AM NA 2025: Dr Hanns-Bernd Ketteler
Watch: Collaboration and speed key to manufacturing transformation
At AMS North America 2025, Dr Hanns-Bernd Ketteler, executive director of operations at Bosch Mobility Americas, shared how digitalisation, AI and cross-functional collaboration are driving a faster, leaner and more connected approach to manufacturing across the value chain.
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As automotive production undergoes one of its most significant transformations in decades, Dr Ketteler says that speed, collaboration and mindset will determine who leads the next phase of industrial competitiveness.
“Our industry is in a big phase of change — and it’s about speed,” said Ketteler. “We must be lean, fast and efficient to compete with the pace of new technologies such as electrification and automated driving.”
He explained that simultaneous engineering — a long-established process of parallel design and manufacturing development — is evolving through digital twins that enable real-time communication between functions.
“By using digital representations of products, processes and equipment, collaboration becomes faster and more factual,” he noted.
Artificial intelligence now enhances every aspect of this transformation. From design and logistics to forecasting, Ketteler described AI as “a tool used in practically all functions” and said the manufacturing revolution is already well underway.
Yet, despite the rise of automation, Ketteler stressed that technology alone isn’t enough.
“Even though we talk a lot about digitalisation, at the end it’s about the people,” he said. “We build cross-functional teams and rotate talent to think end-to-end, not in silos.”
Looking ahead, he emphasised the importance of a stable policy and regulatory framework to support Bosch’s local-for-local manufacturing strategy, ensuring long-term investment and competitiveness across the Americas.
