Daimler Truck gets its own IT platform for its global vehicle development. The truck and bus manufacturer is thus further separating itself from its past in the Daimler group. The new system, which will be introduced for around 5,000 developers, comes from Siemens, as the two companies announced on Tuesday. The project is expected to take about two years. “That’s very fast for this size,” emphasizes Daimler Truck Board Member Andreas Gorbach.
The departure from the old system, which had grown over decades, was also necessary due to the split from the car division, as Gorbach explains. Systems from Siemens are already being used in construction, and this is now being supplemented by the product documentation. This “backbone of the entire value-added chain” stores the processes from design to purchasing and production to service or maintenance with data and product lists.
The companies are silent on the costs
It is therefore important that nothing goes wrong during the changeover. Gorbach compares it to “open-heart surgery.” “It’s rare for such a large company to completely change its development environment,” says Cedrik Neike, Siemens board member and head of the Digital Industries division.
At the end of 2021, the Daimler Group split up and released the commercial vehicle manufacturer into entrepreneurial independence. The car manufacturer is now called Mercedes-Benz.
Truck board member Gorbach now sees the opportunity to introduce new trucks or buses more quickly and cheaply. “Above all, we expect more speed, flexibility and the ability to dock with other systems,” he says. “Ultimately, it’s an investment towards efficiency gains.” Neither company is revealing how much the changeover will cost Daimler Truck.
