From trend scouting to ready-to-market products: In the course of our history, developing innovative components and doing research for the automotive future have become one of the crucial secrets of our success. Approx. 90% of our products originate from our internal R&D department; some of them are based exclusively on ideas from our team members.
Our development engineers are tasked with identifying and analyzing trends well in advance of everybody else and to drive our own groundbreaking ideas. This is how we create successful milestones in interior design. Starting from the point of research or pre-development on, it takes between one and a half to three years before a product goes into series development. In the highly competitive automotive business, this time frame is very convincing and we can offer it thanks to our role as a full service supplier. Here, our R&D Center staff – in close collaboration with the specific special departments – accompanies the customer in every step of the product creation process.
"The combination of our development & technology competencies and the fusion of the traditional plastic product with electronics results in innovations that are noticed by our customers", Torsten Förtsch, Head of Research & Development, Member of the Management Board.
By using state-of-the-art simulation technologies for design, injection molding, component strength, air flow and lighting, we ensure a high degree of maturity of the virtual development result already in the digital world. This is synchronized with subsequent physical tests in a 360° evaluation.
And finally, the more than 200 patents currently owned by the Dr. Schneider Unternehmensgruppe are a telling testimony to the fact that our development competence is more and more in demand – in particular with respect to future developments such as e-mobility.
Creativity, innovation and promoting the exchange of ideas – this is the foundation of our R&D Center, the wellspring of all the Dr. Schneider Unternehmensgruppe developments. Because we are very much aware of the importance of innovative power, particularly in the automotive industry. Approx. 250 engineers, developers and innovation managers are working on the mobility of the future. At cutting-edge work stations, innovative creativity areas and functional meeting rooms, our visions for the car interior of the future see the light of day.
The blending of form, function and surfaces linked to sophisticated controls and interactivity, changes the concept of car interiors fundamentally. This is why the Dr. Schneider Unternehmensgruppe as a specialist for high-quality interiors has re-defined the role of the supplier. As designers for the car's interior, we set standards for an individualized ambience with our forward thinking concepts. The think tank of the Dr. Schneider Unternehmensgruppe is a symbol of its technological edge, its smart and reliable ideas and innovative developments that utilize special development methods.
Intelligent systems and connected modules are playing a major role in the mobility of tomorrow. The product specialists of the Electrical Engineering and Electronics department (E/E) in the Dr. Schneider Unternehmensgruppe are meeting the challenges of the future here every day. They are specialized in four product fields: Intelligent Surfaces, Actuators, Light and Clean Air.
Intelligent surfaces are transforming the interior of tomorrow’s cars into a living organism. Simple switches are replaced by capacitive surfaces. In the area of drives, small motors (actuators) adjust air vents and center consoles effortlessly. Now passengers can adjust the car interior as they please with a simple touch. The static and dynamic illumination settings not only create a feel-good ambience but also alert you to dangers or obstacles. The Dr. Schneider product developers are shifting the focus towards surface illumination and mood lighting. And when it comes to clean air inside vehicles, our Clean Air Technology: PureVent is leading the way. A combination of particle and active charcoal filters working together with photo-catalytic surfaces clean the air. Unpleasant odors, pollen, viruses or hydrocarbons often emitted in traffic are a thing of the past inside cars equipped with our technology.
We are shaping the future of the automotive interior.
We are full-service providers from experience and conviction.
We exchange ideas to tap into new potential and to take advantage of diverse opportunities. 
