Lightweighting that survives every powertrain.
Thin walls, snap-fits and ribbed structures for ICE, hybrid and BEV programs, checked against the failures that repeat across powertrains.
Book a pre-tooling review →
Passenger-Car OEM Engineering
Lightweighting That Survives Every Powertrain
ICE. Hybrid. EREV. BEV. Your teams face the same pressure on every program — take out weight, keep the part manufacturable, and never let it fail in the field. ETS has 41 years of design, material, and failure-analysis practice inside GM, Stellantis, Ford, Toyota, and Honda programs.
Talk to an Engineering Team →Purpose-built for program and design engineers who own the part, not the marketing slide.
ICEHybrid (HEV)EREVPHEVBEV
Why Weight Is the Cost That Repeats Itself
Weight is range in a battery-electric vehicle, fuel economy in a hybrid, and payload in a Class 8. In every case, taking a gram out too early creates a field failure later. The ETS discipline is simple: lighten it, but prove it survives its real environment first.
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Powertrain-Agnostic Lightweighting
Metal-to-plastic conversion, fiber-reinforced structures, and multi-material systems that hold up across ICE, hybrid, and EV duty cycles. Weight targets differ; the design discipline is the same.
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Thermal Management Parts
Hybrids put engine cooling AND battery cooling on the same vehicle. Coolant loops, manifolds, and housings that survive hot-and-cold cycling are a materials and failure-analysis course in a box.
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Battery & High-Voltage Systems
Every electrified powertrain ships with a high-voltage battery, an enclosure, and connectors. Design them right the first time — crash load paths, thermal-runaway containment, and flame-retardant material selection.
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Part Consolidation & DFM
Fewer parts is the new benchmark — and the fastest way to cut cost, weight, and assembly error. We teach your team to consolidate without inventing a hidden failure mode.
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Snap-Fits, Bosses & Living Hinges
The core fastening and joint designs that break under vibration, temperature, and time. Our snap-fit and living-hinge calculators are the ones your engineers carry with them.
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Failure Forensics & Root Cause
Warpage, creep, fatigue, weld lines, stress cracking. When a program comes back from the field, we find the root cause — and turn it into the training that stops it recurring.
What Your Engineering Team Takes Back
Our seminar, training, and consulting packages are built for passenger-car engineering orgs that need working methods, not theory.
Live Seminar
Designing Plastic Parts for Assembly — 3 Days, 1,300+ Slides
Structural analysis, material screening, and DFM decision tools. Case histories from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, GM, Chrysler, and Delphi production programs, taught by Paul A. Tres — SPE Fellow and author of the industry-standard text, now in its 10th edition.
Consulting Retainer
Design Review & Program Support
Catch warpage, sink marks, and draft errors before tooling. Fixed-price reviews, program launch support, and a senior engineer on call for your sticky material or process questions.
ETS Academy
Institutionalize the Method
100+ hours of structured training with monthly coaching, so design, materials, and process engineers align on one methodology across your whole organization — not just the three people who attended.
ChatETS
The Plastics Answer Engine, Free
Trained on 41 years of ETS failure data. Ask it about a hybrid coolant loop, an EREV generator enclosure, or a BEV battery tray and get DFM-grade materials and failure answers in seconds. One real question, free, no credit card.
The Credential That Holds Up in a Re-Qualification
When a platform pivots, hundreds of parts need re-qualifying. Nissan's Canton shift from EV to V6 hybrids, Honda's flexible ICE/hybrid/EV lines in Ohio, and Stellantis' new STLA One architecture are the reality of 2026 — and every one is a DFM moment.
41 years Inside OEM Programs
Our data comes from real production programs — not textbooks. The same failure-analysis discipline that caught issues for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, GM, Chrysler, and Delphi is what your team picks up.
Recognition Your Engineers Trust
SPE Automotive Innovation Awards carry real weight in this industry. We track the winning part-consolidation and material programs every year and teach the methods behind them.
41+
Years of Engineering
500+
Companies Served
19,800+
Engineers Trained
10th
Edition of the Standard Text
Built for the people who decide
Whoever signs off, the answer holds up.
A passenger-vehicle decision crosses four desks before it ships. Here is what ETS gives each of them.
Risk you can put a number on.
A fixed-price pre-tooling review starts at $3,500. One line of the failure ledger costs $10K–$75K once steel is cut. Seats, training and engineering hours can share a single annual agreement.
What a review covers →An expert built for cross-examination.
Fellow of SPE and author of the field’s standard text. Expert-witness work since 1997. A conflict check comes first, and availability, a CV and fees follow within one business day.
Request a conflict check →Simple to buy, easy to audit.
Pay by check, ACH, purchase order or card. Fixed price where applicable, with scope, timeline and quote agreed before work begins, and an NDA signed on request before we see anything.
Start the paperwork →Ready to Give Your Next Platform Its DFM Edge?
Tell us about your program — light-weighting target, material, part family, or a field failure you're chasing. A senior engineer replies within one business day with a scoped next step, fixed price where applicable, and timeline. Nothing you share leaves ETS; we'll sign an NDA before we look at anything.
Contact Engineering →