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B&O Automotive pulls ahead in the marketIn just a few years B&O Automotive has made itself a unique player in the market for exclusive sound systems to cars. It is the
result of an impressive innovation process in which the good idea is being realised as actual top and bottom line growth. Page 5
Steep learning curve Audi and B&O Automotive have suc-
cessfully found the correct form of
partnership in which both parties gain
the optimum from the relation. Read
more about the long and challenging
partnership between two different
corporate cultures. Page 3
Establishment of a new sup-ply chain”Talking together – closely, early and
often” is the key to establish the right
supply chain that matches Audi’s de-
mands and needs and that is realistic
and profitable for Automotive as well.
Page 7
Transformation of sound from home to carAudi and B&O’s approach to develo-
ping car products has been marked by
extremely high demands in respect
of quality and accuracy from which
many other companies could learn.
Valcon Innovation has gathered this
learning in a formalised “tool” being
of use to other companies. Page 11
Bang & Olufsen Automotive – the story of successful innovation
Automotive pulls ahead in the market and makes for Blue Ocean with a pricing strategy that is several times higher than existing sound systems to cars
”We feel that we have found a Blue
Ocean market with almost no com-
petitors. There is no doubt that com-
petitors will enter the market at some
point taking our success into consid-
eration, however, at that time we will
have a good head start in respect of
development and we believe in the
B&O brand as a strong competitive
parameter”, vice president Jens Peter
Zinck, B&O Automotive, states.
”We bought an A8 and spent many hours and resources on installing a B&O sound system in the car so that we were able to demonstrate the real thing for Audi”.
Jens Peter Zinck is very pleased with
how the partnership with Audi de-
veloped. Especially the new model
A4 seems to be a sales hit, and this
will most likely affect the number of
sold B&O sound systems. Interna-
tional motor magazines are queu-
ing to praise the B&O sound system
in the A4. He states that every fifth
Audi A8 buyer orders a B&O sound
system, however, it is still too early to
guess the allocation between the A4
model and the Audi Q7 that is to be
relaunched in the spring of 2008 with
the opportunity to select a B&O sound
system as extra equipment.
Six times more expensive
However, he does not hide that it was
an uphill struggle to succeed when he
and Automotive in 2000 knocked on
the doors of the large European car
producers to suggest a sound system
that was six times more expensive
than existing car sound systems.
“Our approach was what one could
call a Power Point approach where we
did not have any documentation at all.
The car producers were far from con-
vinced, and we realised that we had
to build a demo car with our sound
system. We bought an A8 and used
a dash of noble English upper class.
This is obvious after the announce-
ment at the end of 2007 that the com-
pany will be cooperating closely with
the sports car producer Aston Martin
in developing products to one of the
world’s absolutely most expensive
make of car.
”Aston Martin’s slogan is ”Power,
Beauty & Soul”, and this also fits our
image”, Jens Peter Zinck states.
The agreement with Aston Martin is
the first step in the plan of entering
into cooperation before 2010 with
three to five high end different car
makes matching B&O’s brand.
Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez,
calls the partnership epoch-making.
many hours and resources on install-
ing a B&O sound system in the car so
that we were able to demonstrate the
real thing for Audi. After three years
of work we succeeded in convincing
Audi that the quality, design, sound
and brand combined justified the high
price, and that a B&O sound system
could arouse the customers’ interest
to buy an Audi instead of one of the
competitors’ cars”, Jens Peter Zinck
states.
”Without technological renewals neither the Aston Martin nor B&O would have achieved their reputation as today’s market leaders within de-sign and performance”.
Jens Peter Zinck states that Automo-
tive expects revenue of DKK 140 mil-
lion in 2007/2008 and that revenue in
2010 is expected to amount to DKK
300-500 million.
B&O in Bond’s cars
In the future Automotive will have
B&O Automotive on the Blue Ocean POSSIBLE DIF-FERENT CAR MAKES WITH B&O SOUND SYSTEM
Automotive is very aware
of the fact that cooperation
with all different car makes
is far from desirable in
respect of brand. Jens Peter
Zinck lists the brands that
might be relevant “give or
take a few”:
Rolls Royce
Bentley
Jaguar
Land Rover
Alfa Romeo
Lamborghini
Ferrari
Maserati
Mercedes
BMW
Porsche
Volvo
Saab
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Jens Peter Zinck, vice president, Bang & Olufsen Automotive
Audi has set a new sales record.
