Stricter quality demands and an increase in process reliability will continue to characterise the automotive and aviation industries in years to come. An important role will be played by "Supporting Services" (EDL), in which external partners provide support for the interfaces of automotive manufacturers and suppliers outside the mere development process. Bertrandt’s Supporting Services Competence Centre, with its broad range of services and a team of highly qualified experts, is ideally equipped to provide optimum support to its customers in managing their processes.

At Home in All Interfaces
With its Supporting Services, the engineering partner Bertrandt provides support to the automotive, aviation and supply industries in inter-disciplinary functions of the development and production process. These customer-based services within the product development process range from project and quality management and digital verification of products to series production launch support.

The main advantage for customers is that their processes are coordinated and managed, making optimum use of their development resources. Customers can benefit from more than 30 years of Bertrandt-expertise along the entire automotive development process chain. Managing, supporting, monitoring and optimising - eloquent complete vehicle specialists ensure that the process of finding a solution runs smoothly.

Three Questions for Jörn Beier, Managing Director: Supporting Services Competence Centre
Bm:Mr Beier, around 350 specialists are working in eight subject areas in the Supporting Services Competence Centre. Where do you see the strengths of this competence centre?

Jörn Beier: The range of supporting services that we offer enables us to react quickly and expertly to the market’s growing quality and flexibility demands. We actively approach our customers and are able to provide optimum support for them in their environment and according to their own ideas. Our task is to manage the interfaces in the product development process as a project manager and act as a kind of "troubleshooter". What is very important is: Our approach not only entails the problem-finding, but especially the problem-solving!

Bm: Could you give us an example from your day-to-day work that demonstrates your reaction to customers’ needs?

Jörn Beier: Firstly, we optimise the processes between system suppliers and the production plant within the framework of supply chain management and logistics. We examine the manufacturing workflows, analyse them and develop solutions, for example in order to improve the working processes of the employees at the machines, against the background of schedules and costs. But we can also intervene at an earlier stage: within the context Manufacturing Engineering, we can implement turnkey solutions in automation technology. Before the machines are built, we can perform digital verification, even including such specifications as where a steel sheet has to be placed or where the spot welds are to be located.