Three-phase-induction-motors-from-ABM-Greiffenberger-scores-points-in-e-mobility

Three-phase-induction-motors-from-ABM-Greiffenberger-scores-points-in-e-mobility
The development and commercialisation of intelligent transport systems is a very high challenge for everybody as NAVYA knows: The French company develops and builds autonomous vehicles for personal transport.

Machine Learning Makes Mercedes-Benz Dream Car a Reality

Machine Learning Makes Mercedes-Benz Dream Car a Reality
There’s a supremely easy way to find the Mercedes-Benz of your dreams on the horizon, and I watched its premiere at the SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference last week.

Called the car detection app, this working prototype was a pitch perfect reflection of Daimler’s evolution of the iconic Mercedes-Benz brand for a digital-first customer experience. I caught up with Robert Kriehs, senior solution architect at Daimler, who shared the entire back story.

“Whether someone is a first-time or long-time Mercedes-Benz customer, we want to provide them with a completely digital sales experience,” said Kriehs. “We’ve already connected our customers with Mercedes me services using social media and mobile. Machine learning is the next innovation, meeting a new generation of drivers where they live, work and play with personalized, immediate services.”

Whoa, What Kind of Car was That?!
The app is deceptively simple yet powerful. When someone sees a car they love, they open the car detection app on their mobile phone and take a picture. Instantly an image recognition algorithm, based on Daimler’s image data and running on SAP Leonardo Machine Learning Foundation, displays the Mercedes-Benz cars best matching the photo, along with offers from the nearest retail dealership.

“Every class of Mercedes-Benz has numerous distinctive options, and we wanted to give people the ability to quickly identify which make and model they’ve seen,” said Kriehs. “It can be difficult to understand the differences in classes in a fleeting moment when you see one on the street. The algorithm has learned the attributes of every car model, and can help you find it for sale locally.”

Partnerships are the Bedrock of Innovation
According to Frederic Koppenberg at SAP Consulting, the car detection app is a brilliant example of the power of co-innovation, in this case between Daimler, SAP Consulting and students at the University of Applied Science.

“Strong partnerships are the foundation for great innovation,” said Koppenberg. “Daimler has the automobile industry expertise, SAP has the machine learning solutions, and the students jumped in with their ideas. The team effort produced an outcome that will benefit both drivers and Mercedes-Benz.”

Kriehs characterized the app project team as agile and self-organizing, crediting success to their shared but focused goal. “You need realistic targets with an intermediate milestone,” he said. “We reduced the scope of our original, bigger idea of using the algorithm to detect damages and predict repair costs because we realized image detection would be the ideal first project to deliver customer value.”

Unstoppable Quest for Customer Intimacy
While the near-term plan is to bring the app into production, Kriehs saw image detection as the start of innovation possibilities using machine learning and AI.

“When we know which automobile the customer is interested in, we can offer related items or offers in the context of comparable cars from other manufacturers. Customers might also be interested in collecting images of their dream Mercedes-Benz – cars they aspire to own,” he said. “These are the kinds of new business models we’re exploring.”

Lectra unlocks the real value of automotive manufacturing data

Lectra unlocks the real value of automotive manufacturing data
Lectra, the technological partner for companies using fabrics and leather, welcomed guests from all areas of the automotive leather supply chain at its International Advanced Technology Center (IATC) in Bordeaux-Cestas, France, for two action-packed days of demonstrations, workshops and talks by industry experts during the fourth annual “Go Digital” automotive leather event

Building on the previous editions’ themes of digitalization of manufacturing processes and the adoption of Industry 4.0 principles, this year’s presentations focused on the value creation enabled by leveraging manufacturing data. A showcase for the innovative applications Lectra is developing based on Industry 4.0 principles, the company’s trade gathering demonstrated how disruptive new technologies are enhancing the onboard experience while reorganizing the automotive interiors supply chain.

Several guest speakers provided insight into the ways industry megatrends are impacting the automotive cockpit of the future. As motorized vehicles become increasingly autonomous, connected and electrified, cementing their place in the shared mobility landscape, suppliers must now devise new strategies to achieve profitable growth. Traditional business models are losing ground to cross-functional collaboration partnerships, making it even more challenging to compete in the fast-moving connected, shared economy.

“It is disruptive for the entire automotive supply chain,” remarks Nathalie Saint Martin, Vice President, Group Purchasing, Faurecia. “We are all learning to evolve together and enhance the added value to our end-customers. The level of collaboration we are now seeing among suppliers is unprecedented.”

Other keynote speeches included market research consultancy Frost & Sullivan’s analysis of automotive trends in the data-driven economy, Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) specialist Bureau Veritas’ vision of data protection for automotive and a presentation of industry insights firm WardsAuto’s selection of top 10 best vehicle interiors of 2018.

The event enables a diverse array of supply chain players in automotive interiors to gather with their peers. “Events like this one are a great opportunity to talk face-to-face with other suppliers about industry-wide challenges,” notes Claus Lattner, Director Engineering, Process Management, CoC Cut Sew Wrap Global, Yanfeng Automotive Interiors. “It is not often we find ourselves in the same room to talk about consumer perception and the sustainability of leather, for instance.”

“The event provided a great opportunity to interact with suppliers who have a direct impact on innovation in interior design and manufacturing,” said John Sousanis, Managing Director of Wards Intelligence.

For Javier Garcia, Senior Vice-President, Automotive Sales, Lectra, bringing together the automotive leather community is especially important as it rises to new business challenges stemming from continually changing consumer habits and the digitalization of manufacturing processes. “Connectivity and occupant comfort are increasing the amount of high-tech content in automotive interiors, but the up-market appeal of leather makes it a constant,” states Javier Garcia. “By fostering exchange, Lectra is doing its part to help the automotive leather ecosystem evolve to meet new consumer expectations.”