This is good news for B&O Auto-
motive, however, behind the news
of success is a long and chal-
lenging cooperative procedure
between two different corporate
cultures.
Audi’s and Bang & Olufsen’s corporate
cultures have common characteris-
tics but also many differences. The
common characteristics are founded
in the fact that both companies are
strong consumer brands positioned at
the high-end market and with discern-
ing and deep-pocketed consumers as
targets. In respect of value the two
companies resemble each other as
well. The differences are the results of
coming from two different industries
with different traditions and focuses
as well as the fact that there are na-
tional cultural differences between the
Danish and the German makes.
“Audi has high quality standards to a
subsupplier as has B&O and we have
learned a lot from Audi’s formalised
processes, methods and forms of or-
ganisation in almost every business
aspect”, Jørgen Aaberg states, Direc-
tor Development & Quality at B&O
Automotive.
”I remember the first time I attended a meeting at Audit. We thought that we were to attend a briefing, however, Audi expected us to hand over the final plans”.
The first meeting with Audi
Both companies aim at the same high
quality and will go to maximum length
to reach the most outstanding result.
However, Automotive has also experi-
ing problems as they occur. However,
this approach does not always tally
with the car industry’s traditions and
especially its structured way of docu-
menting every step in the process”,
Jørgen Aaberg states.
We have a constructive dialogue
Audi has been very constructive in
the sparring with Bang & Olufsen on
designing and positioning the sound
system in A8, A5, A4 and Q7 and Audi
has been very competent in integrating
Bang & Olufsen’s wishes.
”Bang & Olufsen could probably also learn from Audi’s much systema-tised focus on always documenting, validating, testing and improving”.
”We have had a constructive dialogue
with Audi and they clearly understand
our wishes. Our designed sound sys-
tem is developed with respect of the
car taking the car’s existing expression
into consideration so that it all comes
together. “It is a good feeling”, Bjarne
Sørensen states, Director Concept and
Technology in B&O Automotive.
enced differences in the way the job
is addressed. Jørgen Aaberg states
about his first meeting with Audi – a
meeting he remembers very clearly:
“I remember the first time I attended
a meeting at Audi. We thought that
we were to attend a briefing, however,
Audi expected us to hand over the final
plans. At that time we were still green
in the partnership and it was obvious
that we talked past each other”.
The example illustrates Automotive’s
approach to the partnership with Audi
very well because there was no doubt
who the experienced player was in
respect of the car industry’s processes
– it is of course the German car pro-
ducer. Automotive’s process as an Audi
supplier has been characterised by ac-
celerated learning and experiences
reaped as the cooperation unfolded
– something which Audi and the Ger-
man mindset might have had some dif-
ficulties with.
“We do accept a job even though we
do not know how to complete it – we
figure that out as we go. We get into
shape as we go along – it is part of
how we work. Probably because we
are used to working smoothly and solv-
Automotive gets into shape with Audi
”Aston Martin’s slogan ”Power, Beauty & Soul” fits our image well”.
”Without technological innovation
neither Aston Martin nor B&O would
have achieved their reputations as
today’s market leaders within design
and performance”.
Elegance and excellence walk hand in
hand. And designers, engineers and
specialists in both companies will be
working closely together”, he states.
Further, Jens Peter Zinck states that
Automotive expects to announce a
new partnership with yet another
high-end make of car in 2008.
Demands are increasing
The sound system in the Q7 was in the
pipeline for 18 months and at the end
of 2007 the first models with Bang &
Olufsen’s Advanced Sound System
were introduced. In connection with
the Q7 project the team from Automo-
tive experienced that Audi’s demands
were tightened.
”In connection with the cooperation with Audi we have to succeed in observing the deadlines – and this has been a ma-jor challenge for us but also very educational”.
”There is no doubt that Audi expects
high quality in the products we deliv-
er to them. We have to document and
test everything differently. We have
to live up to very high demands and
in some instances it might limit our
work. For example we cannot adjust
the product as we go.
The car industry does not work like
that. Everything has to be document-
ed carefully, as every little adjustment
might result in problems other places
in the car and that can be extremely
expensive”, Jørgen Aaberg states.
And according to the Automotive
team this is something that Bang &
Olufsen can learn from in the Audi
cooperation.
