Since the invasion of Ukraine, Germany and the European Union have faced a tangible threat right in their own backyard. We’ve all been feeling the effects on our daily lives, on the economy, culture, and society at large for quite some time now. The events marked a turning point in the discussion about the German Armed Forces’ role and equipment and have forced us to take a critical look our own defense capabilities. Just a few months ago, investments were considered unsustainable, even socially detrimental.

Immediate Readiness

Like the entire defense industry, we believe it is our job is to equip the German Armed Forces as well as NATO and EU member states with high-performance equipment – both in the short term and within the scope of long-planned procurement projects such as the Heavy Transport Helicopter, the Eurofighter, Puma, Leopard 2, and Boxer. It’s obvious that more is needed to achieve this than just a few new screws on the old equipment – low-emission, hybrid technologies are critical to the German Armed Forces’ future viability.

Energy Efficiency along the Entire Production Chain

At VINCORION’s German sites in Wedel, Altenstadt, and Essen, we are hard at work enshrining the concept of sustainability throughout the entire cycle – from supply chains and low-emission manufacturing techniques to designing efficient and resource-friendly power solutions for civilian and military applications. VINCORION has been developing tailored power management and propulsion system solutions for civil and military applications and vehicles in the air, on land, and in the water for more than six decades. We intend to use this expertise to help create the technologies of tomorrow – and the green military or green defense.

The Ad Store

Tactical Superiority

Our hybrid power systems are among the solutions that can improve the military’s “carbon bootprint.” They optimize efficiency in military platforms’ power management, directly reducing greenhouse gas emissions as a result. In field camp or air defense systems, the self-sufficient, adaptable, and hybrid power architecture also becomes a tactical advantage, cutting fuel consumption by up to half, halving downtime, and guaranteeing a fourfold increase in fail-safety. In addition, the power systems are designed to support the integration of self-sufficient fuel cell technology and other sustainable energy sources.

This potential can also clearly be seen in the tactical supply of power to military infrastructures. Our newly developed gensets with Stage V engines guarantee low-emission operation with state-of-the-art AdBlue exhaust gas aftertreatment. And yet military fuel can also be used by means of an “emission downgrade.” In this context, these cutting-edge power systems are optimized in such a way that retrofitting them in the field is quick and easy, both in terms of hardware and software.

The use of maintenance-friendly components and modular systems that can be replaced and upgraded with flexibility is a major advantage in terms of development speed and total cost of ownership. Developers and users have already gained valuable experience with the gun turret and weapon stabilization system in the Leopard 2.

Challenge and Support

Resource-friendly and sustainable defense technologies are already ready for use in a very practical way. For this trend to continue, the defense industry must be able to invest – both with confidence and for the long term. This is an important point, which is why it has also found its way into the discussion on the EU taxonomy.

Only about an hour’s drive south of Wedel, Germany, lies the tranquil town of Munster. A rather unspectacular small town in the region of the country known as the Lüneburg Heath, but with more than 5,000 soldiers stationed there and more than 22,000 acres of military training grounds, it is the German Armed Forces’ largest individual location. Here, the sight of soldiers in camouflage, infantry fighting vehicles, battle tanks, and howitzers are part of everyday life. Residents of Munster enjoying an ice cream at a local café in the summer are accustomed to the noise echoing from the shooting ranges. And above the German Tank Museum located in this small town, there is a quote by the Berlin-born philosopher Walter Benjamin emblazoned in large orange letters: “He who seeks peace speaks of war.” Because you cannot fight a war with these horrors in mind.

Hope for Lasting Peace Is Evaporating

In 21st century Europe, we had the hope that war as a means of enforcing policy was no longer an option, that our mechanisms for peaceful coexistence – diplomacy, trade, and interaction – were sufficient and guaranteed us security.

Yet the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 made this supposed certainty disappear. In fact, it downright evaporated – just like Ukraine’s cities are currently evaporating before our eyes under heavy artillery fire and air strikes, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians are dying, even more are being wounded both physically and mentally, and millions of people are fleeing. War has returned to Europe, and we are experiencing the dawn of a new era as a result.

