Pictures of the Future Fall 2006
Inventors & Innovators – Bernd Gombert
Siemens VDO, Regensburg
New Spin on Wedge Brake
Bernd Gombert describes himself as an "all-around talent" who may not be the best technician, salesman, bookkeeper or manager, but is good in everything he does. Trained as an engineer, Gombert is working on an electronic wedge brake (see Pictures of the Future, Fall 2005, Wonder Wedge) that could be used to decelerate all types of vehicles more rapidly and safely—and with much less expended energy than is the case with today’s hydraulic and pneumatic brakes.
Wedge braking is nothing new—even horse-driven carriages did it in the old days. However, because locking often ensued, brake designers considered it to be an uncontrollable deceleration method. This, however, motivated Gombert to rethink the entire principle. A proponent of paradigm change, he lives by the motto that "the longer a system has been on the market, the greater the probability that it can be replaced." The trick behind Gombert’s brake is an electronic control that prevents locking.
"It’s not the invention alone that makes the innovation," he says, "but also its business success." Gombert, 46, proved this at an early age by establishing several successful companies. He holds some 150 patents—40 alone for his electronic wedge brake technology. Gombert, who at one time worked at the German Aerospace Center, has been developing his brake system since 2000, when he founded a company called eStop. The firm was acquired by Siemens VDO (SV) in 2005, and since then Gombert has served as technical director of the Body & Chassis Electronics unit at SV in Regensburg, where he presides over a relatively large development team of 100 employees.
His talents include the ability to find the right people and combine them into an effective team. It’s a difficult job, but it pays off—and Gombert has never delegated it to anyone else. This sense of responsibility is what has made him so successful, and it’s also why he doesn’t think much of project managers who hold big meetings and workshops in an effort to optimize processes, hoping that this will lead to better results.
"It’s people, particularly talented individuals and their ideas, that move a development forward— not processes," he says, adding that there are plenty of innovators at Siemens; they just have to be found and kept in the company.
Gombert is a big believer in getting young people interested in technology. "You have to talk to them and encourage them," he says. He conducts presentations for young people, in which he encourages them to trust in their abilities and try out new things. And who knows—maybe there’s another Bernd Gombert out there listening.
Rolf Sterbak
Innovators
How and Why Innovations Originate. Many management books focus on the theory of innovation processes, strategies and methods—but to what extent can such theories explain the origins of innovations? We’ve put together 14 brief portraits that present Siemens inventors and innovators and their experiences. We explored their personalities and examined the efforts they made to overcome obstacles. In the end, we found that there’s no standard recipe for innovation success. Some innovations result from the pure persistence of visionary pioneers who think out of the box, while others are born of a consistent approach that involves analysis and continual process improvement. Still others bear fruit because inventors incorporated customers into the process at an early stage, especially in their own regions, or worked together with external partners. What all our innovators have in common, however, is a propensity to think independently and the need for a culture that permits errors and promotes employee creativity. Above all, such a culture must always consider the utility of new ideas for customers.