”The car industry is a tough industry that is ex-tremely cost-focused and we have had subsuppli-ers who went into liquida-tion and therefore could not deliver the agreed products”.
”Bang & Olufsen could probably learn
from Audi’s much systematised focus
on always documenting, validating,
testing and improving”, Jørgen Aab-
erg states and continues that Audi at
Bang & Olufsen’s request has taken
on a person whose only job is to coor-
dinate all internal activities related to
the integration of the sound system in
the car. In the car industry you work
with so-called windows when chang-
ing already existing products, i.e. you
cannot alter the sound system on
an ongoing basis but only at agreed
times – typically twice a year.“
”We have never encountered this
kind of stringency before. We are
used to being able to alter our prod-
ucts regularly. However, in our part-
nership with Audi we had to keep our
alterations within precise dates. That
was a major challenge for us and very
instructive as well”, Jørgen Aaberg
stresses.
Many external cooperators
Many external cooperators have had
an active role in respect of 87, A8, A5
and A4, either as suppliers or as Au-
tomotive customers.
“Apart from the fact that the Q7 is
produced at a VW factory in Bratislava
and not in Neckarsulm as the A8, we
have also had to work together with a
number of companies that are subsup-
pliers to Audi. One company assembles
the dash board, another attaches the
door panelling, and a third company at-
taches the ceiling panelling. We have
therefore had to keep track of many
contacts”, Jørgen Aaberg states.
Four to five foreign subsuppliers,
primarily German, have for example
assisted with the production of the
sound system in the A4. And according
to Jørgen Aaberg it has been quite a
handful to ensure the quality from the
subsuppliers.
“The car industry is a tough industry
that is extremely cost focused and we
have had subsuppliers that went into
liquidation and could therefore not
deliver the agreed products. We would
have preferred that we had not expe-
rienced these challenges, but it might
have been a symptom of the fact that
we did not have much experience with
this industry, Jørgen Aaberg states.
As a subsupplier to Audi and the car
industry you are in general committed
to cut costs every year. You have to re-
duce your costs annually with a certain
percentage. This is one of the contract
terms.
In shape for the future
Without question Automotive has
learned a lot from the partnership with
Audi. According to Automotive’s man-
agement we are now in good shape
and are ready to face new challenges.
With the coming TS 16949 certifica-
tion in the Automotive areas, Bang &
Olufsen Automotive has also proven
that the quality level is very high. New
and interesting projects lie ahead for
Audi and other different car makes
Jørgen Aaberg, Director Development & Quality, Bang & Olufsen Automotive
– and Bang & Olufsen Automotive is in
excellent shape.
B&O Automotive breaks the sonic barrierAudi A8, Audi A4, Audi A5, Audi Q7
and soon several of Aston Martin’s
exclusive models are to be found
with sound systems from Bang
& Olufsen on the European high-
ways. This is a classic example
proving how the good idea and in-
novation in many dimensions are
transformed into a new and suc-
cessful business area.
B&O has successfully moved its sound
system from the home front and into
the car. For several years B&O Auto-
motive has had a successful partner-
ship with Audi, and in December 2007
the Automotive division presented a
new car partner, i.e. Aston Martin. It
is an example of an established busi-
ness that has succeeded in sowing
the seeds of a new business area that
might contribute with a significant part
of revenue for B&O in the future. In
other words, the good idea is about to
turn into actual positive top and bot-
tom line growth.
”It was of course difficult to knock on the doors of the large European car producers to suggest a sound system that e.g. was up to six times more expensive than what they were used to pay”.
From idea to profitable business
Behind the partnership agreements
with Audi and Aston Martin lies a
long journey. Let’s take a closer look
of what lies behind the headlines and
the stock exchange announcements.
It is an interesting story of the road
from idea to profitable business. It
is not the story of a lucky punch, but
the story of a number of right deci-
sions and actions that together laid
the foundations for the result. It is a
classic example of working with in-
novation in many dimensions and on
how a number of virtues in respect of
development have been observed.
“It all started in 2000 when Automo-
tive was established as a business
idea in Bang & Olufsen. However,
this is actually not entirely correct
as Automotive builds on many years
of development in B&O. Automotive
builds in part on a number of tech-
nologies, e.g. the very compact ICE-
power amplifier, the acoustic lens and
digital handling that all have been
developed by B&O in the eighties
and nineties and in part on a strong
innovation strategy initiated by B&O
in the beginning of the sixties” B&O
Automotive vice president Jens Peter
Zinck states.
