Five minutes with Martin Haub, Valeo vice president of research and development, product marketing - International Trends - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Feb, 2002 by Andrea Wielgat

Last year, executives at French partsmaker Valeo SA examined their business and realized they did not have everything in place to deal with changes in technology.

Valeo's response was to transform.

The company, which was very decentralized to give power to each division, formed what it calls a 'domain approach' by grouping together similar activities.

"A lot of things are moving very fast from a technology point of view, and the differentiation that the customers expect from us is via technology and via innovation," says Martin Haub, vice president of product marketing and research and development at Valeo. "We didn't feel comfortable that we really had everything in place to drive that officially."

The new system helps the company focus on innovation by identifying product gaps while developing new products, Haub explains. The purpose: "to look at what we want to achieve and the efficient way to do it."

Valeo named six domains for the company's activities. Electrical Energy Management covers anything that enables the generation, storage, distribution, conversion and management of electric energy and data communication. Seeing and Being Seen works with the vehicle's visibility components including lighting, windshield wipers and obstacle detection systems. Anything that helps enhance all-round visibility both from within and outside the vehicle in all driving conditions, says Valeo.

Vehicle Thermal Systems works to generate, control and dissipate the thermal energy generated within the vehicle. Vehicle Access and Security includes all of Valeo's products that allow entry and prevent unauthorized entry into the vehicle. Driveline Systems develops products to help control the vehicle, including clutches, clutch facings, flywheels, clutch cylinders, torque converters, actuators for automated manual transmissions and clutch-by-wire systems.

Modules is Valeo's branch for module systems including front end, cockpit, door and rear hatch. But the company is being pragmatic about its approach to modules and creating them when it makes sense. "We're doing it because we see a benefit to doing it," Haub says.

Haub says there could eventually be another domain called Life on Board, encompassing all entertainment and infotainment in the vehicle. But Valeo's activities here have yet to elevate to a full domain.

The new domain approach will save time and costs when it is completed during the next several months, the company says.

Says Haub: "People have excepted that we're doing it right once and that everybody benefits for that."