David Maupilé

Response to Harsh Reality

Confronted with this harsh new reality, German policymakers had to react. On February 27, in a special Sunday session of German parliament, Chancellor Scholz spoke for the first time of a new era and revealed to the astonished German public the German government’s intention to develop the German Armed Forces into one of the most modern armies in Europe. A special fund of 100 billion euros was announced for this purpose and, in addition, he made a commitment that from now on, 2% of the country’s gross domestic product would flow into the defense budget each year.

What Has Happened Since Then?

Since Chancellor Scholz’s announcement, a few months have passed, even more people have died in Ukraine, cities have been destroyed, and every day we receive new reports of horrific war crimes against the civilian population. What has remained of the announcements and what does the path forward look like?

The Defense Budget and Special Fund

In 2014, NATO member states unanimously agreed to allocate 2 percent of their respective gross domestic product to defense in the future. Measured against current GDP, this would mean that we would have to spend around 75 billion euros a year on the defense budget. In contrast, the German finance minister has frozen the defense budget for the coming years at 50 billion euros in a draft bill. The arithmetical delta between the 50 billion euros made available and the approximately 75 billion euros pledged must now be closed if Chancellor Scholz intends to make good on his announcement. The special fund is intended to help with this.

The plan is for the special fund to be passed by parliament and enshrined in Germany’s constitution before the summer recess. Projects to be funded with the additional money include replacing the aging Tornado with the US F-35 stealth bomber and additional Eurofighters. A decision on what will succeed the current heavy lift helicopter is also likely to be made shortly.

The plans also call for the procurement of additional PUMA infantry fighting vehicles and the modernization of the existing fleet. And the German Army also wants to upgrade the Leopard 2 main battle tank. In addition, they are currently considering a large order of Boxer armored fighting vehicles, with quantities of up to 700 being discussed. Moreover, the spare parts situation for all systems urgently needs to be improved.

At the beginning of the year, it was still unclear whether some of these projects would be feasible at all, as they were all in competition with each other for an ever-shrinking defense budget. As a result of the priority discussion, however, longer-term funding for the aforementioned projects should now be secured. This is an important step forward.

Not a German Phenomenon

Germany isn’t the only European state, however, that has consistently neglected to modernize its military in recent decades and has made itself comfortable operating at a sufficient distance from NATO’s 2% goal.

We are currently experiencing a massive mindset shift in many EU and NATO countries. Eastern European countries in particular – directly threatened due to their geographical proximity to the aggressor – but also states such as Italy, Norway, and the Netherlands, are planning to procure new material for their armed forces. In addition, there are discussions in Austria about modernizing tanks, in Eastern Europe about the need for new air defense systems, and in the Netherlands about increased integration into the German command structure. On top of that, the Baltic states want NATO troops to be permanently stationed in their territory.

Taken together, these developments in Germany and our neighboring countries will lead to a sharp increase in demand for the German defense industry. The focus now must be on hiring new employees after years of downsizing and aligning supply chains to meet this growing demand. The sooner there is political clarity on the selection of platforms that will be procured and the sooner that policymakers’ declarations of intent are translated into actual orders by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defense, the sooner the industry will be able to procure the urgently needed materials.

The railroad engineering company Alstom has awarded VINCORION a contract to supply 41 auxiliary traction drive systems for its last-mile locomotives. The order has a value of approximately 5.8 million euros.

Known as last-mile gensets, the units from VINCORION are used in electric locomotives that are equipped with diesel combustion engines in addition to electric propulsion. This solution ensures that the locomotives continue to receive power if the overhead line fails or if there simply isn’t one – as is usually the case on the first and last few miles of a railroad track.

Tailored Last-Mile Gensets from the Bavarian Municipality of Altenstadt

VINCORION’s last-mile gensets feature a compact design that allows them to be precisely integrated into the inside of the locomotive. With its many years of experience in providing tailored power solutions in the railway market, VINCORION is the market leader in the field of auxiliary power units. These are available with various emission standards and are manufactured by VINCORION at the company’s site in Altenstadt, Bavaria.

More than 60 Years of Experience in Aviation, Defense Technology, and the Rail Industry

The technology company VINCORION has more than 60 years of experience in the development and production of generators and hybrid power systems as well as hoisting and stabilization solutions for civil and military platforms in the air, on land, and in the water. VINCORION’s customers primarily include system vendors in the aerospace, security and defense, and rail markets.

