Suppliers Segue into new business. (The Supply Side).

"Think" forward and with just the slightest forward tilt, the Segway scooter moves forward. "Think" stop and the Segway obediently stops. Think profit and you're thinking the way several automotive suppliers did when they decided to work with Dean Kamen, inventor of the fashionable Segway HT scooter and founder of Segway LLC.

Diversifying into new business opportunities that compliment existing technological know-how and manufacturing capacity is a trend that auto suppliers are using to keep their factories running flat out. And for companies like Segway LLC that have their first contract with Tier 1s and Tier 2s, the capability of these suppliers is nothing less than mind-boggling.

"I needed to work with companies that had flawless quality, durable products and could build them in tens or hundreds of thousands at a time," says Kamen. "The auto suppliers give me everything and more than I hoped for."

Among the key suppliers for the Segway are GE Plastics, which makes thermoplastic components and aesthetic cladding, Michelin, which makes tires and wheels, and Delphi Automotive Systems, which supplies the complex power electronics and computing power that help the Segway balance itself.

"We've actually hired employees to supply these components," says Delphi CEO J.T. Battenberg. "We're happy to be a part of this because this is one of our core competencies, complex electronics is one of the things we do well."

The Delphi computer is fed data by sensors and gyroscopes that can sense the slightest tilt in the scooter. When it tilts forward, the computer tells the wheels to move forward to get back under the center of the mass. To stop, a slight lean to the rear causes the wheels to reverse direction, bringing Segway to an instant stop. While stationary, it makes constant and slight corrections that stabilize it, similar to the way a human's inner ear works.

Kamen says that if Segway is successful, "sales will go worldwide and number in the millions." Battenberg replies, "I hope he's right."

SPEC BOX

GENERAL

Made by               Segway LLC
Body style            Two-wheel scooter
Assembled in          Manchester, N.H.
Sales target (2002)   100,000
Construction          Die-cast unit-
                      construction

POWERTRAIN

Motors