Break in the door at Audi
In 2000, Jens Peter Zinck was em-
ployed to realise the automotive
vision into the world and to make it
happen. The vision was – and still is
– to combine supreme sound technol-
ogy with brand and design in order to
entitle B&O Automotive to price its
products higher than other existing
sound systems to cars.
“It was of course not an easy task to
knock on the door to the large Europe-
an car producers and suggest a sound
system that was up to six times more
expensive than what they were used
to pay and we did not succeed until
2003 with the agreement with Audi”,
Jens Peter Zinck states and adds;
“The breakthrough came when we
set up a meeting between B&O’s
former CEO Torben Ballegaard and
Audi’s CEO Prof. Dr. rer.nat. Martin
Winterkorn. Winterkorn quickly saw
that B&O Automotive’s idea matched
Audi’s idea and that B&O’s sound
system and brand could enhance the
target group’s interest in Audi at the
cost of other competing different car
makes. Basically, B&O and Audi have
the same customer target group.”
Identifying relevant customer
need
All good innovation starts with the
identification of an actual need that
some customers are willing to pay
money to fulfil. The rationale behind
the customer need in B&O’s automo-
tive idea is obvious: if a person is will-
ing to pay money for good sound and
good design at home, they are prob-
ably also willing to pay money for the
same good sound and design when
spending time in their car.
”B&O has some of the world’s best designers and acoustics and is among the world’s best in the amplifier field with its ICEpower technology”.
“We could see that there was a gap
between the supply of sound systems
to cars and customer wishes in what
you call “high end” cars. There were
no car sound systems on the market
for the customers who demanded
the same high quality and exclusive
design in their car as in their home”,
Bjarne Sørensen states. Bjarne Sø-
rensen is responsible for developing
concepts and technologies in B&O
Automotive.
Find the right partners
All successful business innovation
depends on finding the right partners
who match the skills, culture, brand
etc., so that the partnership creates
a win-win situation. B&O has core
competencies within design, acous-
tics and amplifier technology. Audi
is in the global major league within
car design and mechanical construc-
tion and has many years of experi-
ence of applying new technologies in
their cars. Both companies represent
a high brand value. Thus, the conclu-
sion was that the two companies
together could add something new to
the market. A windfall was that Au-
di’s dealerships became sales chan-
nels for B&O in one stroke.
”We set the pace for the project by working ag-gressively in a number of iterations”.
Form the strongest team
“After that the strongest team had to
be formed. The man with the strong-
Bjarne Sørensen, Director Concept and Technology, Bang & Olufsen Automotive
stationed in Germany. Our learning
curve in the partnership has been ex-
tremely steep and we have made a lot
of mistakes in the process. However,
together with Audi we quickly learned
from our mistakes and moved on”,
Bjarne Sørensen states.
Set the pace for creating results
The pace in the development process
was crucial in respect of entering the
market and launching Audi’s new ver-
sion of the A8 at the proper time.
”It is about being able to make various types of the products to other differ-ent car makes”.
“We upped the tempo in the project so
that we worked more aggressively in
a number of iterations. The first itera-
tions were about creating the correct
solution concept. After that we had to
be specific in a fast hurry, build a pro-
totype and have the testing machinery
up and running. The prototypes were
released in early versions so that feed-
back on tests and production could be
collected”, Jørgen Aaberg states. As
Director of Development & Quality he
was responsible for realising the idea
and the concept as a real live produc-
tion and supply chain.
He adds, “It was all about ensuring
that developers, testers, the prototype
shop and production cooperated like
clockwork with many fast iterations.
Technical evaluations were completed
with high frequencies in order to chal-
lenge the good solution to get even
better. It is a procedure that is all about
identifying improvements in the prod-
uct ensuring that faults do not arise
in the future, i.e. detecting possible
faults before they even arise”.
Create the assumptions for
resizing
The ones coming up with the good
idea and proofing the concept are not
always the ones who benefit. If you
are not prepared to resize your busi-
ness, i.e. consolidating it with growth,
you risk loosing your winnings.
”As mentioned before we entered into an agree-ment with Aston Martin in December 2007, and our goal is to have landed agreements with three to five different car makes before 2010”.