About VINCORION

VINCORION is a brand of the technology group Jenoptik that focuses on mechatronic solutions and products and related services.
VINCORION can look back at 60 years of successful business history as a supplier to the aviation, defense and security technology, and railway industries. Based on its own product platforms, VINCORION develops and produces tailored solutions that meet the specific requirements of its customers.

Its portfolio includes individual assemblies that customers can integrate into their end products, as well as complete systems and end products. Its areas of expertise are energy and drive systems, stabilization systems, and aviation systems. VINCORION’s competent customer support team offers support and service throughout the many years of use of its own products and those of third parties.

Employing roughly 760 people at sites in Germany, the USA, Japan, and South Korea, VINCORION generated approximately 165 million euros in revenue in 2019.

For more information, visit our website www.vincorion.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The technology company VINCORION is expanding its service and maintenance portfolio for both its own solutions and third-party products.

Since the beginning of 2021, VINCORION has already invested around 1.5 million euros in the development of its Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) business unit and in technical equipment for workshops. Further investments are in the pipeline.

The largest individual purchases include a generator testing station that cost around 700,000 euros. In addition, the company plans to purchase a cutting-edge selective soldering system for circuit board manufacturing this year. The state-of-the-art soldering system costs around half a million euros and offers the ability to create customized programs, thereby increasing the VINCORION’s flexibility to respond to specific customer requirements. Selective soldering also makes it possible to create spot solder joints faster and more precisely than with other soldering methods.

Strategic Expansion of MRO Services for Products from Other Suppliers

“Our engineers and technicians have, in some cases, unique knowledge of power systems and mechatronic components that have been in use for several decades,” explained Stefan Stenzel, Managing Director of VINCORION. “We would like to strategically expand this strength to include products from companies that do not offer comprehensive MRO services in Germany and Europe. At the same time, we’re sending a clear signal that we will be a reliable partner for our customers throughout the entire life cycle of their platforms.”

VINCORION’s focus is on innovative power and stabilization systems for safety-critical applications, including generators, electric motors and drive systems, gensets, power electronics, and hybrid power systems used in aerospace, security and defense, and rail applications.

About VINCORION

VINCORION is a brand of the technology group Jenoptik that focuses on mechatronic solutions and products and related services.
VINCORION can look back at 60 years of successful business history as a supplier to the aviation, defense and security technology, and railway industries. Based on its own product platforms, VINCORION develops and produces tailored solutions that meet the specific requirements of its customers.

Its portfolio includes individual assemblies that customers can integrate into their end products, as well as complete systems and end products. Its areas of expertise are energy and drive systems, stabilization systems, and aviation systems. VINCORION’s competent customer support team offers support and service throughout the many years of use of its own products and those of third parties.

Employing roughly 760 people at sites in Germany, the USA, Japan, and South Korea, VINCORION generated approximately 165 million euros in revenue in 2019.

For more information, visit our website www.vincorion.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Entire villages under water, people without drinking water and electricity, destroyed livelihoods – the images of the catastrophic flooding in Germany’s Ahr valley are still fresh in everyone’s mind. Although it was far from the first disaster of this kind, it particularly underlined the importance of smooth operations and having the best emergency response equipment possible. But also the coronavirus pandemic or the influx of refugees in 2015 and today due to the war in Ukraine underline the importance of civil defense. David Templin, volunteer with Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (abbreviated THW in German) and VINCORION employee, explained to us what emergency services personnel want and what they urgently need.

Germany is currently discussing the security and defense infrastructure in its own country. While this is certainly an important discussion to have, it only shows one side of the coin. This is because the list of the country’s shortcomings is also long in civil defense and emergency management. When the Cold War ended, Germany drastically cut back on investments, reduced equipment to the bare minimum and, since the country’s compulsory military service ended, also reduced the number of personnel. Recently, German Red Cross President Gerda Hasselfeldt stressed that it was time to “usher in a new era” not only in the defense sector, but also in civil protection – in other words, Germany needs to immediately rethink its current approach and ultimately implement measures to strengthen the sector. And David Templin agrees wholeheartedly.

