A radical change has occurred in the organisation and planning of vehicle programmes in recent years. A number of systems within the vehicle are to be developed by Tier 1 suppliers in isolation from the vehicle platform. There is a need for a higher level of confidence in a system’s performance before it is tried out on a full vehicle.

For side impact crashworthiness development the change in programme style has put a greater emphasis on advanced engineering at the concept and prototype stages. The need for increased confidence has required the development of physical test methods that do not need prototype bodyshells, but represent the environment experienced in full crash tests. The application of two sled based techniques, S.I.D.E and M-SIS, is described in relation to the modern vehicle programme with the advantage that:​

• Side structure performance targets can be related to door velocity profiles and their effect on occupant response, before prototype vehicles are built.
• Structural and occupant computer models can be evaluated against a physical test method.
• Airbag and trim systems can be developed with a dynamic test without the need for destruction of many prototype parts.