Tick, tock, tick, tock. The climate change clock ticks continually. To reach the goals of reducing risk and vulnerability to climate change, strengthening resilience and, enhancing well-being and the capacity to anticipate and respond successfully to change. We need to get the required innovations off the ground as soon as possible. As the saying goes, the future begins today. We’re not talking about evolutionary but revolutionary, potentially disruptive technologies.
If we want to use them in 2030, we need to kick them off now. From development of the initial idea, through to the implementation to production and scaling for the markets, the timeframe is tight states Professor Tomas Smetana. The Doctor of Engineering has been leading the Advanced Innovation department at Schaeffler.
With this in mind, Schaeffler is concentrating its research and development on kick-starting ideas that focus on matching market demands, problems that customers are facing and their areas of expertise. With the new Advanced Innovation unit established at the beginning of this year, Schaeffler will concentrate on six plus two focus fields: six in Product and two in the area of Manufacturing.
In the Product area, the range extends from applications in the fields of Energy, Robotics and digitalisation to Mobility Solutions and Electric Drive Systems to Material Solutions. Although there are two teams, collaboration is key, as Schaeffler believes that different perspectives lead to better solutions and new ideas, fostering further innovation.
The ability to combine product innovation and system understanding with material and manufacturing expertise is one of Schaeffler’s great fortes. This concentration puts them in a position to quickly develop ideas to market level. Clustering in focus fields establishes guidelines that additionally accelerate the processes.
Without holistic approaches to thought, forward-thinking and sustainable mobility developments do not progress very far. When it comes to sustainable transportation solutions for passengers and goods, energy sources and digital and automated applications, play a role in which software is becoming increasingly important. New concepts such as autonomous people and logistics movers are robotic vehicles.
Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications are digital fields of application that are of major importance for autonomous driving as well as for smooth, emission-reducing traffic flow. However, each innovation cluster has firmly defined project structures to ensure a high level of stringency. “As a result, we have clearly defined development directions and responsibilities,” says Smetana.
However, each innovation cluster has firmly defined project structures to ensure a high level of stringency. “As a result, we have clearly defined development directions and responsibilities,” says Smetana. New vehicle platforms such as people or logistics movers are located in the Mobility Solutions cluster, where teams from the Automotive division are active, and the specialists from Schaeffler Paravan are. Other sub-clusters there are the electrification of commercial vehicles as well as of aircraft, autonomous driving and, as an extended research field, infrastructure. E-Drive Solutions encompasses novel kinds of drive systems, propulsion electronics and sensors, transmissions and bearing systems. “These innovation clusters are our playground on which the creativity of our team members can develop freely,” says Smetana.
Although innovation does not necessarily have to emerge from the company’s own universe. “We also deliberately seek to collaborate with external innovation drivers,” Smetana continues. That area is called Open Innovation. “We systematically work together with startup platforms and are now also moving into the area of venture capital to accelerate our developments.” As cases in point, Smetana mentions new forms of mobility, which he rates as particularly urgent innovation fields due to the increasingly apparent shortage of skilled staff.
Regarding development projects in the area of Sustainable Transportation, the Dr of Innovation says, “A key question we’re asking ourselves is: how can I design an electric motor electromagnetically to achieve high efficiency? That, no doubt, is an area with significant improvement potential. Another one is electronics. Here we’re asking ourselves why it looks the way it does. What can we achieve with a different architecture as well as with other materials and, of course, with software? We’re seeing efficiency enhancement potential in the double-digit percentage range here.”