No Electricity or Drinking Water

Whenever time permits (or doesn’t, actually), the product manager is active with THW, volunteering to help train younger members as well as assisting on-site in disaster situations. David Templin has been on the scene during major fires, storm damage, and evacuations. He still remembers his first major deployment during the flooding in Bavaria in 2008. Even then, many elements of THW training were already in high demand. “But the scale of destruction and the size of the disaster area in the Ahr Valley in 2021 was so immense – no one was really prepared for this event,” he says. Destroyed bridges, canals, and power lines left entire villages, districts, and streets without any infrastructure. “There was no lighting, no potable water supply, no means of pumping out sewage.”

Scarce Resources, Enormous Demand

When David Templin arrived on the scene a week after the disaster, he began coordinating logistics activities. “In order to restore the power supply, all of the lines, distributors, and building connections had to be cleaned, repaired, and tested. This meant that in some cases, individual buildings had no electricity for days, weeks, or even months,” he explains. As a temporary measure, the emergency services personnel set up power generators with light poles at central locations. Larger power consumers, e.g., sewage treatment plants, were provided with temporary power generation systems, which were set up, brought into operation, and subsequently maintained, in some cases over a period of weeks. In the first three weeks, more than 4,000 emergency personnel were deployed for over 70,000 hours. Emergency service was provided using 5,000 meters of power cable and over 300,000 liters of diesel fuel. And because this all had to happen incredibly quickly, it pushed the civil protection structures to their absolute limits.

SSKH-Pictures / Shutterstock

Not Prepared for Major Disasters

“The volunteer response teams are well trained and the kit that covers the different response scenarios is already well filled – but only for smaller operations and not for major disasters, however. There is still a lot of room for improvement, especially when it comes to protective gear or infrastructure such as digital communications and emergency power supplies,” describes Templin. What he would like to see is a more pragmatic approach and less bureaucracy: “When it comes to both general equipment and urgent operations, the procurement paths are simply too long and too complicated. For example, to secure collapsed buildings or infrastructure, you need scaffolding timber. And you need it in the field and on short notice. But in theory, we’re required to obtain three quotes instead of simply going directly to the nearest local provider. That, of course, needlessly wastes time and is simply impractical.” The same applies to partially obsolete technology or highly sought-after “gold-plated” solutions, for example in mobile power supply. “If there a cutting-edge, functional solution is already available on the market, we should be able to fall back on it directly,” says Templin. If all of the requirements are met in terms of infrastructure, equipment, and personnel, the German Armed Forces will be able to concentrate more on their core task – national defense. “While it’s good that the military is pitching in, the fact that they have to at all is a clear indication of the gap in disaster control.”

Assistance Is the Key

The way they deal with crisis situations, even without the perfect equipment, reveals just how good the many volunteer and full-time emergency personnel at THW are thanks to their training. In these situations, creativity and the ability to think ahead are sometimes required. Thanks to his work as a product manager, Templin has a good overview of the market and knows both the needs of users and the technical possibilities, for example when it comes to the power supply. “That helps me tremendously on both sides, of course. So my hobby has become my profession and vice versa.” And yet, with these two responsibilities, he naturally has hardly any time for other things. “That’s why I’m glad that my employer is so supportive of my volunteer work and stands behind me when the alarm rings and I’m called out on short notice or even when I’m out for a longer period of time, as was the case during the catastrophic flooding,” says Templin. “And without my wife’s support, it wouldn’t be possible for me to volunteer like this, either.” And when time permits, he actually does have another hobby: DIY projects around his own home.

Today, VINCORION announced it earned a spot in the Boeing Premier Bidder Program.

The program recognizes and rewards consistently high-performing Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Boeing Global Services suppliers, strengthening Boeing’s collective performance and commitment to safety, quality and integrity.
The program provides Premier Bidder members with an opportunity to increase their business with Boeing, including visibility of upcoming bids and an invitation to program conferences with key Supply Chain leadership.
VINCORION makes Heated Water Fittings for the Boeing 737 program.
VINCORION joins approximately 140 suppliers that have met and sustained the high-quality, delivery and performance criteria required for inclusion in the Premier Bidder Program.

