{"id":22179,"date":"2024-04-10T09:08:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T07:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/?p=22179"},"modified":"2024-04-11T07:52:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T05:52:58","slug":"reliability-and-flexibility-how-automotive-suppliers-are-reacting-to-ever-shorter-development-cycles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/reliability-and-flexibility-how-automotive-suppliers-are-reacting-to-ever-shorter-development-cycles\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliability and flexibility \u2013 how automotive suppliers are reacting to ever shorter development cycles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<div id=\"gap-1571076190\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-1571076190 {\n  padding-top: 30px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-2082943483\">\n\n\n\t<div id=\"col-1868106919\" class=\"col medium-6 small-12 large-6\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n<h2>Tech Talk is a series of interviews that introduce you to some inspiring personalities within and outside of MD and the world of technology, innovation, and more.<\/h2>\n<h2>In this episode, we met Martin Pichlmeier, Manager of Technical Product Management at MD. We discuss his work at MD ELEKTRONIK, the ever shorter development cycles in the automotive industry, the resulting challenges for suppliers and MD\u2019s holistic strategy which is enabling it to deliver a reliable service and react flexibly to changes.<\/h2>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"col-1665629260\" class=\"col medium-6 small-12 large-6 small-col-first\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t<div class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\" id=\"image_1084687298\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-inner dark\" >\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<style>\n#image_1084687298 {\n  width: 100%;\n}\n@media (min-width:550px) {\n  #image_1084687298 {\n    width: 100%;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Martin, please tell us a bit about yourself, both on a personal level and professionally!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m 46 and married with two sons, aged 9 and 12. In my spare time, I try to keep fit by doing sport and if there\u2019s time, I like to do a few laps on my motorbike. My professional career started with a technical apprenticeship with the Deutsche Bahn, followed by further training to become a technician. I have been working for MD ELEKTRONIK since 2007, firstly in process development and then since 2021, in the area of research and development, or more precisely, in technical product management.<\/p>\n<p>My technical background and experience in production help me assess new demands and customer requirements at an early stage and look at how to implement them in production.<\/p>\n<p>I really appreciate the exchanges and discussions in this context as you always get an insight into the future plans of the sector and the direction in which the mobility of the future is taking us.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The automotive industry is becoming increasingly fast-moving, with ever shorter development cycles. What are the reasons for this development?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The main driver of this development is undoubtedly customer preferences which are changing ever more rapidly and are affected in particular by the digital transformation. Customers are increasingly demanding more sustainable, flexible and networked mobility solutions and this is reflected, for example, in the growing interest in self-driving vehicles, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and vehicle subscription models. The need to remain competitive in an increasingly networked ecosystem is prompting the automotive industry to engage in partnerships with technology companies, and to increasingly adapt to their short development cycles. Regulatory requirements, particularly in the area of emissions protection and vehicle safety, are also putting increasing pressure on the automotive industry to accelerate its development processes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What challenges does this acceleration pose for automotive suppliers and how are these challenges being tackled?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The need to rapidly develop and deliver a variety of customer-specific solutions requires suppliers to make significant investments in research and development as well as in more agile and more flexible processes and production procedures. The development of vehicle series is increasingly relying on digitalized processes e.g. with integrated software solutions to develop vehicles or digital simulations. The series business must be able to react quickly to last minute changes. This means that suppliers too must digitalize their processes. Strengthening the resilience of the supply chain is another central component required to meet the increasingly dynamic requirements of the automotive industry. Unforeseeable collapses in supply e.g. due to acts of God (force majeure) present a huge problem when it comes to tight schedules. Second suppliers and a stronger regional concentration of supply chains or a restructuring of global production networks are gaining in importance here. In addition to the need to become ever faster, certain factors are also working against the acceleration of development cycles. For example, due to the lack of standardization, there are different requirements in the area of high-frequency connection systems for the same application in Europe and America. This increases the diversity of variants and slows development down. The patent situation must always be taken into account too and does not make rapid development easy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What concrete measures is MD taking to ensure that it can offer the necessary reliability and flexibility in the area of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/cable-assembly\/\">cable assembly<\/a>? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our identity as a development partner is the underlying basis of everything. MD deliberately focuses on customer proximity. For example, we provide customers with support already during the control unit development stage. This makes it possible to identify trends early on and therefore enables us to be prepared for upcoming innovations. In contrast to pure assemblers, MD has its own product development department, worldwide accredited test laboratories and also develops and produces its own partially and fully-automated production systems. In time-critical projects and in the event of unforeseeable changes, the fact that we have our own systems enables us to make huge savings in terms of coordinating efforts with external partners, and gives us the necessary flexibility and independence. All processes can be operated in parallel, for example, we can replace modules on fully automated systems while quickly adjusting product components. This now even means that MD is able to compensate for supply disruptions by offering its own first source alternative products. MD continuously invests in these capacities to optimally prepare its production sites and development departments around the world so that we can meet the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Martin, many thanks for this very interesting conversation!