Jobs in the automotive industry: Product Safety Manager
As Product Safety Manager at Forvia Hella, Marcel Drabant ensures that the supplier's products comply with the strict safety requirements.
(Image: Forvia Hella)
- Clemens Gleich
The automotive industry and its suppliers are in the midst of a disruptive change. The switch from combustion engines to electric motors alone will fundamentally change one of the key industries, especially in the world of work. Numerous jobs will be lost, while new ones will be created and many will change. In a thematic focus, we want to shed light on jobs in the automotive industry and its suppliers that did not exist in this form a few years ago, but will become increasingly important over the next ten years. Companies will be looking for suitably trained employees even more than they are at present. Their chances on the labor market are likely to be excellent.
Automotive manufacturing is an industry that is over a hundred years old and in which safety plays a central role. The product safety of all components must therefore be planned, implemented, tested and constantly scrutinized. Marcel Drabant works at the supplier Forvia Hella as Product Safety Manager to implement the established standards together with the development teams. This is how he ensures safe products.
In a simple sentence, as if you were telling grandma: What is the core of the job?
I make sure that our products can be used safely on the road at all times.
What are the typical tasks involved?
Above all, we coordinate many requirements with the vehicle manufacturers. This is important because manufacturers have to integrate products from different suppliers into a vehicle. We carry out safety analyses and implement safety mechanisms at all levels, for example redundancies for reliability, diagnostics for problem detection and shutdown mechanisms for troubleshooting. We coordinate with in-house development and production. In the end, we release products that have been tested as safe for series production. However, the legal aspects are handled by a separate team that specializes in legal matters.
To give you an overview: we draw up security requirements from our own analyses, which are then implemented in hardware and software development. We monitor the implementation during the regular reviews of product developments, and we are also involved in testing to check whether the security requirements have been implemented in such a way that they actually work.
What is special about the job?
We help to keep road safety high. It's nice to know that our work has such an effect. We are also involved in all phases of development, networked with all domains, coordinated and harmonized everywhere. So it's a very wide-ranging job.
(Image: Forvia Hella)
What does the position in the Group mean?
The job enables Forvia Hella to ensure safety before new products are delivered: Intensive and documented work has been done to ensure safety. This results in a reduction in risk. You know how it is when a supplier gets into the press with a safety problem: suddenly everyone knows the name that they couldn't recognize before, but only in a negative way. The press doesn't often report on the many things that have gone well, but mainly when things go wrong. A good safety profile therefore also helps the good reputation. After all, security requirements are increasing. All companies need to be well positioned in this area, especially in the automotive industry.
How did you get into this job?
I studied automotive engineering and wrote my thesis on functional safety in the south of Germany. I then applied to Forvia Hella, back in my home region of Westphalia, and was hired.
What training(s) do people who are interested in the job need?
A technical degree, for example in electrical engineering or computer science or something similar.
What interests should you have to be motivated to do the job?
You should have an interest in technology and security. You also need a critical eye: What could go wrong if we solve it this way? Team communication is also very important. And finally, you should be able to stand firm when things are unclear. This doesn't always make you popular, but in the end it doesn't help anyone if the elaborately prepared safety standards are watered down just before the finish line.
Complete the sentence for those interested in this job: "To find a place here, you need ..."
... Fun with technology and a critical eye. By the way, we are always happy to welcome new motivated employees.
(cgl)