About VINCORION

VINCORION is a brand of the technology group Jenoptik that focuses on mechatronic solutions and products and related services.
VINCORION can look back at 60 years of successful business history as a supplier to the aviation, defense and security technology, and railway industries. Based on its own product platforms, VINCORION develops and produces tailored solutions that meet the specific requirements of its customers.

Its portfolio includes individual assemblies that customers can integrate into their end products, as well as complete systems and end products. Its areas of expertise are energy and drive systems, stabilization systems, and aviation systems. VINCORION’s competent customer support team offers support and service throughout the many years of use of its own products and those of third parties.

Employing roughly 760 people at sites in Germany, the USA, Japan, and South Korea, VINCORION generated approximately 165 million euros in revenue in 2019.

For more information, visit our website www.vincorion.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Product managers and developers are always on the lookout for fresh ideas or busy working on improvements to their solutions – an “occupational disease” in the best sense. But a viable innovation also needs to be profitable. In other words, they are hunting for diamonds. Today we’ll be taking you on a treasure hunt with us for Insights

On Shark Tank, the internationally successful television format, people bravely stand in front of a jury, pitch the project they’ve put their heart and soul into, and hope for support and the opportunity to continue their dream. Who doesn’t love to root for the inventors and entrepreneurs who present their ideas and products and compete against each other in front of big-name investors? Because in the end, that’s exactly what it is – a competition for the best ideas and the associated injection of capital and expertise that founders are so eagerly hoping for. Although not quite as successful, this competition now also exists the other way around. On “Fuckup Nights,” participants take the stage to talk about their failures, about how they dusted themselves off and are trying again, about mistakes, and about lessons learned.

Don’t Follow Every Impulse

These completely different formats actually do a good job of describing the innovation process at a company in all its different facets. It begins with an idea, then a trend, a concept, a test, and then seeing whether it’s a good fit or not. For companies, this often involves future market positioning – and survival. “Innovation alone doesn’t add value if it doesn’t benefit the customer,” emphasizes Christoph Krüger-Leineweber, Vice President Engineering at VINCORION. “And achieving this at the right time so that there’s a market for the idea is increasingly difficult in our industrial world that’s moving at an ever faster pace in markets that are at the same time quite sluggish. This means it’s a matter of striking a balance between being alert and receptive but also not acting on every inventive impulse.”

David Maupilé

Focusing on the Shared Vision

This is no easy task for passionate engineers and product managers. “An innovation with significant business potential is exceedingly rare. This is exactly the diamond in the rough we’re hunting for,” explains Daniel Zeitler, Head of Product Management. This search requires sufficient room for creativity during the project-driven day-to-day business routine and the ability to bounce ideas off other members of the team, people from other departments, and, ultimately, management. “And it needs strong leaders who continue to drive the project forward during the innovation process, critically questioning the path but never losing sight of the shared vision.” Because, as Zeitler is sure, people primarily become frustrated when there’s no clear, common goal. “For a medium-sized company like VINCORION, this also means that it has to limit itself to a handful of exceptional innovation projects that it can then implement in a manner commensurate with its capacity,” adds Krüger-Leineweber. So it’s a bit like the Shark Tank when ideas are pitted against each other internally.

Innovation as a Chain Reaction

If they are successful, these ideas may even uncover further diamonds in the rough. For example, a customer project for a hybrid power supply led to the basis for the PPM modular portable power management system – which has evolved over time from existing projects and products. And even long-established products can breathe new life into a company’s innovation process if viewed in light of new requirements or from a different perspective. With all of its hoist expertise and the experience of users and customers in the rescue helicopter sector, VINCORION was able to usher in a new era of next-generation rescue hoists. In the coming year, it will have to prove itself during the approval process. “Then we might have an extremely well-cut diamond on our hands,” Zeitler says, looking ahead. The project team is happy to go the necessary extra mile for this. Because in the end, in addition to all the business factors, it is precisely this enthusiasm that is needed in order to succeed – both in front of the jury and on the market.

Photo 1, Photo 2: Christoph Krüger-Leineweber, Daniel Zeitler

David Maupilé

Contact us! Contact me!