“In our case the resizing potential is in
offering solutions across several car
models in Audi’s selection and at vari-
ous prices (DKK 25,000-DKK 125,000
in Denmark, including taxes). It is also
a question of being able to produce
variants of the products to other differ-
ent car makes. This required that the
development capacity was in place.
As there are limits as to the amount
of capacity to be build up in Struer –
among others due to lack of engineers,
a major problem – this capacity is
provided through a new development
department in the Czech Republic and
through external development firms,
i.e. so-called certified B&O develop-
ers who B&O is used to work with.
Our gearing of the capacity ensures
est competences had to be picked – for
all positions – without petty squinting
to whether the resources were within
our own ranks or not”, Jens Peter Zinck
states and he adds;
“B&O has some of the world’s best de-
signers and acoustics engineers, and
we are among the best in the amplifier
field with our ICEpower technology.
We were good at mechanics; however,
we needed outside assistance, i.e. a
team of experts in dynamic mechanics
from Valcon Innovation, thereby ren-
dering us capable of matching Audi’s
needs and requirements.”
”The partnership with Audi was not just about technique but also a question of developing a method tool box and knowledge of how to use the methods”.
Create the right concept
”The creation of a sound system bun-
dles a number of technologies and
competencies such as design, amplifi-
er technology, software, loud speakers
and mechanics that are to be bundled
to solve the job. In other words, an
entire product system was innovated”,
Bjarne Sørensen states and he adds:
“Our concept was formed on a solu-
tion built into the car. The loud speak-
ers are integrated in the car’s interior,
thus the solution gives optimum sound
and is good-looking as well. However,
the sound system cannot be installed
in the car subsequently but has to be
chosen when the car is purchased”.
Hunt down the best solution
The car industry is known for having
high demands to quality. Audi is by no
means an exception and their motto
is that Audi’s lead is to be created
through technology. It is a motto that
is acted out in practice as well – to
the fingertips. “It is not a question of
deciding whether something is “good
enough” but a question of whether it
can be even better”, Jens Peter Zinck
states.
“The partnership with Audi was not
just about technique but also a ques-
tion of developing a method tool box
and knowledge of how to use the
methods. We quickly learned that it
was necessary to be close to Audi’s
factory in Germany and we therefore
employed two employees permanently
Torben Ballegaard Sørensen, former CEO, Bang & Olufsen with Dr. Winterkorn, CEO, Audi
Bang & Olufsen has always developed
and delivered products to ourselves.
B&O Automotive develops products
that are to be incorporated into cus-
tomers’ complex end products, i.e. an
entire car. This calls for a whole new
type of supply chain. “Audi has so-
called windows for when you can alter
an already existing product. Thus, we
cannot alter the products continuously
but only on pre-defined dates. This is
new to us as we have almost always
developed and delivered products to
ourselves”, Jørgen Aaberg, Director
Development & Quality at B&O Auto-
motive, states.
“We have had many telephone conferences, we have sent many e-mails and have held many meetings each month”.
The key to a successful partnership
and to establish the correct supply
chain which matches Audi’s demands
and needs and which at the same
time is realistic and profitable for
B&O is according to Jørgen Aaberg
to talk – closely, early and often”. At
an early stage in the process Automo-
tive established close contact with all
relevant corners of both Audi’s own
organisation and Audi’s wide supplier
network.
”It is a major challenge to attain a correct and practical agreement. There are some objective parameters such as e.g. what an aluminium grat-ing can stand in respect of physical load”.
“We have had lots of contact by tel-
ephone and e-mails and we have
held monthly meetings. The standard
TS16949 has formed the basis for the
partnership and the standard stipu-
lates distinct guidelines for process-
es, methods, tools and organisation
forms”, Jørgen Aaberg states.
Many new challenges
Automotive has been met with new
and strict demands from Audi in re-
From pioneer to pro – Establishing a new supply chain
B&O IS ALSO TECHNOLOGYBang & Olufsen is a strong brand and is known for its stylish design.
For the past decades the company has invested a lot of resources into
becoming the market leader in respect of the technological performance
of the products, thereby resulting in the fact that B&O Automotive’s car
sound systems provide an outstanding sound experience and sound
quality.
that we can keep a high competence
level”, Jens Peter Zinck states.
”Our concept was built on a solution that was built into the car”.
