That put our industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, design engineering, purchasing, marketing and business administration groups in the same location working side-by-side. Day-by-day.
     "We also integrated our supplier partners into the project team. At times, they brought their people into our facility, or we put parts of our team at their location so the thinking could be totally integrated.
     "This obviously gave us a great advantage in time and money. But it also removed all the obstacles that could impede the process and synergized thinking from a wide variety of disciplines.
     "And, we involved our senior staff at every step? and that's not just at the department manager level. Our team included everyone up to, and including Paccar senior management. On a regular basis. We kept in close, daily verbal communication so that decisions were made when they needed to be-instead of waiting seven or eight months for senior people to review the status of a project and make decisions, or send it back for more work.
     "The cross-functional team wasn't new for Kenworth. We've used it on smaller projects over the last 10 years. But it is new on a big project basis. Now, looking back, we feel that this is the way trucks are going to be built in the future. At least, Kenworth trucks."

You Consider Your Suppliers More As "Partners." What Does That Really Mean?

 "Kenworth has chosen not to offer a vertically-integrated product.
     "Early in the design process, we evaluated every element, component and product that might be included in the T2000. We identified areas we could develop and produce extremely well, as well as areas we felt outside suppliers could do better. But, because of the team concept we use, those suppliers would have to be more than merely 'vendors'."
     "We have some tough criteria for our partners.
     "They have to share our commitment to customer-centered, logical engineering; consistently high-quality products; a passion for innovation and they must feel comfortable within our team process.
     "They must help broaden our perspective and introduce valuable information and insights about quality, customer use, new technologies, costs, testing, manufacturing complexities and other critical areas that add value to the process and ultimate product.
     "Most importantly, they have to be great communicators.
     "On the major systems and components, we have some extremely strong relationships with our partners (and Bridgestone is one of them)."

Does Your Design Strategy Include Maintenance and Repair Innovation?

 "We feel that the trucks of the future must include that kind of innovation. And that goes back to our view that a truck must be a profitable tool over time.
     "One concern, for example, of many customers in our T2000 focus groups, as well as on our project team, was that a truck has to be a lot easier and faster to repair than the trucks of the past?including Kenworths.
     "Our customers just don't have the luxury of time, or a high maintenance budget any more.
     "No truck can stay on the road forever. But we believe that trucks can stay on the road a lot longer than they have, because of innovative maintenance technologies and strategies.
     "We believe the technology is here now to help a vehicle confidently stay on the road longer?and with longer maintenance intervals?without fear of maintenance-related breakdowns or reduced total vehicle life. The T2000 incorporates a good deal of that technology.
     "For instance, one way to make repair easier, is to build a truck with less parts. The T2000 has 30 percent fewer parts than previous Kenworths. TMC (The Main-tenance Council) told us that manufacturers need to improve access and serviceability in the engine compartment?especially on the HVAC system. So we mounted the HVAC system on the firewall and made all major components that need frequent inspection easily accessible.
     "Our T2000 team also looked at the longest practical time interval for maintainable components. At this time, we feel that is 25,000 miles as opposed to the industry norm of 10-15,000 miles. That way, if you're going to service the vehicle for anything, you might as well do full service. The result is that a truck averaging 120,000 miles a year for three years will have 31 extra days on the road to earn money.
     "We think the key to maintenance innovation involves matching all systems to a common service interval, as well as asking suppliers to come up with innovative ways to extend component cycles.
     "The bottom line is that a truck must be able to work. Not require excessive time in the shop for maintenance or even repair."

What Are Some Other Trends You Think Will Affect Truck Design In The Future?

 "I think we'll see a dramatic increase in the application of logic and common sense to vehicle engineering that will replace educated guessing or ivory tower engineering.
     "I think we'll see a closer relationship between those who make trucks and those who use trucks. A relationship characterized by a frank dialogue and careful listening?on both sides.
     "We're definitely at the beginning of a revolution in engineering technology. We used a remarkable software program for the T2000 called PRO-ENGINEER and we've even used 'virtual reality' technologies for part of the engineering. But that's just a beginning. And it suggests that manufacturers, component suppliers, dealers, fleets, and owner/operators will be able to look at a truck more as an integrated, synergized unit than a basic vehicle with a whole bunch of add-ons.
     "I think too, that we'll see components that are more than components. Bridgestone, for example, is close to releasing a 'smart tire' where the tire becomes a data-collection device that will provide all sorts of important information about tire life and performance-electronically.
     "Safety and environmental concerns will pull new technologies and products into our vehicles-especially in the areas of safety restraint systems, anti-skid systems, vision enhancement, collision avoidance, recycling and alternative fuels. We're starting to see the beginning of that now.
     "But most of all, as we say in our T2000 marketing, 'the logic will amaze you'."
     "That's how we built this revolutionary truck, and it's how we think trucks ought to be built in the future. At least, at Kenworth."

Barry Lanridge, Kenworth general manager

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