Editorial ProductDataJournal 2-2023 Magazine for members 10–11 APRIL MOC MUNICH READY FOR SEAMLESS COLLABORATION y o u r G e t r d l y B i n o w ! E a r T i c k e t i v i p - w w w . p r o s t e p - s y m p o s i u m . o r g ProductDataJournal Editorial Systems Engineering and Agile Methods How to combine Agility with Systems Engineering Page 16 Industrial Metaverse in Industrial Application Page 20 Federated Queries in Dataspaces Page 24 The recipe for success is ambidexterity 2023-2 Volume 30 · Euro 20 Dear prostep ivip members The automotive industry has changed dramatically over the last 25 to 30 years and will continue to do so. It started with electro- nics in the vehicle, followed by the various stages of electrifi cation, and now we are seeing all forms of software in the vehicle - driver assistance systems, autonomous driving systems, over- the-air updates, and so on. We have entered a cloud-based world where digital ecosystems have a massive impact on our products. The question I have repeatedly asked myself in the 25 years of my professional life is: How do we achieve a certain degree of stability in the face of all these changes, some of which are disruptive? The magic word I came across is ambidexterity (i.e. two-handedness). Introduced in 1976 by the American organi- zational designer Robert B. Duncan, the term refers to the ability of organizations to be innovative or flexible and efficient at the same time. Check out PDJ 2-2023 We always have to balance innovation and heritage, especially in a large company like Volkswagen, to which I belong. Techno- logical leadership is critical to our success and that of the industry as a whole. On the other hand, we can only be successful with our innovations if our customers understand them. The second aspect of ambidexterity involves balancing speed and compliance. We at Volkswagen, in particular, have learned from the painful experience of the diesel crisis that we have to pay very close attention to the traceability and stability of our product processes. The challenge now is to reconcile this with the necessary speed. Both must be reasonably balanced so that products and technology are absolutely safe and legally compliant. Third, ambidexterity is important to harmonize new skills and experience. There are new topics for which we need new skills. Our employees need to master functional architectures and to- pics such as softwaredefined vehicles or AI, but they also need to know how to develop a typical Volkswagen driving experience and what constitutes our quality appeal. In the field of engineering IT, and this is the fourth aspect of ambidexterity, we need new cloud-based services and new plat- forms in order to better network the data. But at the same time, we have an existing and established infrastructure that keeps the whole machinery running. Therefore, the rate of change can- not be too fast, or nothing will work. Again, we need a balance between new solutions as well as proven and stable ones. An important lesson in all transformation processes is that if you change too quickly and too disruptively, you don‘t take people with you. But how do you find the right balance without beco- ming too slow? An important success factor is team spirit, which we practice at Volkswagen. Even good soccer teams are not just made up of the young and wild, but also need the „old dogs“ who can take young players by the hand and guide them. The interaction between young and old is something we want to promote even more in the prostep ivip association by involving more young people in the work of the association. The associa- tion also specifically promotes the exchange of ideas between companies from different sectors, because we are convinced that ambidexterity requires the ability to think outside the box. You can also find out more about this topic in our new episode „Push to Future“ with Dr. Henrik Weimer (AIRBUS) and myself (from January 2024 on the prostep ivip YouTube channel). The principle of ambidexterity also applies to the work of our association. It would be a mistake to not open up to the new issues surrounding function and software development that are driving our member companies. But it would be just as wrong to ignore the community involved with heritage topics relating to processes, methods and tools, because these topics have made the association strong. So in the future, we will need not one, but two lucky hands to achieve the optimal balance between the two. Yours sincerely, Thomas Kamla Member of the prostep ivip Board Head of Division R&D Strategy, Digitalization, Compliance Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand - Volkswagen AG 2023-2 ProductDataJournal 3 prostep ivip annual report 2023 21
