"We replaced an injection-molded plastic and metal assembly with a composite design and achieved significant part consolidation and weight savings," is one of those sentences that, when uttered at a gathering, will cause an industrial designer's ears to prick up while others slink away in search of more fruitful conversation.

Those are the words of Pat McAllister of Commercial Vehicle Group, an Ohio-based company tasked with redesigning overhead storage cabinets in trailer-truck sleeper compartments--nuts-and-bolts ID that, while it won't make an appearance at the Salone, is the bread and butter of many a workaday industrial designer.

An article in the sexily-named Composites World discusses the project in-depth, covering manufacturing, tooling and materials details concerning IVCR (Improved Vinyl Clad Rigid) and RIM (Reaction Injection Molding).

I learned at least one new thing, that they use magnets embedded in molding surfaces to hold metal parts co-molded into non-metallic materials in place; so put aside your design snobbery and see how the other half works here.