Diamond Coach Corporation of Oswego, Kansas manufactures mid-size busses with passenger capacities ranging from 12 to 36. The buses are used for a variety of purposes, including airport and municipal shuttle, church, tourist, sport team, retirement home and prisoner transport applications.
Diamond builds its busses on Ford and Freightliner chassis, then assembles composite/honeycomb panels to form a unibody design. Installation of electronics and interior accessories completes the construction. When company management was looking for ways to improve the assembly process, they contacted MAMTC.
MAMTC field engineer Paul Herring assisted Diamond Coach with the development of assembly methods utilizing new body joint hardware and structural adhesives. Analysis and testing utilizing the facilities of Pittsburg State University’s Kansas Technology Center, and Wichita State’s National Institute for Aviation Research defined optimum materials needed to meet Diamond Coach standards. The joint shape itself was designed with assistance from Extrusions, Inc. of Fort Scott, Kansas.
The new assembly process is now in production with further fixture enhancements forthcoming. The end result is a bus body with superior strength and enhanced safety that cuts labor assembly time by approximately 10%.
“Paul Herring did a very, very good job,” said Diamond Coach President Dick Seybolt. “He assisted us in both developing the project and implementing the process. If MAMTC hadn’t helped us, it would have taken us much longer and we would have had to make a much larger investment to complete the project.”
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