Be bold when using new processes – 3 important factors when it comes to selecting new technologies in engineering and R&D

Companies must recognise their success potential at an early stage and tap into it in time to be able to survive on the market in the long term. Increasing globalisation, changing global economic conditions and increased demands on processes and products make this necessary.

In addition, industry and all areas of mobility are facing increasingly strict requirements in the area of CO2 emissions and resource efficiency in order to be able to achieve future legal requirements and climate targets.

The increasing connectedness of sub-processes in development as well as the high number of complex and extensive tasks of multidisciplinary teams often already require a re-thinking in the companies and above all in the development and engineering departments.

Conventional processes and structures need to be questioned and new ways of thinking and acting need to be found to meet the challenges ahead. For this reason, special attention is paid to development, especially the early phases, in which decisive decisions are made and the course is set for the entire further course of the project. Today, more than ever, people are thinking "out of the box" and in new, different production processes and ways of thinking.

But what is the argument for taking a closer look at new processes and technologies alongside the existing ones? In addition to economic efficiency, there are now other requirements, especially in the automotive industry - with increasing diversity in drives and the high speed of development in recent and coming years – that will be decisive for future success:

• Flexibility through customised processes and plants
• Resource-saving use of materials due to scarcity of resources and rising raw material costs
• Weight reduction of components - for example through the use of lightweight design

- High-precision processing of components and the resulting longevity and additional product safety

What are good indicators for a successful choice of new processes and partners for the future? Here are some characteristics that help in the decision-making process:

1. serial testing: many processes that seem new and unknown at first glance are often already serial tested - this is a very good feature to consider if you do not want to produce single units.
2. niche technologies: deliberately go looking for niche technologies - here you can usually tell from the references whether they are on the lists of top OEM and industry companies - this is a good indicator of the quality of the processes.
3. the service portfolio: Pay attention to the service portfolio of the new partner. In addition to a good service department, you should be optimally supported, especially in the development phase - from the component drawing to the finished product.

We hope you were able to take away some instructive and interesting facts for yourself - or were perhaps encouraged in your actions - Do you have any interesting additions or queries? We look forward to your feedback in the comment field or by e-mail: [email protected]

#felss #coldforming #nichetechnology

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