Abstract
The MAN Group is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles, engines and mechanical engineering equipment consisting of the commercial vehicles business area with the companies MAN Nutzfahrzeuge and MAN Latin America, and the power engineering business area with MAN Diesel & Turbo and a shareholding in Renk. With a turnover of € 6.4 bn the MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Group is the largest subsidiary of the MAN SE which is one of the top 30 companies listed on the German stock exchange (DAX).
The MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Group subdivides into the following divisions: trucks, busses, aftersales service, used vehicles and components with a production network all over the world. With the focus on the truck division MAN produces heavy trucks, light/medium trucks, special-purpose vehicles and military vehicles.
With a history of round about one hundred years the Military Division of MAN with their vehicles and requirements will be the subject of the presentation. The product range of military vehicles is divided into four classes, from the so-called white fleet to pure military trucks with high mobility and strategic benefit. In order to manage such diverse requirements the Military Division of MAN subdivides into different departments which best meet the demand of project and fleet management or special military testing.
The challenge of the military division’s product management lies in managing the different requirements and defining best products to match customer demands. Examples for the particular specifications of military trucks are: the protection of the cabin, special climate conditions, the necessity of fording, or the needs for a full logistic lifetime support. The protection portfolio is divided into two concepts. The first one is a modular add-on solution with armour plates that can be mounted to the cabin in case of the need of low protection. The second one is an integral steel cabin. Here the protection is part of the cabin concept offering high protection against artillery and mine threats.
A further specific requirement of military vehicles is the climate conditions. Often the military demands operating ability in hot regions (with up to nearly 50 degree Celsius) also in combination with high humidity or in very cold regions (with up to -46 degree Celsius). For all these circumstances a special preparation like air conditioning systems or arctic packages is needed. Additionally the vehicles need to meet the demand of fording water depths up to 1500 mm and special preparation e.g. for disembarking from ships.
Beside the particular technical adaptation, a logistics support consisting of e.g. a spare parts management, special training courses or support for special tools is often required.
Recapitulatory the military business is confronted with completely different demands compared to the civilian truck business.
Keywords: commercial vehicles, product management, military, MAN, portfolio management