Networking Enables Transformation

Excerpt

"Change is the only constant in life," said the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. But the transformation currently taking place in the automotive industry is by no means an everyday matter. Nor is it something that, at first sight, every business will be able to manage effectively. Many companies in Germany are finding that their highly successful business model and existing value chains are undergoing a fundamental transformation. A large number of new market players, in particular from Asia, and a range of new political requirements, such as those imposed by the US Inflation Reduction Act, are making it difficult for these organizations to maintain and improve their position in Germany. The technological change involved in electric mobility is forcing companies that have had considerable success with internal combustion engines to reinvent themselves, move into new areas of business, develop new products, and identify new customer segments. Digitization is also opening up new opportunities involving the linking of data, which include the battery pass, the calculation of the CO₂ footprint of production, new digital services and more stringent requirements concerning security and data analysis. And, in all of this, the human factor plays a central role. The workforce needs to be brought on board and learn new skills, while every individual employee must be prepared for personal transformation. These disruptive changes are taking place in parallel and tying up considerable financial and human resources. …