Organise around the job
In order to ensure ownership and fo-
cus on the new business area in the
resizing process, B&O has organised
around the job. A special development
organisation has been established
– in close cooperation with the other
B&O organisation – with focus on de-
veloping solutions to Automotive. As
a result, the necessary management
power is present in order to be able to
resize this part of the business.
Create the conditions for
profitability
In addition, we have tried to create a
cohesive product platform so that our
solutions can be used again in differ-
ent models. This is one of the keys to
being able to cover many different
application variants in different car
models without jeopardising the prof-
itability for the total product family.
“We will not realise the entire ben-
efit of this until we enter into agree-
ments with other different car makes.
As mentioned previously we entered
into an agreement with Aston Martin
in December 2007 and our goal is to
have agreements with three to five
different car makes before 2010”,
Jens Peter Zinck states.
an aluminium grating has to be able to
stand in respect of physical load. That
is fairly easy to determine. However,
a number of parameters of more sub-
jective character are more difficult to
determine, e.g. what is good sound.
You can talk about tolerance levels
of noise, harmful and good healthy
sound, comfortable and uncomfortable
sound or strong quality sound etc.” But
how can you determine this? We move
in a difficult zone, and it has been a
long process to reach agreement with
all parties”, Jørgen Aaberg states.
Planning and production takt
We have of course faced some plan-
ning challenges in ensuring delivery
of the correct product on time and in
the correct quantities to four different
recipients.
Automotive’s products are mostly pro-
duced at its factories in Struer where
the production uses existing produc-
tion technology, especially in surface
treatment of aluminium.
spect of technical capability and docu-
mentation. The German standard VDA
has set the frame for the technical
specifications, all components have
to e.g.:
be able to function in environments
of -40 to +70 degrees Celsius
undergo a vibration test of 50G
undergo a sun test in which the
parts are subjected to a major
amount of ultraviolet light
“Another challenge is that a car en-
vironment is an extremely difficult
environment to make good sound
in. We have unique and very strong
technologies from our Audio-Visual
production which we use in our Auto-
motive systems. However, they are not
to take up any space, the sound has to
stay inside the car, the loud speakers
must not generate too much heat and
the systems have to fit in an already
existing car design and construction”,
Jørgen Aaberg states.
Automotive supplies parts to vari-
•
•
•
ous Audi suppliers producing board
panels, front doors and back doors,
respectively. Parts for the rear window
are delivered directly to Audi. In other
words it is not just one supply chain
but four different supply chains with
four different recipients.
”You can talk about tolerance levels for noise, about sound being harmful or good healthy, comfortable and uncom-fortable, about cheap metallic sound or strong quality sound etc.”.
When are you in agreement?
When Automotive delivers parts to the
sound system in Audi and Audi’s sub
suppliers, we have to agree on the ex-
act specifications of the components.
“It is a huge challenge to reach a cor-
rect and practical agreement. There are
some objective parameters, e.g. what
ACOUSTIC LENS
TECHNOLOGY
B&O’s revolutionary acoustic
lens technology was de-
veloped by the sound expert
Manny LaCarruba. The acou-
stic lenses ensure that the
sound experience becomes
optimal no matter where the
ear is in the room.
The technology thus revokes
the mainstream stereo sy-
stems’ requirements that the
listener has to be precisely
between the loud speakers
in order to ensure the opti-
mal sound experience.
The technology is crucial
when creating the good
sound experience in a car
where the driver and the
passenger are positioned
more or less in the periphery
of the sound room.
ICEPowerICEpower is a unique amplifier technology developed by Ph.D. Karsten Nielsen from the Technical University
of Denmark together with Bang & Olufsen in the 1990’ies. The technology solves the problem that many
sound experts and researchers have tried to solve, i.e. the fact that traditional amplifiers only transform a
small amount of the added energy into sound, the rest is lost as heat. The ICEpower technology reduces the
energy consumption by 80-90 per cent and renders it possible to build far more compact amplifiers that do not
need cooling. In 1999 Bang & Olufsen and Karsten Nielsen founded the company Bang & Olufsen ICEpower
a/s (at first under the name Bang & Olufsen PowerHouse) which develops and distributes products based on
the ICEpower technology to be used in non-B&O products but also in many other producers’ quality products.
