Hidria d.o.o is an international automotive supplier with 1,800 employees and a turnover of around 260 million euros. The Slovenian company wanted to place the new development of an innovative electromechanical engine component on the market. It was a glow plug equipped with a special sensor for measuring pressure in the combustion chamber of diesel engine cylinders. This cold start system enables high measurement accuracy during the fuel combustion process in real time. The system can reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 30 percent.
The interim manager took on the task of qualifying Hidria as a second-source supplier for Volkswagen. The new customer contact came about through a recommendation from Volkswagen.
Maturity level assurance of hardware and software development
The interim manager guided Hidria through the second source qualification process at Volkswagen. With his automotive expertise, he was the perfect link between VW and Hidria. Together with the project team, he implemented all the necessary OEM requirements. This included:
- Management of the VW-specific requirements for the product development process (PEP)
- PEP synchronization and optimization between VW and Hidria
- Innovation release of series development
- Requirements management for the scope of the contract: Requirements engineering including ASIC approval (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)
- Determination of the supply chain and preparation of the award for the scope of supply
- Approval of the technical specifications
- Production planning and series tooling parts
- Product and process approval
Maturity level for product innovation successfully achieved
Thanks to the automotive expert's OEM-specific know-how, Hidria was able to implement the innovative product developments and supplier management in the shortest possible time and demonstrate the maturity level. With his help, Hidria was able to optimize the necessary qualification processes and shorten the product approval process accordingly.
New project manager empowered with an automotive trainee program
After receiving the order confirmation from Volkswagen, the interim manager prepared the new project manager for the challenges ahead with an automotive trainee program. The qualification program lasted a total of 13 months. One year later, Hidria awarded another project to the interim manager: strategic automotive market analysis - future-oriented product expansion "2025 and beyond".
