Planet under Pressure
The 2020s are the make-or-break decade for Sustainability. But Covid-19 questions almost everything. How can we handle increasingly frequent shocks? What can a resilient society and economy that is in line with planetary boundaries look like? These and many other questions are discussed in the new 2020 edition of the Global Goals Yearbook titled “Planet under Pressure”. The Yearbook supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and is one of the publications in strong international demand.
The 2020s are the make-or-break decade for Sustainability. But Covid-19 questions almost everything. How can we handle increasingly frequent shocks? What can a resilient society and economy that is in line with planetary boundaries look like? These and many other questions are discussed in the new 2020 edition of the Global Goals Yearbook titled “Planet under Pressure”. The Yearbook supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and is one of the publications in strong international demand.
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a significant reduction in CO 2<br />
emissions,<br />
with a target of 15 percent by 2025 and<br />
30 percent by 2030.”<br />
Simplifying business<br />
MAN has set itself the goal of shaping this<br />
transformation process in a responsible<br />
way. After all, for MAN, being fit for the<br />
future means <strong>under</strong>standing global challenges<br />
and identifying the opportunities<br />
and risks with regard to sustainable development.<br />
“We make a conscious effort<br />
to address what is expected of us by our<br />
customers, policymakers, and society at<br />
large and offer specific answers. We aim<br />
to ensure that human beings are at the<br />
center of everything we do. This aim<br />
is strongly guided by the Sustainable<br />
Development Goals and the UN Global<br />
Compact, which we joined back in 2010,”<br />
Drees explains.<br />
By launching the new MAN truck generation,<br />
the company has introduced<br />
vehicles to the market that enable customers<br />
to implement the sustainability<br />
and digitalization requirements of their<br />
industry without difficulties. For example,<br />
the new vehicle uses 8 percent less<br />
fuel in long-haul transportation than<br />
its predecessor with the Euro 6c engine,<br />
which lowers emissions and thus also<br />
reduces operating costs. It also features<br />
improved load capacity (up to 230 kg<br />
extra) and optimized uptime. “With<br />
MAN ServiceCare, we are offering proactive<br />
maintenance management that<br />
makes it possible to further increase<br />
vehicle availability considerably, thanks<br />
to forward planning and an intelligent<br />
system for bundling servicing appointments,”<br />
says Drees.<br />
To ensure that the technical standards of<br />
the new truck do not become obsolete in<br />
a few years’ time, the company is using<br />
a brand-new electronics architecture, enabling<br />
additional sensors and functions<br />
to be retrofitted. This makes it possible<br />
to integrate alternative drives, new assistance<br />
systems, and automation functions.<br />
Fully connected, the truck offers an infrastructure<br />
that is open to future digital<br />
applications. “We are giving them [the<br />
customers] the best complete package on<br />
the market and making their job easier.<br />
That’s exactly what our brand promise<br />
is all about. That’s what we mean when<br />
we say: Simplifying Business.”<br />
Focus on the driver<br />
The fact that MAN modernized its entire<br />
product portfolio and not just one vehicle<br />
model is testament to the dimensions of<br />
the market launch of the new MAN truck<br />
generation in February 2020. Not an easy<br />
task when you consider that developing<br />
a truck is more complex than developing<br />
an automobile. Around 2,100 MAN<br />
employees in total were involved in this<br />
project over the years. On top of that, the<br />
company also brought in 150 customers<br />
from different countries to work out<br />
their requirements and integrate these<br />
into the new vehicle. The company’s<br />
last launch of these proportions was the<br />
MAN TGA in 2000.<br />
When working on the new MAN truck<br />
generation, the developers paid particular<br />
attention to the driver cab interior,<br />
which was redesigned completely. That<br />
was made possible due to 10 years of<br />
research and development with more<br />
than 740 test users. “We deliberately<br />
made truck drivers the focal point of<br />
the development process. Our task was<br />
to find ways of making the driver’s job<br />
easier and also improving the conditions<br />
he works and sleeps in at the same time,”<br />
explains Stephan Schütt, responsible for<br />
modernizing the driver cab in his role<br />
as lead developer of the cab/chassis. The<br />
result? The right driver cab for every<br />
area of application, with a focus on ease<br />
of use, ergonomics, and high levels of<br />
driving comfort with sufficient mobility.<br />
All of these are important when it comes<br />
to attracting new employees. After all,<br />
there is currently a shortage of 50,000<br />
drivers in the European transportation<br />
industry.<br />
Individual configurations<br />
Individualization and specific adjustments<br />
to vehicles are key success factors,<br />
given how extremely fragmented the<br />
transportation and logistics industry<br />
is. Moreover, customer requirements<br />
are becoming increasingly more varied<br />
within the framework of modern logistics.<br />
With this in mind, MAN’s future<br />
approach to configuration will focus<br />
a lot more on the transportation tasks<br />
and the specific needs of its customers.<br />
“What matters is that we have become<br />
a lot more efficient: We now offer 10<br />
percent more variants, but 20 percent<br />
fewer parts,” Drees explains.<br />
Global Goals Yearbook 2020 123
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