Creating a Successful Company: 
Building a Vision for the Future

Speaker: Larry Yost
April 18, 2001
APMA Conference
Hamilton Convention Centre
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

The Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association hosts an annual conference to give those in the automotive industry opportunities to network and exchange ideas with senior corporate executives and industry leaders. This year Chairman and CEO Larry Yost was a guest speaker. Yost provided an in-depth look at ArvinMeritor's strategy for the future and what the company is doing to secure its position in the marketplace. He described in great detail the company's Envisioned Future, including its vision, overarching strategies, core values and core purpose.

The path to reaching the company's vision, according to Yost, is through technology. ArvinMeritor recently established an Engineering Council that meets quarterly to discuss product development and support systems, metrics and quality, technology and advanced engineering. The company is also focusing on innovation through a number of initiatives, such as strategic patenting and an Advanced Engineering Web site, which is available to engineers worldwide. The site offers design tools, a materials database, a best practice database and an online reference manual.

Yost believes that technical achievements drive ArvinMeritor's success. He provided numerous examples of these achievements at the conference, such as the first mass-produced titanium exhaust system for the 2001 Corvette Z06 and the revolutionary ZF Meritor FreedomLine transmission that eliminates the clutch pedal. In addition, ArvinMeritor is moving toward complete, integrated systems as opposed to just parts. These projects include the Air2Air complete exhaust system, industry-leading roof module technology, an integrated corner module and DriveTrain Plus.

By improving processes, responding to customers' needs, providing complete solutions and using technology, Yost believes that ArvinMeritor is on track to becoming the number one supplier to the motor vehicle industry.