10: Increasing operational performance for a global automotive group
in the role of "Director Global Application Engineering"
North American automotive group – R&D Headquarter EMEA
Premium manufacturer of driver assistance systems (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems/ADAS) and electronic control units (ECUs) for the powertrain, as well as for body and interior applications for automotive OEMs and Magna-internal divisions.
Director Global Application Engineering
Responsible for all OEM product developments & projects worldwide, including technical project management, systems engineering, EE/HW development, SW development, and mechanical development/design.
- Acquisition, development, and series production launches of 360°, long-range, and short-range camera systems for ADAS applications, as well as ECU domain controllers for ADAS and body electronics applications with power electronics.
- Leadership of approx. 300 employees reporting to the Vice President Global Engineering, including approx. 180 employees in the USA and approx. 30 employees in China.
Initial Situation & Tasks:
- Unsatisfactory cost situation, as no real product platforms existed and development repeatedly started from “scratch.”
- Key projects with US and Japanese customers involving cost, schedule, and quality issues had to be stabilized; series production launches were at risk.
- Strained customer relationships had to be improved sustainably.
Activities / Measures:
- Restructuring of application development with a clear product and technology orientation to develop product platforms and ensure synergies between customer developments.
- Implementation of a dedicated development plan for each senior manager, including coaching.
- Conducted a weak-point analysis of product development; among other things, specific measures for business development and project acquisition (bidding process), as well as for project implementation and control, were defined and introduced.
- Defined and implemented a capacity planning tool.
- Defined a development strategy for Asia to optimize the global development footprint and accelerate business development in the APAC region.
- Defined and implemented specific measures to optimize the budget planning process.
Key Successes/Results:
- Critical projects with US and Japanese automotive OEMs were stabilized and series production launches were successfully managed.
- Development costs were reduced by approx. 10% over 2 years despite increasing revenue and AE.
- Customer orientation was significantly increased through the introduction of a “Technical Customer Lead” role; customer relationships were improved.
- Leadership competence and the assumption of responsibility at the senior management level were significantly increased through active coaching and training.
- Capacity issues were identified and addressed in a timely manner through transparent planning.
- The duration of the budget planning process was reduced while simultaneously increasing budget quality.
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