(AIAG: Southfield, MI) -- The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) recently presented the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with its highest honor, the 2009 AIAG Chairman’s Award.

“Thomas Sowell once said: ‘The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite,’” says J. Scot Sharland, executive director of AIAG. “For more than 14 years, AIAG has had the privilege of partnering with NIST to attack cost and complexity in the global automotive supply chain and our successful collaboration has delivered tens of millions of dollars in cost savings to our industry.”

“NIST is keenly aware of the importance of the automotive industry to the U.S. economy,” says NIST deputy director Patrick Gallagher. “We’re delighted to accept this award and proud of the NIST researchers who have worked so diligently over the years with collaborators at AIAG and throughout the auto industry to help foster innovation."

NIST has worked on a variety of projects within the realms of engineering and product development, electronic commerce, and supply chain management. A few of the more noteworthy collaborative initiatives that NIST has been instrumental in include:

• ISO STEP AP 214 standard for the exchange of product model data
• Product data management (PDM) interoperability
• Dimensional mark-up language (DML) standardization
• Quality measurement data specification (QMD) development
• Materials off-shore sourcing (MOSS) data standardization and process
  management
• Inventory visibility and interoperability guidelines

Howard Harary, the acting director of NIST’s manufacturing engineering laboratory, who is accepting the award on behalf of NIST, remarks, “We recognize that the automotive supply chain is global. It needs open global standards and technology for product development, measurements and supply chain integration."

At the awards ceremony, Peter Denno, a NIST researcher, will also be recognized for his contribution to AIAG with a 2009 Outstanding Achievement Award.

The 2009 Chairman’s award will be presented in a ceremony at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan, hosted by AIAG and sponsored by Chrysler Group LLC, Freudenberg NOK General Partnership, General Motors Co., Honda of America Manufacturing Inc., International Automotive Oversight Bureau (IAOB), Lear Corp., Plexus Corp., and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc.

For more information on AIAG and the Outstanding Achievement Awards Ceremony, visit the associations web site at www.aiag.org.