Natanya Ford, technology specialist, Bang & Olufsen Automotive
Transformation of sound from home environment to the carOne of Europe’s leading sound ex-
perts, tonemeister and musician
Natanya Ford has spent more
than 200 hours in an Audi Q7 in
order to assess and develop the
sound experience.
Natanya Ford has played the violin
since she was a kid. The instrument’s
clear, distinct sound and its ability to
move listeners have always fascinated
her. It is in part why she works as a
sound designer or tone meister today
at B&O Automotive specialising in de-
signing sound systems to car environ-
ments.
”My work is in the grey zone between technology and experience”.
Natanya Ford’s work is one key among
many of how Automotive succeeded in
moving the sound experience from the
home environment to the car.
Massive investments have been made
in developing the perfect sound ex-
perience in an extremely demanding
environment. Her efforts have among
others been backed and supplemented
by Manny LaCarruba’s unique acoustic
lens technology and B&O’s revolution-
ary ICEpower technology. The goal
was to create a sound experience on
par with the experience in a concert
hall or a sound studio.
In an Audi A8 or a Q7 with a B&O sound
system 14 active loud speakers are po-
sitioned in the car to ensure the sound
experience. The 14 loud speakers are
powered by more then 1,000 watt. An
“active” loud speaker is a loud speaker
in which the individual bass and treble
loud speaker has its own dedicated
amplifier ensuring significantly more
control of the loud speaker system and
a more cohesive and equalised tone.
Or put differently: It results in a fan-
tastic sound that have probably not
been heard better in any car.
”However, what does precision of sound in a car actually mean?”
Technology and experience
”My work is in the grey zone between
technology and experience”, Natanya
Ford states. She moved from the Unit-
ed Kingdom to Struer in Denmark to
work for and with B&O Automotive.
The goal of her work is to obtain pre-
cision:
In reproduction – the sound recor-
ding has to be heard as recorded.
Nothing must be left out and
nothing must be added. It must be
the pure original soundIn timbre
– it has to be a natural sound, i.e.
the instruments have to sound as
they actually sound
Over time – it has to be possible
to listen for a longer period of time
without being tired or exhausted
by the sound impact
•
•
In space – the sound experience in
the car has to recreate the same
three-dimensional characteristic
as the original sound recording
General precision – the sound
system has to reproduce a pure
and detailed reproduction of the
source material
”To be part of the research community depends on whether you can contrib-ute with something to the community”.
“But what does precision of sound in a
car actually mean?” Natanya Ford asks
herself rhetorically as she recognises
that the area is difficult to quantify and
thereby to subject to objective meas-
urements.
Her answer is “We have taken our
advanced configuration of the stereo
sound from BeoLab 5 that creates a
precise reproduction of the sound in
the home regardless of where the ear
is in the house. We have then recre-
ated this configuration successfully
•
•
in the car’s environment. However,
we also have to realise that this was
not something we just did. It required
many hours of hard work”.
Focuses on innovation
Natanya Ford is a good example of
B&O’s strategy of focusing hard on
research and innovation and on being
an active part of the international re-
search community.
”To be part of the research community
depends on whether you can contrib-
ute to the community. If you cannot
contribute to the research, you do not
have a share in the innovation work.
However, the necessary resources
have to be invested”, Bjarne Sørensen
states.
He is responsible for the concept and
technology development in B&O Au-
tomotive. At B&O knowledge is gladly
shared with others, especially the
Ph.D. students, who are offered a tech-
nological platform to start from. The
idea is that subsequently the students
will contribute with knowledge at a
higher level than if they had to start
from scratch and we are thus able
to bring research even further. When
such agreements are made, B&O en-
sures that the technology is protected
and a contract is entered into with the
student.
“Research is common business acu-
men. You have to contribute – if not,
you cannot buy anything”. This is why
we are very dynamic in respect of
knowledge sharing. Our overall ap-
proach is that we are open and willing
to publish new knowledge. We might
take out a patent first but we gladly
share our knowledge. This is our ticket
to the research community”, Bjarne
Sørensen states.
”I joined B&O, because it is one of
the best places in the world for me
to develop my knowledge on design-
ing sound. It is that simple”, Natanya
states.
”Research is common business acumen. You have to contribute. If not, you cannot buy any-thing”.
