Fueling Innovation

Mathias Boehmisch, manager of design services and configurationmanagement at the Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation (AFCC), attended last week’s Innovation Leadership Summit. As the fuel center of excellence for Daimler and Ford, the AFCC develops next-generation technology for zero-emission automobiles. AFCC works with Siemens PLM on CAD integration, project portfolio management, process innovation and collaboration. Mathias notes one of AFCC’s challenges is driving faster, efficient and productive innovation. He believes that leaders should look at innovation from a broader context than efficiency.

“Do we have innovative products? Do we drive innovation? Everything else is downstream. If you are losing [innovation] as your core business value, you will be doomed at some point.”