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SMART FILTER TECHNOLOGY
MANN+HUMMEL has recently opened its IoT lab in Singapore, a hub for digital innovation that will boost technological expertise and cement the company’s position as global leader in filtration
Written by Tom Wadlow Produced by Josef Smith
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in the future, smarter. The group’s product portfolio includes air filter systems, intake manifold systems, liquid filter systems, and technical plastic parts, as well as filter elements for vehicle servicing and repair. For mechanical In the filtration industry, MANNengineering, process engineering HUMMEL is leading the way and other industrial applications, in digitisation, innovation and the company’s product range embracement encompasses industrial filters, of IoT. Already “In two years’ time I want all membrane the leading filter producer parts of the organisation to be filters for water and supplier on a digital roadmap or path” filtration and filter systems. in the world, – Nicolas Payen, MANN+HUMMEL In the last the company Group’s Director of IoT Lab years, due the manufactures growing concern associated with more than 700 million filter elements reductions in air quality, the group each year – elements with the is developing an extensive range potential to become smart. of air filters for various applications Its 20,000-strong workforce like cabin filters, air purifier filters, across more than 70 locations worldwide help to produce and and filters for HVAC system. With sell about €4 billion-worth of such solutions, buildings and filter products each year, helping transportation systems are able automotive and mechanical to provide the right air quality to engineering industries become their occupants and so at the cleaner, more efficient and, lowest energy cost. This is also ndustry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) is everywhere. The digital economy is impacting upon almost every individual and business’s lives, from smartphonecontrolled central heating to M2M communication on production lines.
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an opportunity for the group to help build a healthier society. Determined to maintain its position as worldwide filtration leader, MANN+HUMMEL is moving fast. With the acquisition of the Affinia Group earlier this year around 4,500 employees, some 10 locations and approximately €900 million in sales had joined MANN+HUMMEL. But it is the addition of expertise, in the form of a dedicated IoT lab in Singapore, which will continue to set the company apart in years to come.
A unique challenge
Nicolas Payen is MANN+HUMMEL Group’s Director of IoT Lab. Having spent several years at Schneider Electric working on innovation projects, Payen moved to Singapore last year and has overseen the development of MANN+HUMMEL’s Centre of Excellence for IoT. A global pioneer in smart cities, Singapore has a thriving smart technology hub and has been base of Asia operations for the company for more than four years. “I have been here a year but there
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is certainly much more I could learn about the place,” Payen muses. “I joined MANN+HUMMEL at the end of March as this presented a unique entrepreneurial challenge for me, something that had to be created completely from scratch. “There are a lot of challenges but with that come a lot of potential rewards. This is a great opportunity for me to make a real difference and apply the knowledge I have picked up through my career. The team is in place and the lights are on, but it is too early to
“We need to create a network of people from inside to company who understand how the lab can drive forward their own parts of the business” – Nicolas Payen, MANN+HUMMEL Group’s Director of IoT Lab
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already entrenched across suggest the job is done and that the multinational, multifaceted the rewards are there just yet. business, it is Payen’s job to “The economy and industry of communicate the digital innovation today are embracing technology ethos that will be harnessed at a rapid pace, and we have to be by the Singapore lab, bringing ready to bring technology into our together all parts of the business industry where it makes sense to do to embark on an IoT journey. so. How do we use electronics and “One of the main challenges I software and blend it with our have been working on is current knowledge on communicating what filtration, knowledge which spreads right we are doing in the around the world? lab with the many That is the question business units in we are always MANN+HUMMEL,” asking ourselves.” he explains. “We need Number of employees The lab officially to create a network of at MANN-HUMMEL opened on July 11 in people from inside to the Fusionopolis Tower company who understand in One North, the heart of how the lab can drive forward Singapore’s burgeoning start-up their own parts of the business. community. It marks an era where We have a very strong support digital innovation very much sits base in the form of our top management in the company alongside MANN+HUMMEL’s foundational set of values by which it – our Group Vice President Technology,our CEO, and the operates, known as FILTER (Focus, chairman of the supervisory board Integrity, Leadership, Teamwork, are right behind us and helping the Excellence and Respect). project to create momentum. The With the FILTER values
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main priority for us is to understand the needs of our business units, which we treat almost as our own customers, and then to understand what their customers need. However, we don’t lose sight of the fact that there is a balance to be struck in terms of executing our own IoT vision, while at the same time being pragmatic and designing what our customer wants.” Next level
Payen already has 30 projects in the pipeline, with 10 being actively worked on by the lab team, currently made up of five to 10 locallyrecruited technology experts. The lab’s work in digitisation will impact the business and filtration industry in three major ways: how filters are made; how filters are sold and how filters are used by customers and consumers. “IoT encompasses a very broad range of possibilities, and this means we must be flexible with the work done in the lab,” Payen adds. “This will of course depend on the customer,
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what their demands are and how we can enhance their value chain.� One area of focus for the MANN+HUMMEL lab at the moment revolves around maintenance and filter replacement. Information and data farmed through IoT and displayed to customers through connected devices will be able to inform users when filters are likely to need replacing. Payen also revealed that the lab team is looking at smart solutions for the air filtration sector, where the company provides products for automotive and construction partners. In time the lab will become a showcasing facility for MANN+HUMMEL, demonstrating to existing and potential clients what the firm has to offer away from conventional filters and parts. As the team expands, it will the base of expertise from which MANN+HUMMEL can draw upon. The company already has partnerships with universities in South East Asia, Germany and the USA, and will be interacting much more with disruptive start-ups and
Nicolas Payen Director of IoT Lab French national, Nicolas Payen has 15 years of experience in both engineering and marketing/commercial leadership roles. He started his career in the IT services industry as software engineer. His IoT journey started in 2008 as the co-founder of a corporate start-up for Schneider-Electric to develop a Smart Homes / Smart Grid solution. In 2013, he moved to Hong-Kong to head the Smart Space Category for Asia Pacific. In March 2016, he joined MANN+HUMMEL to support its digital transformation and lead its IoT initiative. He has a deep interest in social and technology innovation. He lived in France, Netherlands, Sweden, Hong-Kong, and Singapore.
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“The economy and industry of today is embracing technology at a rapid pace, and we have to be ready to bring technology into our industry where it makes sense to do so” – Nicolas Payen, MANN+HUMMEL Group’s Director of IoT Lab
IoT specialists in the near future. With 30 projects already on the table, the temptation to press full steam ahead must be there, though Payen exercises sensible caution at this early stage. “We have an agreed plan of direction with the Head of Technology for the coming months, and it is important to stay focused and understand that the mission of the lab will change over time. Today, we do not have a dedicated portfolio of digital products – over time this will be developed and there will be a need for a team to manage this new portfolio. The lab may have a role to play in this. “It is important to stay focused in the near future and not to grow too fast – we must get it right to maintain our leading position in the industry. In two years’ time I want all parts of the organisation to be on a digital roadmap or path.”
Grรถnerstraร e 50, 71636 Ludwigsburg, Germany Tel.: +49 7141 98-2391 Fax: +49 7141 98-18 4265 www.mann-hummel.com