1 5 F O C U S ‹F›: Looking back on the time you joined AVL, roughly one year ago, what did you do to get acquainted with its corporate culture and the organization itself? ‹Hannes Schmüser›: It was particularly important to me to understand how our customers use AVL instrumentation and test systems. This led me to take part in a twomonth orientation program with our ‘internal customer’ AVL Powertrain Engineering (PTE) before starting my work in ITS. Apart from the technical aspect – covering the ways our tools and products are employed across all stages of the development process – this also provided a unique opportunity to get to know AVL ‘from the inside.’ What impressed me particularly was the out-of-the-box way of thinking at AVL and the huge leeway the various departments are given for innovation. My experience in the field of ITS very soon confirmed this initial impression. In my first year I visited almost all AVL affiliates, which gave me a chance to view the organization ‘from the outside.’ ‹F›: During the course of your career you have worked for various automotive companies. How would you describe AVL based on your experience? How does AVL differ from other companies? ‹Hannes Schmüser›: One of the main qualities that sets AVL apart from the market is that it provides engineering services, instrumentation and test systems, as well as simulation tools, all under one roof. AVL has an excellent reputation in the automotive industry, which I’m sure is down to the close collaboration in product development, i.e. one of the absolute core areas of our customers. With all the required degrees of freedom in development, AVL evidently manages to consistently develop marketable products and solutions, which ensure the economic success of our customers and the company. Creativity and the associated internal struggle to find the best solution are certainly more pronounced at AVL than they are in rather more production-oriented companies. ‹F›: Innovation plays a key role at AVL. How would you rate the importance of Research & Development in the area of Instrumentation and Test Systems? ‹Hannes Schmüser›: Our customers are currently facing major challenges: reduction of CO2 emissions, growing system complexity in the complete vehicle resulting from electrification, increasing diversity of variants and shorter and shorter development times and product lifecycles – to name but a few. In our R&D department we are concentrating on new methods and technologies to meet these very challenges. We then deliver these results to our customers in the form of practicable systems and tools that are capable of further enhancing their development efficiency. So, obviously, we cannot overstate the importance of innovation for AVL. ‹F›: What global automotive trends do you think are the main drivers of development in instrumentation and test systems? ‹Hannes Schmüser›: I see a whole series of trends, and main development targets need to be balanced: CO2 emissions and legal requirements, driveability in terms of “funto drive” and total cost of ownership. There is a growing demand for system testbeds, which enable our customers to optimize not just one component but the entire drive system. Where development methodology is concerned, there is a strong trend toward model-based development, allowing development activities to be shifted to an earlier process phase. This requires consistent development tools along all stages of the development process. Added to this is the ever more stringent legislation, particularly where real-driving emissions (RDE) are concerned. The powertrain operating range has to be represented on the testbed and optimized under a variety of conditions. One of the latest trends is autonomous driving that entails a vast number of new systems, all of which have to be simulated in tests on the test bed too – from the GPS signal for the navigation system up to the most diverse sensors and driver assistance systems. ‹F›: The automotive industry is heavily globalized. It is no longer merely manufacturing that is increasingly being located in the emerging markets, but also R&D. Photos: Christian Jungwirth
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