Introducing Patrick Richly - Our New Mobility Expert

Meet Patrick Richly, Sales Manager for New Business Development at Freudenberg Performance Materials.

He is one of our experts for New Mobility, in particular our Battery Pack Liquid Absorbers and Heatshield Carriers.

Battery Pack Liquid Absorbers at Freudenberg Performance Materials

Liquids inside lithium-ion battery packs can significantly diminish their function and lifespan. Freudenberg Performance Materials developed its Battery Pack Liquid Absorbers to prevent such problems. The absorbent pads capture and reliably store moisture, water, condensation and leaking coolant. With adjustable absorption capacity and custom geometries, these pads ensure long-lasting battery packs.

About Patrick

Working now for 15 years in Automotive, Patrick has a broad knowledge of processes and project management with Tier1 and OEMs. Customer Centricity plays an important role for him, as well as the people behind their function. Adapting and learning something new, being interested in innovative solutions, and making the standard everyday better, is what drives him to have the best possible solution at a given time.

“I am fascinated by the fast change of the New Mobility industry. I love to deal with the complexity of these technologies and make them easily understandable for my customers,” Patrick says.

Watch the following video to get insights into Patrick's role as an expert at Freudenberg Performance Materials.

Make sure to read the interview with Patrick to learn even more about his work.

What is your personal definition of an expert?

An Automotive Expert is somebody whom you can ask any question regarding his application field or beyond.

In the best case, the expert knows the answer or at minimum knows where to find it. As an expert you act as the solution provider for your customer, partner or the team you are working with. Being an expert is more than just understanding the market, the customer and your own company. It is about managing projects with partners and global teams, to drive the customer to their solutions.

And what do you like most about it?

Every day is different, every day is challenging. I like working with people in different teams, and supporting applications which contribute to all partners’ successes. Working under cost, quality and time focus – that is what I am used to in the Automotive business. Being an active part in the transition phase, contributing with a complete organisation to future mobility concepts and setting several innovations to the market is very motivating.  

How did you become an expert in this field?

Automotive projects comprise different kinds of challenges. If you lead big and complex international projects, different commercial and technical tasks apply. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the processes and structures of automotive, your company and the partner company. Nobody will tell you what problem will come up next, so you always need to be steps ahead. I learned this over 15 years of working in this field, with more than 100 Tier1 and 10-15 OEM customers in the Automotive sector. But I am still learning - every day.

What is your role as an expert for Freudenberg Performance Materials? And what are your most important tasks?

As an innovative company with a broad technology platform, we have many experts. I am not the only one. But you need somebody to act on behalf of the customer and be the market voice within the company. You need to bring the market, customer and Freudenberg Performance Materials together. For all the products in New Business Development, customer teams need to be identified, contacted and managed. Product development done internally needs to be checked with development teams on the customer side. USPs need to be highlighted, differentiation needs to be explained. These projects need to be transferred to standard delivery schedules later. Therefore, ramp-up times, volumes, and target prices must be kept. Development cycles are reducing and the market is getting faster and faster. Tough SOPs for emergency cases with half a year to one year are getting more and more standard. 

Why is it important to have an expert in your specific field?

As Business Development Manager you are focusing on multiple questions at the same time, you include different stakeholders, and you need to see the opportunity for the customer and us to generate value and advantages. I am bringing the Freudenberg slogan “innovating together” to the market. 

What are your next tasks as an expert at Freudenberg Performance Materials?

With our products like Battery Pack Liquid Absorbers and Heatshield Carrier Materials, we act as solution provider within the battery pack or any other enclosure suitable for our application. Based on the broad technology platform that Freudenberg Performance Materials has, our chemists and engineers are working on the next products and better processes. Innovation for Freudenberg is driven on all levels. Looking at long-term tasks I will take again these innovations to the market and find the right customer. 

His next task is already coming up at the end of the month. He will be our expert at the Battery Show Europe 2023 in Stuttgart.

How to contact him?

If you want to meet Patrick in person, be sure to visit us at the upcoming Battery Show between May 23rd and 25th in hall 10 at booth B30. Patrick is looking forward to answering any of your questions.

If you can't join us there, you can reach out to Patrick here on LinkedIn or you can write him an E-Mail: [email protected]

Or just ask your question here in the comments!