Tuesday 2023-10-10

HELLA and Faurecia drive innovations worldwide. This is also done via so-called innovation units such as the HELLA Fast Forward in Shanghai, The Drivery in Berlin, HELLA Ventures in San Francisco or Faurecia Ventures in Nanterre. In order to act in an even more targeted manner in the future, avoid overlaps and exploit synergies, these innovation units have been brought together in a central unit, the Digital Co-Innovation Unit, headed by Ann-Sophie Mönch.

Since its launch in July 2023, Digital Co-Innovation has focused, among other things, driving a needs assessment in the Business Groups. "We want to tackle the topic of innovation in a more targeted way and, when looking for cooperation partners, look more closely at what is actually useful for the Business Groups," says Ann-Sophie Mönch. To this end, the 35-year-old has conducted extensive field research: In workshops with the development teams of the Business Groups, they jointly assess what is needed and where the greatest growth potential lies. Based on this, innovation fields are being defined that are relevant for meeting these needs. With this information in hand, suitable cooperation partners can be identified and promoted in a much more targeted manner worldwide.

Close-knit network

The global FORVIA Innovation Network includes players in all key regions worldwide, from EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa) to APAC (Asia-Pacific) and NAS (North and South America). The local scouts take care of acquiring cooperation partners with whose expertise innovations for the Business Groups can be developed and industrialized quickly and cost-effectively. These include startups, but also universities, research initiatives and market places such as Drivery Berlin, a top-class co-working space and exchange platform for ambitious developers and investors.

Saving time and costs

In the future, the focus will increasingly look to the East. "China is 'the place to be' in terms of startup scouting," says Ann-Sophie Mönch. "Trends such as software-defined vehicles or e-mobility are understood here as a huge opportunity to be exploited with innovative solutions. Unfortunately, we're a bit behind in Europe in that respect." But what are actually the advantages of cooperations in the field of innovation development? It's quite simple: cooperation with startups, for example, saves development costs, as less in-house capacity has to be kept available. In addition, the requirements for innovations are becoming increasingly complex; they require diverse expert knowledge, which can hardly be built up within one's own company. Last but not least, cooperations shorten the development time until new solutions are ready for the market.

Ann-Sophie Mönch is passionate about innovation. After studying international business and corporate and technology management, among other things, as well as holding various professional positions in these areas, she came on board as Head of Incubation at HELLA in Berlin in April 2020. Since July 2023, she has been steering the global FORVIA Innovation Network as Director Digital Co-Innovation.