Pioneering Work That Never Ends
Alan Dittrich could be described as a ZF native talent – one with start-up spirit, to be exact. Since starting his career, he has used every opportunity to further develop himself as well as the ZF portfolio.
These efforts have resulted in one of the Group's first digital products. It continues a 100-year history of innovation that links ZF with rail technology.
I'm a big fan of the rail industry. There is no more suitable environment in which so much progress is made than with us,” said the Head of Digital Solutions in the Rail division at ZF. ZF and rail technology are a good match. As early as 1924, ZF wowed customers with their mechanical innovations and won important customer orders. Today, 100 years later, it's also about digital rail technology – and Alan and his team are driving this forward.
FutureStarter Alan Dittrich, Head of Digital Solutions in the Rail division at ZF
From Vision to Sales
Developing a digital product like this is not a sure-fire success. Many factors must be correct; many questions have to be answered: What data is available, what added value can be extracted, and can enough demand be expected to generate sales? “It was a long journey, but our perseverance, will and discipline led us through a successful transformation process,” recalled Alan, a former rower and triathlete whose other qualities include athleticism and stamina. “We are proving that you can generate sales with digital products. I'm proud of that too,” summarized the Constance* native.
These skills are also behind his team's greatest success to date, the connect@rail digital platform, which enables comprehensive condition monitoring for rail vehicle drives and infrastructure by processing and analyzing available data. New features are gradually being added, and this product – including others like it – fit in well with rail technology. “The industry is very open to innovations that contribute to reliability and thus increase the reliability of passenger transportation,” said Alan. The fact that his digital solutions are helping to upgrade a means of transportation that is important for the future of mobility and make it fit for the future is also a personal source of pride for Alan. At the important InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin, connect@rail is one of the ZF highlights.
“It was a long journey, but our perseverance, will and discipline led us through a successful transformation process.”
Good Ideas – Well Filtered
The team includes more than 20 developers, whom Alan encourages to come up with many new product ideas alongside their ongoing projects. One of his tasks as Digital Product Owner is to then filter out the most interesting and potentially lucrative ideas, evaluate them and decide whether they have potential for ZF and its customers.
Determined, clear, enjoys making quick decisions and has a gift for motivating people – that's Alan's nature. “I've been a group and platoon leader in the volunteer fire department for many years. During this time, I've acquired a number of skills that are now useful to me every day when working in a team,” he explained.
He initially started with classic engineering work. Alan wrote his thesis at the college in Constance (HTWG Konstanz) on a ZF transmission – which he developed further after joining what was then known as the ZF Commercial Vehicle Driveline Technology division in 2007. “It was about hybrid technology, in other words the combination of new electromobility with classic ZF transmission technology,” he recalled. With this expertise, Alan moved to the ZF Industrial Technology Division in 2013, where seven years later he took up his current position for rail technology. “Combining the existing and the new has remained my focus,” he continued. And his team leader skills from his time in the fire department help greatly.
Technology Transfer Has a Long Tradition
Software, however, is still not everything. Digital solutions complement mechanics, which continues to be the focus of ZF products for rail technology. In the future, ZF will be able to step up its game when it comes to enriching rail technology with digital services. “We can also benefit from other parts of the ZF Group,” said Alan. The Commercial Vehicle Solutions Division, which Alan joined 17 years ago, now has the world's greatest system expertise in the commercial vehicle sector. It boasts a portfolio that ranges from drive and chassis technology to state-of-the-art software solutions for truck and bus fleets. Utilizing Group expertise and transferring it to rail technology is an approach that has often ensured success in ZF’s 100-year history of rail technology.
A Pioneer out of Conviction
The method is also relevant for the successful development of products. Agile development methods have long been established in ZF’s pre-development, and Alan has also introduced them to the rail sector. To do so took some convincing from management at the beginning but has improved the operational working methods and strengthened the start-up spirit. “People should remain focused on innovation, but don't stifle the tried-and-tested processes by introducing too many new things,” said Alan. His efforts earned him an award in an internal ZF excellence competition. He won in the “Business Processes and Methods” category for his agile methodology and its transfer to the development process.
Whether conventional or digital or whether using the proven V-model or agile methods, every aspect of product development suits Alan and has always been part of his work – whether in his thesis, after joining Commercial Vehicle Driveline Technology or after switching to the Industrial Technology Division. The special attraction for him: “Digital products are never actually fully developed. So it's pioneering work that never ends.”
*Constance is a city in Southern Germany in the German Federal State Baden-Wuerttemberg. It is located at Lake Constance and counts around 85.000 inhabitants.
