Johannes Stephan, CEO of Modern Drive Technology at NordBau 2023: "We turn every company into a provider of its own telematics platform within a very short time."

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Aleksandra Jastrzab: Mr. Stephan, what do you think about trade shows as a start-up company, do you prefer to meet your customers in person or virtually? 

Johannes Stephan: I guess it all comes down to the right combination at the end of the day. In our day-to-day business, we hold about 80% of our meetings virtually, which means that the majority of meetings take place via video conferencing and about 20% are face-to-face meetings. In our case, for example, we usually meet each business partner once or twice in person before a long-term business relationship is established.

AJ: What can be done to revolutionize the performance and efficiency of mobile machines?

JS: I think it all depends on an open ecosystem. We have three points on our agenda: firstly, the topic of established standards, i.e., there must be communication standards between machines, but also between the carrier and the attachment, and also between different web platforms. There are already a few initiatives in this area, such as MIK 4.0 or ISO 15143/3, which are very valuable and help to drive the issue forward. The second point, in addition to the established standards, is the open interfaces, which must of course be usable and also make the available information available. On the one hand, these are the diagnostic interfaces on the machines themselves, as is already the case with cars, trucks and agricultural machinery, for example, but the web interfaces between different platforms must also be able to communicate well with each other. As of today, the large OEMs in particular like to withhold a lot of interesting information, such as performance data or error codes, but I hope that this will change in the future. The third point, in addition to the established standards and open interfaces, is the right mindset, i.e., digital simply means networking at the end of the day. For the open ecosystem, it is important that, in the final analysis, all participants share their data and thus there is plenty of room for new business models and product information. As of today, I think the agricultural machinery sector is still a little ahead of the construction industry in this aspect, but I am confident that this will change for the better.

AJ: What hardware solutions do you offer for construction machinery?

JS: The bottom line is that we have a very unified approach that combines hardware and software services. Especially around hardware, we have a portfolio of telematics devices for connecting the machine to the cloud, ranging from rechargeable battery checkers for attachments and vibratory plates to fleet systems for permanent installation in construction machines and vehicles, and also long-term trackers with replaceable batteries for containers and transport racks. For OEMs in particular, we have high-end platforms that can be individually programmed and then also enable access to the respective machine, for example to transfer error codes or to operate predictive maintenance. With our associated machine cloud, we can then turn any company into a provider of its own telematics platform within a very short time.

AJ: What would you like to achieve at NordBau 2023? 

JS: Yes, on the one hand to bring our brand and its products to the world, of course, but on the other to make exciting new contacts and simply be at the heart of the industry.

AJ: Thank you for talking to us today.

JS: Thank you very much.