Phase One

Month 0: Requirement phase

Data Types: Planning documents and draft bill of materials

Storage Requirement: 2 MB

GM's advanced vehicle development center sits a short distance away from the company's old Fisher Body Plant on the company's campus in Warren. This is where GM's vehicle development process begins, and where many of the key decisions on development are made.

Within this building is an area called the Portfolio Zone, where GM's management, planners and product-line executives hash out the future of the company's lineup. This is the home of the "virtual courtyard" - the three-screened virtual reality room where the SSR's digital …