”We have learned a lot from the
partnership between Audi and B&O,
Valcon Innovation states. Valcon Inno-
vation has actually developed and con-
ceptualised an “Audi method” which
we use with great success in other
customer projects. Audi’s and B&O’s
approach to working with developing
car parts is characterised by extremely
high demands in respect of quality and
accuracy that many companies can
learn from”, Janus Juul Rasmussen
states. Today he has joined the consul-
tancy company Valcon Innovation and
he was previously employed in Dansk
Teknologi and Trios.
Janus Juul Rasmussen adds, “We
assisted B&O Automotive with deliv-
ering products to Audi for more than
four years, and we quickly learned
that neither Audi nor B&O expected a
product that was just “good enough”.
They expected a product conforming of
100% or more. They were not pleased
until we were sure that the solution
could not get better at any level. It was
tough, but we learned a lot from it”.
”We have learned a lot from the partnership with Audi and B&O”.
Measures the acoustics without
a sound
When you get into an Audi A8 with
Automotive’s sound system and ac-
tivate the system, the first thing that
happens is that two small acoustic
lenses elevate in each side of the car’s
front panel without making a sound.
The lenses are part of the acoustic
lens technology developed to B&O by
Manny LaCarruba.
The lens technology spreads the sound
in the cars and ensures that the sound
and tone is the same no matter where
you are in the car. It is a technology
that B&O launched for the first time
with the BeoLab 5 sound system and
it has now been transferred to the
car’s extremely challenging sound en-
vironment. The gear box elevating the
lenses without a sound is one of the
products that Valcon Innovation has
assisted B&O Automotive to develop.
Expensive to change a car
The reason that Audi is so focused on
e.g. developing a soundless gear box
for B&O Automotive’s movable acous-
tic lenses correct the first time is that
it will be extremely expensive for Audi
to either change the gear box later or
to realise that the gear box results in
changes in other parts of the car. It will
always be cheaper for Audi to uncover
faults before they occur than to correct
the errors later.
Complicated project management
”We worked in close cooperation – to-
gether with a project manager from
Automotive – directly with Audi’s en-
gineers and we had a telephone meet-
ing at least once a week and physical
meetings approx. every other week”,
Janus Juul Rasmussen says. Accord-
ing to him there is no technological
difference in working with Audi or any
other customer, however, in respect of
project management there is a huge
difference.
“Audi’s organisation is so large that it
requires an entirely different project
setup than what we normally experi-
ence in other companies”, Janus Juul
Rasmussen states.
Database makes the method a
tool
Janus Juul Rasmussen and colleagues
learned so much from the cooperation
with Audi regarding the B&O products
that Valcon Innovation has combined
the Audi principles with theory devel-
oped at the Danish Technical Univer-
sity of Denmark and designed a data-
base supporting what the consultants
call the “Audi method”.
”The method ensures a strong structu-
Audi and B&O inspire to the develop-ment of a new development tool
Janus Juul Rasmussen, Director, Valcon Innovation
re in the course of development where
you first and foremost focus quickly
and widely and then on the most es-
sential. Usually you focus on what you
think is the most essential.
The risk of focusing on what you find
essential is that you might overlook va-
luable elements or perspectives. The
Audi method ensures better accuracy,
because you proceed open-mindedly,
objectively and systematically”, Janus
Juul Rasmussen states and continues:
”That said, you have to consider how
radically you wish to proceed at all ti-
mes and to compare it to actual units
and cost level. Another thing is that it
is extremely important that the Audi
method must never replace the idea
creating work. It supplements creati-
vity”.
“We assisted B&O Automotive with delive-ring products to Audi for more than four years, and we quickly learned that neither Audi nor B&O expected a product that was just “good enough”.
VALCON INNOVATIION
Valcon Innovation is a
company in the Valcon group
assisting companies in ta-
king quantum leaps through
developing the business.
Valcon Innovation offers
services within the follow-
ing:
Innovation strategyLean product develop-ment and lean engineer-ingOrganisation of in-novation and product developmentManagement and measurement of the innovation processPractical product devel-opment within mechani-cal construction
The services are directed
at companies working with
development of physical
products and enterprises/
organisations that need to
strengthen the develop-
ment of new services. The
purpose of Valcon Innova-
tion’s services is to improve
the company’s ability to
implement new profitable
products efficiently.
Valcon Innovation A/S
Christianshusvej 187
DK 2970 Hoerssholm
www.valcon.dk
Tel +45 4580 2037
Fax +45 4580 8137
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