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

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

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

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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

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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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