(no subject)

From: Gary Ray (TRW  Vehicle Safety Systems, Inc.)
To: RP-ML
Date: Tuesday, December 13, 1994
     I'll start something off...
     At this year's AUTOFACT I participated in a focus group sponsored by the Rapid
Prototyping Association of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.  The group
was moderated by an independent marketing firm.  It was quite interesting. The goal
was to identify members' perceptions of RPA-SME and identify items for improvement.
I proposed that RPA-SME sponsor an e-mail discussion group and ftp site similar to
many CAD User Groups.  One week later I read about rp-ml in 'Rapid Prototyping Report'.
Perhaps RPA-SME can join forces with the administrators of this list to provide more
comprehensive online data, news, and discussions.  SME has an online service but it 
requires a dial-up modem, something I don't have access to.  Perhaps RPA-SME and SME as
a whole can move their service forward and include an internet address and ftp site.
I cannot access dial-up services but others with only dial-up capability can access the
internet through a multitude of local mailbox services.
     I doubt that there are any RPA-SME directors  on-line here but you never know.  
One member of our focus group didn't like the idea of people (his employees) sharing
information.  Other than he, most participants thought it was a reasonable idea.  
If any of you were there with me (people from Ford Prototyping, Ford Sterling Axle,
Ford Powertrain and others) please present your feelings on this.
     Well, now that I've got a ball rolling am I going to knock anything over?