<\/strong><\/p>\n\t<div id=\"gap-1719434795\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-1719434795 {\n  padding-top: 20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-420748697\">\n\n\n\t<div id=\"col-1831403118\" class=\"col small-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n<div class=\"message-box relative\" style=\"padding-top:15px;padding-bottom:15px;\"><div class=\"message-box-bg-image bg-fill fill\" ><\/div><div class=\"message-box-bg-overlay bg-fill fill\" style=\"background-color:rgb(245, 245, 247);\"><\/div><div class=\"container relative\"><div class=\"inner last-reset\">\n\n\t<div id=\"gap-668111579\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-668111579 {\n  padding-top: 20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n<p><strong>The key to flexibility \u2013 skills and capacities in-house @ MD<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Development cycles in the automotive industry are clearly accelerating. This requires suppliers to make significant investments in research and development and in more agile production processes in order to deliver customer-specific solutions quickly. At the same time, the resilience of the supply chain must be strengthened if it is to withstand the dynamic market conditions. For a long while, MD ELEKTRONIK has been investing in bringing these areas together within its own company so that, as an independent, flexible and reliable automotive industry supplier, it can offer the latest solutions in the area of data transmission.<\/p>\n\t<div id=\"gap-607886656\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-607886656 {\n  padding-top: 20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"message-box relative product-message-box-v2 hide-for-medium\" ><div class=\"message-box-bg-image bg-fill fill\" ><\/div><div class=\"message-box-bg-overlay bg-fill fill\" ><\/div><div class=\"container relative\"><div class=\"inner last-reset\">\n\n<div class=\"row row-collapse align-equal align-center product-message-box\"  id=\"row-1607062800\">\n\n\n\t<div id=\"col-829881579\" class=\"col medium-4 small-12 large-4\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner text-center\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t<div class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\" id=\"image_1498520501\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-inner image-cover dark\" style=\"padding-top:72%;margin:0px 0px -30px -1px;\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ND9C7275-1024x661.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ND9C7275-1024x661.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ND9C7275-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ND9C7275-768x495.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ND9C7275.jpg 1240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<style>\n#image_1498520501 {\n  width: 100%;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"col-484634584\" class=\"col medium-7 small-12 large-7\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t<div id=\"gap-1270080939\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-1270080939 {\n  padding-top: 30px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 110%;\"><strong>ADTCon-MC<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>(Automotive Data Transmission Connector \u2013 Mini <a href=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/coax\/\">Coax<\/a>) <br \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/md_elektronik_factsheet_ADTCon_EN-1.pdf\" class=\"button primary is-outline is-smaller\"  style=\"border-radius:99px;\">\n\t\t<span>Product Fact Sheet<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\n\t<div id=\"gap-1371954085\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-1371954085 {\n  padding-top: 20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t<div id=\"gap-846732577\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-846732577 {\n  padding-top: 30px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-1850142613\">\n\n\n\t<div id=\"col-852449845\" class=\"col small-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n<div class=\"message-box relative\" style=\"padding-top:15px;padding-bottom:15px;\"><div class=\"message-box-bg-image bg-fill fill\" ><\/div><div class=\"message-box-bg-overlay bg-fill fill\" style=\"background-color:rgb(245, 245, 247);\"><\/div><div class=\"container relative\"><div class=\"inner last-reset\">\n\n\t<div id=\"gap-1233162816\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-1233162816 {\n  padding-top: 20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n<p>High-performance, extremely reliable data connections are the backbone of tomorrow\u2019s mobility. MD ELEKTRONIK is at the forefront of these technologies and leading the way with an international network of experts.<\/p>\n<p>Contact us now and find out more about the latest innovations.<\/p>\n\t<div id=\"gap-258194302\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-258194302 {\n  padding-top: 20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/contact\/\" class=\"button primary is-outline\"  style=\"border-radius:99px;\">\n\t\t<span>Contact us<\/span>\n\t<i class=\"icon-angle-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\" ><\/i><\/a>\n\n\n\t<div id=\"gap-1872867903\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-1872867903 {\n  padding-top: 20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"message-box relative\" style=\"padding-top:30px;padding-bottom:30px;\"><div class=\"message-box-bg-image bg-fill fill\" ><\/div><div class=\"message-box-bg-overlay bg-fill fill\" style=\"background-color:rgb(245, 245, 247);\"><\/div><div class=\"container relative\"><div class=\"inner last-reset\">\n\n<div class=\"row align-equal align-center\"  id=\"row-525258567\">\n\n\n\t<div id=\"col-1135701458\" class=\"col medium-3 small-12 large-3\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t<div id=\"gap-1008550240\" class=\"gap-element clearfix\" style=\"display:block; height:auto;\">\n\t\t\n<style>\n#gap-1008550240 {\n  padding-top: 10px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div class=\"img has-hover img-rounded x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\" id=\"image_657650129\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"img-inner dark\" >\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin.jpg\" class=\"attachment-original size-original\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Pichlmeier-Martin-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<style>\n#image_657650129 {\n  width: 99%;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"col-2018960117\" class=\"col medium-9 small-12 large-9\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\"><strong>Martin Pichlmeier<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Martin Pichlmeier is Manager in the area of Technical Product Management. It is his task to build up MD as a supplier and development partner for connection components in the automotive sector. Over 14 years\u2019 experience in the area of cable assembly and component development have made him an expert in his field. After joining the cable assembly area, he set up and managed a process development department as Manager Development. What he enjoys most about his job are direct exchanges with customers around the world, developing new technical solutions and introducing products to market.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<style>\n#row-525258567 > .col > .col-inner {\n  padding: 0 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u25b6 New customer demands \u25b6 Reliable supply chains \u25b6 Flexibility on the supplier side \u25b6 Cable assembly\u25b6 Second suppliers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22179"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22183,"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22179\/revisions\/22183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.md-elektronik.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}